Return-path: X-Andrew-Authenticated-as: 7997;andrew.cmu.edu;Ted Anderson Received: from beak.andrew.cmu.edu via trymail for +dist+/afs/andrew.cmu.edu/usr11/tm2b/space/space.dl@andrew.cmu.edu (->+dist+/afs/andrew.cmu.edu/usr11/tm2b/space/space.dl) (->ota+space.digests) ID ; Fri, 17 Nov 89 01:38:31 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: Reply-To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU From: space-request+@Andrew.CMU.EDU To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU Date: Fri, 17 Nov 89 01:38:09 -0500 (EST) Subject: SPACE Digest V10 #257 SPACE Digest Volume 10 : Issue 257 Today's Topics: Magellan Status for 11/15/89 Satellite heat [Forwarded from Aeronautics Digest] Re: NASA Headline News for 11/14/89 (Forwarded) NASA heads hydrogen fuel technology effort for aero-space plane (Forwarded) NASA Headline News for 11/16/89 (Forwarded) Re: Moon Colonies / Ant Tanks deadliness of environments ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 15 Nov 89 21:35:27 GMT From: trident.arc.nasa.gov!yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Subject: Magellan Status for 11/15/89 MAGELLAN STATUS REPORT Nov. 15, 1989 Today, the Magellan spacecraft is 91,944,943 miles from Earth. Having passed through perihelion on Oct. 7, the spacecraft is slowing as it begins its return to the orbit of Earth and is now traveling at a speed of 79,225 miles per hour relative to the sun. Cruise operations are proceeding as planned and Magellan remains healthy except for star scanner and gyro problems. Spurious star scanner signals at times prevent attitude control knowledge updates. The signals are only a nuisance in cruise, but must be fixed before Venus mapping. Software filters and operational changes are being implemented in time for thorough testing prior to the mapping phase. A software filter for the star scanner is to be uplinked Thursday, Nov. 16. Because of excessive attitude drift, an erratic gyro was switched out of the attitude control circuitry. Four gyros are flown to provide triple redundancy in the pitch and yaw axis and double redundancy in the roll axis. Without the gyro, less redundancy will be available in attitude control during Venus orbit insertion, considered a minor risk. Intense solar activity experienced in August, September and October has resulted in approximately a 6 percent solar panel degradation to date. An active sun was anticipated, however, in sizing the solar panels and a margin of 35 percent was provided for. SPACECRAFT Distance from Earth (mi) 91,944,943 Velocity Geocentric 71,242 mph Heliocentric 79,225 mph One-way light time 8 mins, 14 secs ------------------------------ Date: 15 Nov 89 23:53:19 GMT From: cs.utexas.edu!ut-emx!walt.cc.utexas.edu!rdd@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Robert Dorsett) Subject: Satellite heat [Forwarded from Aeronautics Digest] From: iisat!roberts@uunet.UU.NET (Greg Roberts) Subject: AIAA publications Date: 14 Nov 89 23:03:03 AST (Tue) I have been a student member of AIAA for two years (nice book,nice student journal). I have seen advertisements for the AIAA Education Series of books which number about 17 at present. They appear to cover everything from Aircraft Engine Design @$59.95 (book + software) to Radar Electronic Warfare @49.95( book only, no disk :-{ ). Being a mechanical engineering major with strong leanings towards aero, would these books be a good addition to my already large library of texts. I plan on working in the aero field about the end of next year. It is not so much the price I am worried about, rather the content is the main concern here. If it is just a rehash of journal articles, I can get those at the library. If they are legit text book material, I want 'em. Now for the fun stuff. A few weeks ago, we had one of the Canadian astronauts (you can tell they're Canadian, he was wearing a parka and says eh? at the end of every sentence). He has proposed an interesting project to be carried out at my University (Technical University of Nova Scotia), and it appears that I will be doing the work. Briefly, it is now of real interest to know the temperature of a satellite on orbit, for two reasons. The first is you want to be able to handle it without "burning your fingers", and the second is that you want to put it into the shuttle without "burning the shuttle". Tacit in this explaination is that problems have arisen during repair and retrieval previously squelched. What they want to do is to measure the satellite temperature. The first and biggest criteria is that this must be completely non-contact, you can't place a thermocouple on the surface and read it directly. The second is that it must work on all satellites, which requires no onboard electronics on the satellite continuously streaming temperature data to a ground station. So, there it is. It appears that I will start on this venture about mid December, and will spend my three week break between classes reading the project definition and performance objectives. I am soliciting some ideas from you out there in sci.aeronautics land. My first idea, and definitely not the best, lightest, or cheapest is to go the way of thermography. Put a small thermographic