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 ; Sat, 25 Nov 89 01:38:32 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: Reply-To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU From: space-request+@Andrew.CMU.EDU To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU Date: Sat, 25 Nov 89 01:37:55 -0500 (EST) Subject: SPACE Digest V10 #271 SPACE Digest Volume 10 : Issue 271 Today's Topics: Progress M to leave USSR's Mir in two days Tickets to Mars! Only $100 billion per head! Re: Steam powered solar power sats (SPSPS) Antimatter Drives. NASA Headline News for 11/22/89 (Forwarded) Steam powered solar power sats (SPSPS) Please help us Re: Antimatter Drives. Re: Antimatter Drives and Area 51 Re: Light Flashes ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 23 Nov 89 00:11:04 EST From: Glenn Chapman Subject: Progress M to leave USSR's Mir in two days The USSR has finally announced on short wave today (Nov. 21) that the Progress M tanker will be removed in about 2 days, and the new expansion D module (20 tonne addition to Mir) will lift off on Sunday Nov. 26. Currently the crew is doing extensive work with the Kvant Astrophysical module telescopes. The MIT/Harvard cable is now carrying a program called Scola which shows TV news hours from around the world (Japanese, Italian, Israeli, East German and Soviet seem to be regulars, with other interesting ones like Iranian and Singapore added on occasion - almost too much of a good thing.) I will try and add coverage of announcements there when possible. I suggest that others watch for similar programs on their unviersity cable networks. Scola is a cooperative network program of several universities. In the first of these interestingly on the Soviet TV nightly news there has been extensive coverage of the current NASA shuttle mission (though my Russian is not good enough to tell exactly what has been said). When the Progress is dropped we will know that the expansion of Mir is proceeding on the new schedule. Glenn Chapman MIT Lincoln Lab ------------------------------ Date: 21 Nov 89 23:10:16 GMT From: ibmpa!szabonj@uunet.uu.net (Nick Szabo) Subject: Tickets to Mars! Only $100 billion per head! From the Tues. Nov. 21 San Fransisco Chronicle, without permission: #begin quote NASA Study Puts 4 People on Mars in 2011 A NASA team has fleshed out President Bush's visions of U.S. outposts on the moon and Mars with a script that would have four human beings arrive on the red planet in 2011, and returning for a 600-day stay in 2018. The study, delivered to the National Space Council, does not contain any estimates of cost, but Director Richard Darman of the Office of Management and Budget has put the price tag of going to Mars at $400 billion. .... life may exist on Mars, the study said, "in underground habitats.." .... Any such large-scale endeavors, the report says, require launch vehicles with much greater capacity to left heavy payloads: approximately 60 metric tons (132,000 pounds) for the lunar outpost and 140 metric tons (309,000 pounds) for the Mars outpost. The shuttle's cargo capacity, ordered to be lowered as a result of the Challenger shuttle accident, is 38,000 pounds. #end quote BTW, that's not a joke, that's NASA. Maybe some taxpayers have a sense of humor. -- -------------------------------------------- Nick Szabo uunet!ibmsupt!szabonj These opinions are not related to Big Blue's ------------------------------ Date: 22 Nov 89 21:40:25 GMT From: fox!portal!cup.portal.com!hkhenson@apple.com (H Keith Henson) Subject: Re: Steam powered solar power sats (SPSPS) A math error in one of the Boeing studies led them to reject thermal cycle power plants, but if powersats ever get built there is a good chance they might be based on steam. Eric Drexler (Mr. Nanotech) and I jointly hold a patent (the dust filled radiator) on a method to get rid of the waste heat at low temperature. There is a writeup on this in the third volumn of the Princeton SMF Conf. proceedings. Keith Henson ------------------------------ Date: 20 Nov 89 17:22:10 GMT From: mcsun!ukc!stc!root44!hrc63!mrcu!paj@uunet.uu.net (Paul Johnson) Subject: Antimatter Drives. A couple of months ago I read Robert Forward's book "Mirror Matter" in which he suggests that the practical use of antimatter is now possible. Are his ideas impractical? If not, what is being done about them? -- Paul Johnson.---------------------------------------------------------------- GEC-Marconi Research are not | Don't worry: Baldrick has a Cunning Plan! responsible for my opinions. | (Graffiti on East side of Berlin Wall) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: 22 Nov 89 19:07:19 GMT From: trident.arc.nasa.gov!yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Subject: NASA Headline News for 11/22/89 (Forwarded) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, November 22, 1989 Audio: 202/755-1788 ----------------------------------------------------------------- This is NASA Headline News for Wednesday, November 22..... Everything is on schedule for launch of the space shuttle orbiter Discovery. Loading of the external tank began earlier today and the crew was on schedule for boarding the spacecraft. The Department of Defense mission is