Return-path: X-Andrew-Authenticated-as: 32766 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 ; Tue, 9 Jan 90 13:38:21 -0500 (EST) Received: from beak.andrew.cmu.edu via qmail ID ; Fri, 5 Jan 90 01:35:29 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: Reply-To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU From: space-request+@Andrew.CMU.EDU To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU Date: Fri, 5 Jan 90 01:29:57 -0500 (EST) Subject: SPACE Digest V10 #371 SPACE Digest Volume 10 : Issue 371 Today's Topics: Re: Big Bang: Did it happen? another sad day Re: New years eve 1999 Re: another sad day Space grant college and fellowship program: designated space grant colleges/consortia (Forwarded) Re: Mars rovers Re: proposed "space-mail" incentive Launching AUSSAT on Chinese rockets NASA Headline News for 12/28/89 (Forwarded) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 20 Dec 89 17:37:11 GMT From: zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!utzoo!henry@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Henry Spencer) Subject: Re: Big Bang: Did it happen? In article <9364@hoptoad.uucp> tim@hoptoad.UUCP (Tim Maroney) writes: >I've often wondered about this. So many scientists seem to take the >dark matter for granted, but I've yet to see any clear reason for >postulating it other than a sort of religious dogma that the universe >will eventually recollapse. Is there really any stronger basis... It is very difficult to explain either the motions of stars in our galaxy or the motions of galaxies in clusters without assuming that there is quite a bit of extra mass present somewhere. Galactic velocities are too high for clusters to survive unless there is extra mass present to raise the clusters' escape velocities. The distribution of star velocities in our galaxy is grossly wrong if you assume no dark mass; it doesn't fall off nearly quickly enough as you go out from the center, and the only way to account for it is to assume considerable extra mass which is much more spread out than the visible mass. Now, whether this extra mass is enough to close the universe is a different question. As I understand it, one reason for suspecting an Omega of 1 (universe flat, precisely balanced between closed and open) is that the current Omega is within an order of magnitude or so of 1, and differences from 1 get magnified with time. That is, it must have been *very* close to 1 in the beginning to be this close now. This is considered a suspicious coincidence; pre-inflationary theories offer no reason for it. -- 1755 EST, Dec 14, 1972: human | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology exploration of space terminates| uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu ------------------------------ Date: 20 Dec 89 18:43:35 GMT From: cs.utexas.edu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!utzoo!henry@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Henry Spencer) Subject: another sad day Twenty-one years ago tomorrow (Wed 21st), at 0751 EST, the first ship set sail for the Moon. Eight more sailed in the following four years. The last three were broken up, unused, a few years later. There have been no more. -- 1972: Saturn V #15 flight-ready| Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology 1989: birds nesting in engines | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu ------------------------------ Date: 18 Dec 89 16:18:11 GMT From: skipper!shafer@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Mary Shafer (OFV)) Subject: Re: New years eve 1999 In article <5974@mentor.cc.purdue.edu> acu@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Floyd McWilliams) writes: In article <3959@convex.UUCP> dodson@convex.COM (Dave Dodson) writes: >this millenium ends at the end of December in the year 2000... >Hint: There was no year 0, so the first millenium was year 1 _through_ year >1000, the second from 1001 through 2000, and the third from 2001 through 3000. Nope. The first millenium was year 1 through 999. The second millenium is 1000 through 1999. The trick is, the first millenium got shafted out of a year. It's not very fair, of course, and anybody who was around during the first millenium is invited to sue The Calendar People at the court of law most convenient for them. Actually, since a millenium is a thousand years, one ended last night at midnight, too. How are you defining _this_ millenium? I define it as 1000 to 1999, personally. -- Mary Shafer shafer@skipper.dfrf.nasa.gov or ames!skipper.dfrf.nasa.gov!shafer NASA Ames Dryden Flight Research Facility, Edwards, CA Of course I don't speak for NASA ------------------------------ Date: 21 Dec 89 13:38:55 GMT From: xylogics!barnes@CS.BU.EDU (Jim Barnes) Subject: Re: another sad day In article <1989Dec20.184335.20255@utzoo.uucp> henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) writes: >-- >1972: Saturn V #15 flight-ready| Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology >1989: birds nesting in engines |uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Well, at least the money wasn't a total waste! ;-} ---- Jim Barnes (barnes@Xylogics.COM) ------------------------------ Date: 21 Dec 89 19:00:59 GMT From: trident.arc.nasa.gov!yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Subject: Space grant college and fellowship program: designated space grant colleges/consortia (Forwarded) SPACE GRANT COLLEGE AND FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM DESIGNATED SPACE GRANT COLLEGES/CONSORTIA 1. Alabama Space Grant Consortium o University of Alabama in Huntsville o Alabama A&M University, Normal o