detector on the end of the robotic arm, and do a temperature map. Get a small computer to interpret the data and display a temperature bar and a carat next to the max reading. So, think about it for a bit, throw me all your suggestions, and I will (promise) reply to all, and will keep the group informed as to progress. I am actually hoping that this will turn out to become my summer job, and that I might even be able to use some of it for my senior design project. ------------------------------ Date: 15 Nov 89 18:08:12 GMT From: sgi!shinobu!odin!rudedog!bam@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Brian McClendon) Subject: Re: NASA Headline News for 11/14/89 (Forwarded) In article <35865@ames.arc.nasa.gov> yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) writes: >----------------------------------------------------------------- >Tuesday, November 14, 1989 Audio: 202/755-1788 >----------------------------------------------------------------- > >This is NASA Headline News for Tuesday, November 14th...... > > [stuff deleted] > >The Washington based publication "Space News" reports that >scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have >proposed that NASA build an inflatable space station, moon base >and deep space probe, in an attempt to cut the cost of sending >U.S. astronauts to Mars. "Space News" says the Livermore plan >calls for the development of a large, inexpensive unmanned >rocket...and errecting a series of inflatable space structures >whose walls would be reinforced by kevlar, a strong, lightweight >fiber. The publication says NASA is completing an assessment of >the Livermore plan. > After reading about all the problems with space debris in orbit (and even in interplanetary space) how in the hell can the above stay "inflated"?? -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brian McClendon bam@rudedog.SGI.COM ...!uunet!sgi!rudedog!bam 415-335-1110 "... Cornnuts ..." - Heather 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: 15 Nov 89 21:17:48 GMT From: trident.arc.nasa.gov!yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Subject: NASA heads hydrogen fuel technology effort for aero-space plane (Forwarded) Mary Sandy Headquarters, Washington, D.C. November 15, 1989 Linda Ellis Lewis Research Center, Cleveland RELEASE: 89-176 NASA HEADS HYDROGEN FUEL TECHNOLOGY EFFORT FOR AERO-SPACE PLANE When the proposed National Aero-Space Plane (NASP) leaves the runway sometime in the 1990's, the fuel that powers it may be largely the result of technology efforts being coordinated today by NASA Lewis Research Center, Cleveland. NASP is a joint NASA/Department of Defense program with the ultimate goal of developing an air-breathing experimental flight vehicle designated the X-30. The X-30 will take off horizontally, fly directly into orbit, then land like a conventional aircraft. It also may have the capability to cruise through the atmosphere at sustained hypersonic (above Mach 5) speeds. Researchers are focusing on "slush" hydrogen, a high-energy hydrogen slurry, as the primary propellant for NASP. It is denser than liquid hydrogen and requires smaller tanks for the same amount of propulsive capability. The tanks themselves can be lighter in weight because slush hydrogen requires an internal pressurization of only 1 pound per square inch. Also, slush hydrogen is a better coolant for the vehicle and engines than liquid hydrogen. Using slush instead of liquid hydrogen "reduces the size of the NASP and reduces the projected gross liftoff weight by up to 30 percent," according to Ned Hannum, Deputy Chief of the Space Propulsion Technology Division, Lewis Research Center. The slush hydrogen technology development team, headed by Lewis Research Center, was formed about 3 years ago when very little was known about the material's properties. Each team member is assigned a specific area of research. o The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is investigating instrumentation, the physical properties of slush hydrogen and production methods. NIST also has a historical data base and experience in slush hydrogen production and pumping. o McDonnell Douglas and its subcontractors, Air Products, Martin Marietta and Wyle Laboratories, are performing large-scale experimental work in slush production, pressurization, transfer and flow modeling. o The University of Michigan is working on the gelation of hydrogen and slush hydrogen. Gelated hydrogen probably will not be available for NASP, but may help control sloshing of hydrogen fuels in the propellant tanks of future flight vehicles. o The University of Colorado is studying slush hydrogen thermal acoustic oscillation phenomena. o The Los Alamos National Laboratory is investigating the safety aspects of slush hydrogen, including the levels of oxygen contamination that will be acceptable in slush hydrogen propellants. As part of the in-house activity at Lewis, Air Products has constructed the slush maker at Lewis' Plum Brook Station near Sandusky, Ohio. The plant, slated to begin operation late this winter, will be capable of producing slush hydrogen in 800-gallon batches. The slush facility will allow researchers to explore production, transfer and