scheduled to be launched today sometime during a four hour period that begins at 6:30 P.M., Eastern time. NASA Select television will begin launch coverage at 5:30 P.M. Weather conditions remain favorable for the launch window. There is only a 20 percent chance of violating weather criteria. This is only the third time a shuttle has been launched after dark. There will be no TV coverage or mission status reports during the flight. Landing at Edwards Air Force Base will be covered by NASA Select TV. Announcement of the exact landing time will come 24 hours before conclusion of the mission. Johnson Space Center has released the menu for Thanksgiving day dinner aboard the Discovery...diced turkey and gravy, broccoli au gratin, potato patties, cranberry sauce and pumpkin muffins. Apparently there's no clean way to eat pie in zero-g...thus the muffins. The manufacturing plant that produces high quality rayon yarn for solid rocket motors used by NASA and the Department of Defense remains closed while hazardous chemicals are being removed from the site. The Avtex Fibers facility in Front Royal, Virginia, was closed down November 10 when it lost a court battle over alleged pollution of the Shenandoah River. Intense solar activity continues to bombard the Magellan spacecraft on its interplanetary flight to Venus. Cruise operations have been bothered by star scanner and gyro problems, but the general health of the spacecraft remains good. There has been some solar panel degradation because of the severe solar activity, but the loss is well within an allowable amount. The JPL managed spacecraft is traveling at a velocity of about 70-thousand miles per hour relative to Earth. * * * * ----------------------------------------------------------------- Here's the broadcast schedule for public affairs events on NASA Select TV. All times are Eastern. There will be no in-flight television coverage of the STS-33 space shuttle mission. The date and time of NASA Select landing television of the mission cannot be determined at this time. Thursday, November 30..... 11:30 A.M. NASA Update will be transmitted. 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: 20 Nov 89 17:18:39 GMT From: mcsun!ukc!stc!root44!hrc63!mrcu!paj@uunet.uu.net (Paul Johnson) Subject: Steam powered solar power sats (SPSPS) On a similar line to my previous post on Forward's antimatter ideas, both he and everyone else seem to be proposing solar power satalites using square miles of solar cells. Why not use mirrors (cheap & light: make them out of sodium) and run a steam turbine. Maybe steam is not the most ideal working fluid, but perhaps vaporised sodium could be used, or maybe something even more esoteric?. I guess this depends on the cost per kilo to Clarke orbit. I assume I am not the first to think of this (in fact I got the idea from Clarke: "Islands in the Sky") so does anyone know how much cheaper it has to get before the lightness of solar cells is outweighed by their cost? BTW, how much would solar cell production by the square mile damage the environment? Similarly, for power down to Earth, everyone assumes microwaves. Why not set up an antimatter factory in orbit and ship a few milligrammes back down to Earth every so often? I hope these are not dumb questions. I have read the past 250+ messages before posting. -- Paul Johnson.---------------------------------------------------------------- GEC-Marconi Research are not | Don't worry: Baldrick has a Cunning Plan! responsible for my opinions. | (Graffiti on East side of Berlin Wall) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: 22 Nov 89 23:17:48 GMT From: gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!samsung!aplcen!jhunix!chunlei@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Chunlei Guo) Subject: Please help us Sorry to interrupt, but we really need your help very pressingly. PLEASE HELP FOR THE SAKE OF HUMAN RIGHTS %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 40,000 CHINESE STUDENTS STRANDED IN THE US AFTER THE BEIJING MASSACRE ARE RACING AGAINST TIME TO HEAD OFF A FEARED PRESIDENTIAL VETO A BILL DESIGNED TO GUARANTEE THEIR SAFETY 40,000 Chinese students studying in the U.S., many branded as "counter- revolutionary" by the Beijing regime and thus facing certain persecution if forced back to China, are calling on Americans to encourage President Bush to sign H.R.2712. The bill, introduced by Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-California), is designed to protect the students who have enthusiastically participated in the pro-democracy movement and thus fear retribution at home by a government intent on crushing any challenge to its totalitarian powers. The bill would waive the current requirement that the students go back to China for 2 years after finishing their current studies. This bill has just been passed unanimously by both the House and Senate despite an intensive drive to block the bill launched by the Bush Administration. However, the Administration's last-minute attempt to block the bill still dismays and conderns the students. Because of the when the ideals of freedom and democracy are sweeping Eastern Europe, defeat of this bill is an award to the repression of the Chinese regime and a blow against democracy. Many American people have offered their supports on the passing of the bill through the Congress. We are sincerely grateful for those supports and are calling on all American people to urge President Bush, by calling (202)-456-7639, to sign H.R.2712 into law. If you are interested in more information on this issue, please read the news group: soc.culture.china. Please help. Please pick up your phone and call the president Bush to show your support on HR-2712 bill. Many, many thanks to you from all Chinese students. ------------------------------ Date: 23 Nov 89 17:53:27 GMT From: cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!mailrus!