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, 24 Feb 90 01:32:29 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: Reply-To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU From: space-request+@Andrew.CMU.EDU To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU Date: Sat, 24 Feb 90 01:32:07 -0500 (EST) Subject: SPACE Digest V11 #77 SPACE Digest Volume 11 : Issue 77 Today's Topics: Giotto Attitude NASA Headline News for 02/23/90 (Forwarded) Re: NASA Headline News for 02/22/90 (Forwarded) Re: Fun Space Fact #1: Launcher Development Costs (long) Payload Summary for 02/21/90 (Forwarded) Payload Status for 02/23/90 (Forwarded) NASA Headline News for 02/22/90 (Forwarded) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 23 Feb 90 09:09:58 SET From: ESC1325%ESOC.BITNET@cunyvm.cuny.edu Comment: CROSSNET mail via SMTP@INTERBIT Subject: Giotto Attitude Date: 23 February 1990, 09:04:59 SET From: Lutz Massonne +49 6151 886 701 ESC1325 at ESOC To: SPACE@ANGBAND.S1.GOV Subject: Giotto Attitude The spin axis being perpendicular on the orbital plane was chosen for thermal reasons. As the craft was left alone for four years without control, thermal simulations were made which showed that this attitude does not lead to overheating of certain parts. During controlled flight the spacecraft had been carefully controlled to observe a certain attitude strategy mostly for thermal (and ground link preservation) reasons. E.g. the high gain antenna could concentrate the sunlight onto the antenna feed if the sun shines into it at the wrong angle. Regards, Lutz Massonne +===================================+===============================+ | Lutz Massonne | ESC1325@ESOC.BITNET | | mbp Software&Systems GmbH | +49 6151 886 701 | | Orbit Attitude Division | | | European Space Operations Centre |This mail expresses my personal| | Robert-Bosch Str. 5 |opinion only, neither ESA's nor| | D-6100 Darmstadt, FRG |mbp's. | +===================================+===============================+ ------------------------------ Date: 23 Feb 90 17:32:23 GMT From: trident.arc.nasa.gov!yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Subject: NASA Headline News for 02/23/90 (Forwarded) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Friday, February 23, 1990 Audio: 202/755-1788 ----------------------------------------------------------------- This is NASA Headline News for Friday, February 23..... The STS-36 Atlantis shuttle launch is on hold pending the status of Commander Creighton's health and improvement in the weather. The rotating service structure was placed back around the orbiter yesterday afternoon. If mission managers decide to pick up the countdown for launch tomorrow morning, between midnight and 4:00 A.M, the structure will be retracted later today. An Arianespace 44-L rocket exploded last night shortly after launch at an altitude of 5.6 miles due to what appeared to be a fire in the propulsion system. Flames broke out in the first stage of the rocket before it was to separate at 2:30 minutes into the mission. The two Japanese communications satellites aboard were insured for $60 million. The Gamma Ray Observatory is scheduled to be fully powered up for the first time at the Kennedy Space Center Monday. A series of functional tests will start after final assembly operations, pre-power up and solar cell repair is completed this weekend. six solar cells on one of the eight panels are being replaced. Prelaunch testing of the Hubble Space Telescope in the Vertical Processing Facility at KSC continues with closeout activities and preparations for next week to replace the protective covering. Tests on the faint object camera started yesterday and continue today. A processing schedule developed to ready the telescope for launch April 12 would require the flight batteries to be installed within the telescope on March 16. And, the Magellan spacecraft is in normal cruise mode today and has successfully achieved most star scans. Analysis of a recent radar telemetry problem during the radar cruise test indicated the cause was probably the timing between the command and data subsystem and the telemetry and command unit. During the next 10 weeks, the spacecraft distance from Earth will continue to diminish at it passes through aphelion. It is now over 111 million Miles from Earth, travelling 60,000 Miles per hour relative to the sun. One-way light time is just over 10 minutes. ###### ----------------------------------------------------------------- Here's the broadcast schedule for public affairs events on NASA Select TV. All times are Eastern. Friday, February 23... 11:30 P.M. Weather permitting, coverage of launch only of the STS-36 window is open from 12 midnight to 4:00 A.M. Thursday, March 1... 