storage of slush. Lewis' experimental efforts are a major portion of the overall slush hydrogen program. ------------------------------ Date: 16 Nov 89 19:21:16 GMT From: trident.arc.nasa.gov!yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Subject: NASA Headline News for 11/16/89 (Forwarded) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday, Nov. 16, 1989 Audio: 202/755-1788 ----------------------------------------------------------------- This is NASA Headline News for Thursday, November 16th...... Aerospace Daily reports that the Energetics Satellite Corporation yesterday awarded a $54 million contract to Space Commerce Corporation for launch of up to eight satellites aboard Soviet Proton boosters beginning late next year. The contract calls for two launches with options for up to six more for $6.5 million per launch. Space Commerce will coordinate the launches through its joint venture with the Soviet civilian space agency. NASA announced that it is offering to students 12.5 million tomato seeds that have been orbiting the earth for 5 1/2 years aboard the Long Duration Exposure Facility. A NASA sponsored program called "SEEDS" is designed as a classroom experiment to study the effects of long-term space exposure on living tissue. Next month, during the STS-32 mission, NASA plans to retrieve the Long Duration Exposure Facility. A globe-spanning network of space shuttle emergency landing strips has been completed, by adding giant nets to emergency site runways in Hawaii and Guam. Robert Crippen told reporters yesterday that the nets could be used to halt skidding shuttles on the runways, and means that NASA now has reasonable ability in an emergency "to deorbit whenever we want to." Officials at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center report that the center suffered only very minor damage from the severe weather, including tornadoes, that hit Huntsville, Alabama yesterday. Officials say the only reportable damage to the center at this point is to some power transmission lines. Local news media in Huntsville are reporting 16 dead and 300 injured as a result of the storms. ********** ----------------------------------------------------------------- Here's the broadcast schedule for public affairs events on NASA Select television. All times are Eastern. Saturday, Nov. 18..... 8:30 A.M. Coverage of the launch of the Cosmic Background Explorer satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base. Monday, Nov. 20....... 1:00 P.M. The NASA radio programs will be transmitted. (audio only) All events and times are subject to change without notice. ----------------------------------------------------------------- These reports are filed daily, Monday through Friday, at 12 noon, Eastern time. ----------------------------------------------------------------- A service of the Internal Communications Branch (LPC) NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. ------------------------------ Date: 16 Nov 89 03:23:09 GMT From: attcan!utgpu!utzoo!henry@uunet.uu.net (Henry Spencer) Subject: Re: Moon Colonies / Ant Tanks In article <14920@bfmny0.UU.NET> tneff@bfmny0.UU.NET (Tom Neff) writes: >Everyone seems to assume that in a Moon or Mars colony, things will be >bearable because you can go outside whenever you want. What a strange >and wishful notion! Suited EVA is a phenomenally expensive and risky >operation, restricted to the select few who absolutely need it. Today. Not necessarily tomorrow. -- A bit of tolerance is worth a | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology megabyte of flaming. | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu ------------------------------ Date: 15 Nov 89 21:45:28 GMT From: cs.utexas.edu!mailrus!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!utzoo!henry@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Henry Spencer) Subject: deadliness of environments In article writes: >Regarding the lunar colony/spacehab speculation, I assert once again that >the Moon is far deadlier than Alaska. An uprotected human being can survive >for up to 2 hours in a -50 winter, if he knows what he's doing... And if he's fortunate enough to have either shelter or no wind. Effective survival time is spectacularly shorter in flat farmland with a brisk wind. Carelessness helps too. People die of exposure every winter on the Canadian Prairies. To survive and flourish in most environments, you need knowledge and tools. Only in the tropics can you really do without. The Moon is quantitatively more difficult but is not the massive quantum leap that some people claim. Given a certain level of basic technology, space is actually a fairly benign place; it is far more *predictable* than almost any Earthly environment. Lunar houses need to be pressure-tight and must take care to conserve scarce volatiles, but they don't need to be built for massive snow loads, gale-force winds, or earthquakes, and thermal insulation is much easier. -- A bit of tolerance is worth a | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology megabyte of flaming. | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu ------------------------------ End of SPACE Digest V10 #257 *******************