University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa o Auburn University o University of Alabama at Birmingham 2. Arizona Space Grant College Consortium o University of Arizona, Tucson o Arizona State University, Tempe o Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff 3. California Space Grant Consortium and Fellowship Program o University of California, Berkeley o University of California at San Diego o University of California at Los Angeles 4. Colorado Space Grant Consortium o University of Colorado, Boulder o Fort Lewis College, Durango o Colorado State University, Fort Collins o Mesa State College, Grand Junction o University of Colorado, Colorado Springs o University of Southern Colorado, Pueblo 5. Cornell Space Grant College Consortium o Cornell University, Ithaca, NY o Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY 6. Florida Space Grant Consortium o University of Florida, Gainesville o Florida A&M University, Tallahassee o Florida State University, Tallahassee o University of Miami 7. Georgia Institute of Technology Space Grant Consortium o Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta o Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta o Georgia State University, Atlanta o Tuskegee University, Ala. 8. University of Hawaii, Manoa 9. Aerospace Illinois Space Grant Consortium o Illinois Space Institute o University of Chicago o University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign o University of Illinois, Chicago o Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago o Northwestern University, Evanston 10. Iowa Space Grant College Consortia o Iowa State University, Ames o University of Iowa, Iowa City o University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls 11. The Johns Hopkins Space Grant Consortium o The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore o Morgan State University, Baltimore o Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore 12. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge 13. Michigan Space Grant College Program o University of Michigan, Ann Arbor o Wayne State University, Detroit o Michigan Technological University, Houghton o Saginaw Valley State University, University Center 14. New Mexico Space Grant Consortium o New Mexico State University, Las Cruces o University of New Mexico, Albuquerque 15. Ohio Aerospace Institute o University of Akron o University of Cincinnati o Cleveland State University o University of Dayton o Ohio State University, Columbus o Ohio University, Athens o University of Toledo o Wright State University, Dayton o Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland 16. Pennsylvania State University, University Park 17. Rocky Mountain Space Grant Consortium o Utah State University, Logan o University of Utah, Salt Lake City o University of Denver, Colo. 18. Tennessee Valley Aerospace Consortium o Fisk University, Nashville o Vanderbilt University, Nashville o Tennessee State University, Nashville 19. Texas Space Grant Consortium o University of Texas, Austin o University of Texas at Arlington o Texas A&M University, College Station o University of Texas at El Paso o Baylor University, Waco o University of Texas at San Antonio o UT Health Science Center, Houston o Texas Southern University, Houston o UT Health Science Center, San Antonio o Texas Christian University, Fort Worth o UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas o Rice University, Houston o University of Houston o Prairie View A&M University o University of Houston at Clear Lake o Southern Methodist University, Dallas o Texas A&M University at Galveston o Texas Technological University, Lubbock o Texas A&I University, Kingsville 20. Virginia Space Grant Consortium o University of Virginia, Charlottesville o Hampton University o College of William and Mary, Williamsburg o Old Dominion University, Norfolk o Virginia Polytechnical Institute and State University, Blacksburg 21. University of Washington, Seattle ------------------------------ Date: 19 Dec 89 07:36:17 GMT From: zephyr.ens.tek.com!tektronix!percy!parsely!bucket!leonard@uunet.uu.net (Leonard Erickson) Subject: Re: Mars rovers [long argument for getting around the time-lag and AI problems of a Mars rover by slowing it down deleted] Fine, the rover is creeping along at the feet feet per hour that you suggest is safe. Now something unexpected happens. The surface shifts. (loose rocks hidden by dust, a dust pocket, whatever] The rover *must* make a real time response. If it isn't autonomous, it can't. You can handle some things be designing in recovery gear (like those levers for righting it that you mentioned) but the odds are against you. What do you do it it manages to "high center" itself? or if it is traversing a slope and starts to slip? I'll agree that your rover will work on Mars the day after it has operated for a year with only a time delayed radio link for support in Antarica.... (if it wasn't for rain and floods, I'd have suggested a desert) -- Leonard Erickson ...!tektronix!reed!percival!bucket!leonard CIS: [70465,203] "I'm all in favor of keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of fools. Let's start with typewriters." -- Solomon Short ------------------------------ Date: 22 Dec 89 15:14:27 GMT From: clyde.concordia.ca!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!utzoo!kcarroll@uunet.uu.net (Kieran A. Carroll) Subject: Re: proposed "space-mail" incentive jim@pnet01.cts.COM (Jim Bowery) writes: > Steve Emmerson writes: > >The few discussions on this topic have been interesting, but haven't > >addressed the original question, viz. a description (preferably financial) > >of those currently existing demands for `space-mail' services which are > >analogous to the early-aviation demand for more rapid mail delivery. > > Save your breath, Steve. Henry and Kieran are just making noises. > HR2674 is the correct solution. > Gosh. How can any of us disagree with such a well-supported argument as this one? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ New product Announcement: Be the first (but probably not the last) on your block to get a "I've Been Personally Insulted By Jim Bowery" button. Something that you can wear with pride, as his coveted insults are only dealt out to those whose reasoning he can't shake :-) -- Kieran A. Carroll @ U of Toronto Aerospace Institute uunet!attcan!utzoo!kcarroll kcarroll@zoo.toronto.edu ------------------------------ Date: 27 Dec 89 00:03:03 GMT From: munnari.oz.au!basser!metro!bunyip!moondance!batserver.cs.uq.oz.au!anthony@uunet.uu.net (Anthony Lee) Subject: Launching AUSSAT on Chinese rockets Recently, President Bush approved the sale of three communication satellites to China. This has made way for the Chinese government to launch the AUSSAT satellites for the Australian government. Apparently the Chinese military can launch the satellites for half the price of the shuttle. After the massacre of the Chinese students in June by the Chinese government all high level contact (including the sale of military hardware) is supposed to be stopped between the US and China. How could Bush possibly approve the sale of the satellites ? The money that the Chinese government received for the launch of the AUSSAT satellites is used to further the research in rockets in the Chinese Army, both launch rockets and ICBMs. The same Army that killed thousands of unarmed civilans. Furthermore, the Chinese government have been actively involved in the sale of Silkworm missiles to the Iranians. They have showed contempt for the US government and we cannot guarantee that there will be no future sales. Bush should not be pressured and bow to the Chinese government. Only through high level sanctions can the Chinese government realised that she cannot continued in her oppressive ways. Beside political considerations, what is the record of launches for the Long March rockets ? By lauching AUSSAT at half the price of the shuttle, the Chinese government is clearly trying to artifically force down the prices of the launch industry and to beat the competition. This is clearly an unfair trade practice, US has always maintain that trade should be fair and again Bush is bowing to the Chinese government. -- Anthony Lee (Humble PhD student) (Alias Time Lord Doctor) ACSnet: anthony@batserver.cs.uq.oz TEL:(+617) 3712651 Internet: anthony@batserver.cs.uq.oz.au (+617) 3774139 (w) SNAIL: Dept Comp. Science, University of Qld, St Lucia, Qld 4067, Australia ------------------------------ Date: 28 Dec 89 21:13:56 GMT From: trident.arc.nasa.gov!yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Subject: NASA Headline News for 12/28/89 (Forwarded) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday, December 28, 1989 Audio: 202/755-1788 ----------------------------------------------------------------- This is NASA Headline News for Thursday, December 28.... The Galileo spacecraft...presently 12 and one-half million miles from Earth...continues on its course towards a close approach to Venus on February 9. The spacecraft will swing around Venus to get a gravity assist boost in velocity. Galileo will also receive two gravity assist boosts from two flybys of Earth...in December 1990 and '92...before heading off for the planet Jupiter. Sensors are being checked out now for the Venus close approach. Arrival at Jupiter won't occur until December 1995. Aerospace Daily reports that a French cosmonaut will spend two weeks aboard the Soviet Union's Mir space station in late 1992. The French space agency, CNES, will pay Glavkosmos $12 million for the flight. The agreement, signed December 23, calls for 12 full days of research involving 13 experiments developed by CNES. The flight will include experiments on physiology, space biology and biotechnology. A reduced manpower crew continues to work at space shuttle launch pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center. Additional work is being done on the launch processing system in the launch control center. Hughes technicians have begun a trickle charge of the SYNCOM communications satellite batteries. Martin Marietta will try again this evening to launch its Titan 3 commercial booster at Cape Canaveral. Liftoff is scheduled for 7:05 P.M., Eastern time. The Titan carries a British Defense Ministry Skynet 4A and a Japanese Communications Satellite Company JCSAT-2. The New York Times says Japanese scientists are conducting experiments with small gyroscopes that apparently defy the law of gravity...under certain conditions. The experiments indicate weight changes when mechanical gyroscopes are spun in certain directions. Dr. Robert Park, a physicist at the University of Maryland, says, "it's an astounding claim...but it's almost certainly wrong". * * * ----------------------------------------------------------------- Here's the broadcast schedule for public affairs events on NASA Select TV. All times are Eastern. Thursday, January 4..... 11:30 A.M. NASA Update will be transmitted. NASA Select television will provide extensive coverage of the STS-32 space shuttle mission. A schedule of events will be filed on Tuesday, January 2. ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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. ------------------------------ End of SPACE Digest V10 #371 *******************