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: 23 Feb 90 17:25:31 GMT From: pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!samsung!cs.utexas.edu!ut-emx!walt.cc.utexas.edu!wastoid@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Feulner ... Matthew Feulner) Subject: Re: NASA Headline News for 02/22/90 (Forwarded) In article <43434@ames.arc.nasa.gov> yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) writes: > >Arianespace will launch two Japanese satellites from Kourou, >French Guiana, this evening. The Superbird B, a communications >satellite, and the BS-2X, a direct TV broadcast satellite, will >provide enhanced services for over 10 years to Japanese viewers. > Anyone have information on the launch failure? I just heard it from a friend who heard it on the news. Matthew Feulner ------------------------------ Date: 23 Feb 90 19:08:31 GMT From: snorkelwacker!usc!cs.utexas.edu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!hogg@bloom-beacon.mit.edu (John Hogg) Subject: Re: Fun Space Fact #1: Launcher Development Costs (long) In article <3904@oolong.la.locus.com> todd@roulette.UUCP (Todd Johnson) writes: >In article <1990Feb20.173440.7976@utzoo.uucp> henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) writes: >>I dimly recall a design sketch from Jordin Kare's group for a laser >>launcher costing about half a billion dollars that could launch more >>than the entire shuttle fleet, for that matter. > >Henry, what were the anticipated spacecraft loads with the laser >launcher? Very high g loads would require a greater structural >mass although this trades off against lower launch costs. At >some point it gets more expensive to use a high g launcher than >even the Shuttle. I don't know what the latest figures are (why don't you ask Kare himself?) but from the Proceedings of the SDIO/DARPA Workshop on Laser Propulsion in July '86, we have: Initial Mass: 1000 kg Final Mass: 136 kg Peak Acceleration: 5.6 g Laser Power: 100 MW Graphs of cost estimates are also given. The cases considered are a 1 GW laser launching 1-ton payloads, and a 100 MW laser launching 200 lb payloads; each is plotted assuming a dedicated laser, and use of a laser built for other purposes. The 1 GW, dedicated version is more expensive than the shuttle at shuttle payload-to-orbit-per-year rates, since the capital cost of the laser dominates. However, at higher launch rates, the cost of electricity becomes the limiting factor. A dedicated laser bottoms out at about $150/lb to LEO (all figures 1986 $US), and this falls below $100/lb if the laser can be rented from a convenient defender of the free world. At that cost, the big laser is sending up 64 000 tons/year. Reread that sentence, and think about what would (and would not) pay at that volume and price. Hint: think of it as $200 000 for *every* ton, including the lowest-value ones. The costs given in this four-year-old workshop still exceed half a billion of anybody's dollars: the estimate used was $10/W for laser and optics, which means that the smaller proposed version still runs $1G for these items alone. For the 6 kg payloads that were mentioned in an earlier note, though, I suppose that something cheaper could be worked out. And the proposal used a capital cost of 20%/year; that is, the up-front expenditure was amortized over five years. This makes the financial situation much more reasonable. Quick summary: lasers looks very good if a *lot* of small payloads need launching. Small need not mean tiny. Small numbers of large payloads are still more cost-effectively sent up by rocket. --- John Hogg hogg@csri.utoronto.ca Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto 4-P vehicle: ``Let's leave everything on the ground except (Kantrowitz, 1986) Payload, Propellant, and Photons, Period.'' ------------------------------ Date: 22 Feb 90 19:18:30 GMT From: trident.arc.nasa.gov!yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Subject: Payload Summary for 02/21/90 (Forwarded) PAYLOAD STATUS REPORT Prepared at 5:00 p.m. Feb. 21, 1990 Mission STS-35/ASTRO-1 Payload managers are making plans to move the ASTRO-1 payload to Columbia's payload bay in March in preparation for the STS-35 mission. Launch is now scheduled for no earlier than May 9. All ASTRO-1 and Broad Band X-ray Telescope (BBXRT) power-on testing has been completed. Requirements for CITE testing have been fulfilled. The CITE (Cargo Integration Test Equipment) stand in the Operations and Checkout (O&C) building mimics the Space Shuttle, thus allowing important data and communications check- outs to be tested prior to payload installation in the payload bay. Functional verification tests between the BBXRT and the Payload Operations Control Center (POCC) have also been satisfac- torily completed. Other final test stand close-out items included a BBXRT power-on voltage test and closed-loop testing. The Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT) camera has been reconditioned. The HUT camera will not need reconditioning until mid-March. New soft baffle covers have been installed on the tele- scopes. These new covers will be easier to remove and re-install than the original hard covers. Daily GN2 purge checks are being performed on the Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photopolarimeter Experi- ment (WUPPE). The actual date of transfer