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!ists!yunexus!utzoo!henry@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Henry Spencer) Subject: Re: Antimatter Drives. In article <265@oasis.mrcu> paj@mrcu (Paul Johnson) writes: >A couple of months ago I read Robert Forward's book "Mirror Matter" in >which he suggests that the practical use of antimatter is now >possible. Are his ideas impractical? If not, what is being done >about them? They appear to be practical, but nobody is putting big bucks into making them real and finding out how well they work. The only proven use of antimatter is the production of Nobel Prizes in physics. :-) Various people are doing small projects aimed at better handling of antiprotons and such, and the USAF is funding some study work on antimatter propulsion. Nobody has found any fundamental obstacles, but nobody is pushing hard for practical results either. Even given a continued absence of fundamental obstacles, there is still a lot of engineering development needed, and getting results quickly would be expensive. -- 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: 23 Nov 89 18:40:28 GMT From: mailrus!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!ists!yunexus!utzoo!henry@uunet.uu.net (Henry Spencer) Subject: Re: Antimatter Drives and Area 51 In article <256ADF5C.665B@drivax.UUCP> macleod@drivax.UUCP (MacLeod) writes: >one Robert Lazar, formerly employed by the government at the mysterious >Area 51, says that the US government has 500 pounds of element 115, >which somehow produces antimatter when irradiated. ... >This fuel is used to drive waveguide-type gravity amplifiers which >are the FTL drive components of nine alien spacecraft stored in hangars >out at Area 51 ... >For some odd reason the national media have not paid any attention... Probably because they think it's bullshit from a crackpot. I think they're right. I trust he has only his unsupported word for this, no *evidence*? Stories along this sort of line have been cropping up for decades. They always seem to fall apart when you ask questions like: Why hasn't any of this technology shown up in operational military systems, when the USAF and others spend many billions of dollars on grossly inferior technology? How has everyone working on these projects been brainwashed into maintaining total security, i.e. much better security than that surrounding Watergate or the Iran affair, when one good leak accompanied by real evidence would get the leaker's name in the history books for the next thousand years? How is it that the US military has a world monopoly on alien spaceships? -- That's not a joke, that's | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology NASA. -Nick Szabo | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Nov 89 12:42:10 EST From: Paul Downey Subject: Re: Light Flashes >Subject: Apollo cosmic ray flashes > >Does anyone know any details about the flashes that the Apollo >astronauts observed, the ones that turned out to be cosmic ray >primaries ripping through their retinas? What color were the flashes? >(White, I'd expect.) Were there any afterimages? How bright were >they? Bright enough to be visible in sunlight, or only visible in a >darkened spacecraft? ...quoting from "Biomedical Results From Skylab", (Skylab 4 Crew Observations, p. 25) "We all experienced light flashes. We noticed on our flight that they were well correlated with the South Atlantic anomaly. After some major flares on the Sun during one night, we saw a high number of flashes. Most of them appeared as a white, double elongated flash, perhaps double in some cases as other people have described, and Bill Pogue and I also saw the ones that looked like a whole multitude of pollywogs; very short ones, many of them of low intensity. For us, the latter kind occurred on the second orbit after we saw the very bright ones, suggesting they are of lower energy but of many more particles. Also, I saw one green flash. Not a slightly green flash but a good old St. Patrick's Day green flash, and exceptionally bright." Also, chapter 14 describes a short study done on the subject which is rather inconclusive, other than saying that a 10 minute period of dark adaptation is necessary for better observation of the flashes. They tried to correlate frequency of flashes with latitude (as more particles make it through the magnetic field farther away from the equator), but didn't have enough data to make any conclusive statements. :-). ------------------------------ End of SPACE Digest V10 #271 *******************