to the Orbiter Processing Facility will be determined by the Columbia's processing schedule. Canister No. 2 will be used to move ASTRO-1 from the O&C in an overnight move. Installation into Columbia's payload bay is expected to take about one shift. Referred to jointly as ASTRO-1, the payload consists of an Instrument Pointing System (IPS), a Spacelab Pallet System (SPS), associated support structures, a cruciform structure with 3 science experiments (telescopes), and a Star Tracker (ST). The cruciform is designed to mechanically interface with the IPS adapater plate and with the payload clamping system. The scien- tific instruments include the Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photopolarimeter Experiment (WUPPE), the Hopkings Ultraviolet (HUT), and the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT). Associated data recorders complete the basic payload hardware. ------------------------------ Date: 23 Feb 90 21:28:20 GMT From: trident.arc.nasa.gov!yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Subject: Payload Status for 02/23/90 (Forwarded) Daily Status/KSC Payload Management and Operations 02-23-90 - STS-31R HST (at VPF) - Functional testing was completed yesterday. Today access will be removed along with aft shroud closeout. - STS-32R SYNCOM/LDEF (at SAEF-2) LDEF deintegration continues. - STS-35 ASTRO-1/BBXRT (at O&C) - BBXRT clearance checks were worked yesterday and will continue today. - STS-40 SLS-1 (at O&C) - The systems test was active yesterday and will continue today. Experiment functional checks will also continue today. ASCS N2 servicing will start today. - STS-42 IML (at O&C) - Racks 3, 9, and 11 staging activities were performed yesterday. Today staging activities will be performed on racks 8 and 11. - STS-45 Atlas-1 (at O&C) - Pallet keel installation and orthogrid hardpoint installation operations will continue today. - STS-46 TSS-1 (at O&C) - PPCU checkout will continue today. ------------------------------ Date: 22 Feb 90 19:19:43 GMT From: trident.arc.nasa.gov!yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Subject: NASA Headline News for 02/22/90 (Forwarded) We apologive for the delay in filing Headline News ----------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday, Februay 22, 1990 Audio: 202/755-1788 ----------------------------------------------------------------- This is NASA Headline News for Thursday, February 22...... The STS-36 Atlantis shuttle launch at the Kennedy Space Center is still on hold. A tentative delay was announced due to Commander Creighton's upper respiratory tract infection. The bad weather at the Cape also continues to be observed. Launch officials will determine propellant loading status for a possible launch tomorrow. The Kennedy Space Center reports continued prohibitive weather with a probability of violating launch criteria as 80% on Saturday and decreasing to 30% on Sunday morning. NASA will provide five Space Shuttle external tanks on orbit for Global Outpost Inc., of Alexandria, Virginia, under a launch services agreement to be negotiated, the Company reported last week. Global outpost expects to market the tanks as platforms for microgravity and other research. Arianespace will launch two Japanese satellites from Kourou, French Guiana, this evening. The Superbird B, a communications satellite, and the BS-2X, a direct TV broadcast satellite, will provide enhanced services for over 10 years to Japanese viewers. The West German ROSAT X-ray imaging satellite was delivered to Cape Canaveral AFS last Tuesday in preparation for launch on an Air Force Delta II booster this May or June. ROSAT -- the Roentegen Satellite -- will conduct the first all-sky survey using an imaging X-ray telescope. It is a cooperative project between NASA and West Germany in cooperation with the UK. Aerospace Daily says further studies during fiscal 1990 on space station microgravity conditions stalled when Congress rejected NASA'S request to use $9 million for advanced studies. Director of the Center for the Space Processing of Engineering Materials at Vanderbilt University and changes in the overall center of gravity resulting from using the station as a "transportation node." [??? -PEY] Soviet space officials announced plans to consider extending missions on the Mir space station to as long as 18 months to collect medical data needed to prepare cosmonauts for manned flights to Mars. Aerospace Daily quotes Vladimir Titov, the cosmonaut who spent 366 days on Mir, as saying he recovered quickly from the effects due to an exercise program while on the station. * * * * * * ----------------------------------------------------------------- Here's the broadcast schedule for public affairs events on NASA Select TV. All times are Eastern. Thursday, February 22...... 11:30 PM Weather permitting, coverage of launch-only of the STS-36 mission. Window is open from 12 midnight to 4:00 AM. 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. ------------------------------ End of SPACE Digest V11 #77 *******************