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 ; Tue, 27 Mar 90 01:54:57 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: Reply-To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU From: space-request+@Andrew.CMU.EDU To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU Date: Tue, 27 Mar 90 01:54:14 -0500 (EST) Subject: SPACE Digest V11 #189 SPACE Digest Volume 11 : Issue 189 Today's Topics: Re: What does it cost to push a pound into orbit? * SpaceNews 26-Mar-90 * Re: For All Mankind - Great Movie!!!!! If Freedom is unbuildable, *then* what? Mars Rover Update (Forwarded) - 03/26/90 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 26 Mar 90 20:14:56 GMT From: eagle!news@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Dave McKissock) Subject: Re: What does it cost to push a pound into orbit? In article <5211@itivax.iti.org>, Allen W. Sherzer writes: >Well, I found the following information in recent issues of Avation Week. >These numbers refelect recent launches and are not 'list price'. I took >the cost of launch and divided by max payload to leo and got: >Vehicle Cost of launch Payload (lbs) Cost/Payload Notes >Shuttle $300 mil 50,000 (LEO) $6,000 [1] Here at NASA Lewis Research Center, when we perform Life Cycle Cost calculations for Space Station we use $3000 / lb for Shuttle launch costs. -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Dave McKissock sakissoc@csd.lerc.nasa.gov Note: If you wish to respond to me directly, DON'T SEND THE MSG TO the REPLY TO address, as it won't work. Instead use the above address. ********************************************************************** Opinions expressed herein probably bear absolutely no resemblance to the official NASA position ------------------------------ Date: 25 Mar 90 02:14:51 GMT From: att!tsdiag!ka2qhd!kd2bd@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (John Magliacane) Subject: * SpaceNews 26-Mar-90 * Bulletin ID: SPC0326 ========= SpaceNews ========= MONDAY MARCH 26, 1990 SpaceNews originates at KD2BD in Wall Township, NJ, and is distributed weekly around the world on USENET and Amateur Packet Radio. It is available for UNLIMITED worldwide distribution. * MUSES-A NEWS * ================ Hiten (MUSES-A) made the first lunar swingby at 05h04m09s JST (UT+9h) on 19th at the distance 14,073km, 27 minutes earlier Hiten separated a lunar orbiter and its rocket put it in lunar orbit. The orbiter was named HAGOROMO, which means "angel's robe" in Japanese. [Source: The Yomiuri Shimbun, March 19 evening edition] * DOVE NEWS * ============= N4HY reports that the crash of the DOVE computer which had caused the key-down condition has been brought under control. The DOVE transmitter was blocking the uplink command channel and the software crash was inhibiting the on/off cycling of the transmitter. The solid key-down condition caused DOVE's batteries to discharge far enough that Dave, W5UN was able to send a special "hard reboot" reset command using his moonbounce (EME) antenna array in Texas. Congratulations and thanks to W5UN and N4HY for their heroic rescue efforts. [From: Tom, W3IWI via Amateur Packet Radio] * AMATEUR RADIO ACTIVITY FROM MIR * =================================== Soviet cosmonauts Anatoly Soloviev (U6MIR) and Alexander Balandin (U7MIR) began Amateur Radio operations from the MIR space station on March 9th, according to Leo, RA3AT. Most activity is expected to occur on or near 145.500 MHz FM, with operations occuring after 18:00 UTC on weekdays and anytime on weekends. QSL cards for this operation are available via UW3AX at P.O. Box 679, Moscow 107207, USSR (S.A.S.E. please). * SHUTTLE NEWS * ================ KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - THURSDAY, MARCH 22, 1990 - 11:30 a.m. STS-31 - DISCOVERY (OV-103) - LAUNCH PAD 39-B This morning, workers successfully completed loading hypergolic propellants into Discovery's onboard storage tanks and the pad has been opened for normal work. Monomethylhydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide propellants were loaded into the orbital maneuvering system and reaction control system storage tanks. Hydrazine was loaded into the orbiter's auxiliary power unit storage tanks and the boosters' hydraulic power unit storage tanks. Today, engine technicians will inspect a teflon coated seal at the joint between the engine 2 low pressure fuel turbo pump and the orbiter main propulsion system. A leak was detected at this joint during the helium signature test. This is a 12-inch diameter line at the engine to orbiter interface. STS-35 - COLUMBIA (OV-102) - OPF BAY 1 Electrical connections between Astro and the orbiter are continuing and testing will follow. Connections of the Broad Band X-ray Telescope are underway today. An engine flight readiness test was conducted yesterday. During this routine test, engine start is simulated, valves are cycled and sensors and transducers are calibrated. This week, checks of the water spray boilers, Ku-band antenna testing and leak checks of the elevon cove seal area are underway. Thermal protection system operations are continuing around the S-band antenna and landing gear doors. [From: Peter E. Yee @ NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA] * HAM RADIO INFO * ================== Interested in learning more about the Amateur Radio Service? For information on licensing requirements and operating privileges, write: The American Radio Relay League 225 Main Street Newington, Connecticut 06111 U.S.A. * FEEDBACK WELCOMED * ===================== Feedback regarding SpaceNews can be directed to the editor (John) via any of the following paths: UUCP : ucbvax!rutgers!petsd!tsdiag!ka2qhd!kd2bd PACKET : KD2BD @ NN2Z.NJ.USA.NA MAIL : John A. Magliacane Department of Electronics Technology Brookdale Community College Newman Springs Road Lincroft, New Jersey 07738 U.S.A. -- AMPR : KD2BD @ NN2Z (Neptune, NJ) UUCP : ucbvax!rutgers!petsd!tsdiag!ka2qhd!kd2bd "For every problem, there is one solution which is simple, neat and wrong." -- H.L. Mencken ------------------------------ Date: 26 Mar 90 16:11:21 GMT From: usc!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!dali!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!nic.MR.NET!timbuk!lfa@ucsd.edu (Lou Adornato) Subject: Re: For All Mankind - Great Movie!!!!! In article <18710001@hpfinote.HP.COM>, ddj@hpfinote.HP.COM (Doug Josephson) writes: > > [good review of an Apollo documentary deleted] > Filmed on location with a budget of $42 billion and a cast and crew of 24. Now > if they could just make an IMAX film out of it! AAAAAAAaaaaarghhhhhh! A cast of thousands! - about 330,000, in fact. What, did you think that the money was just boosted into orbit and left there? >PS. This is my first posting ever, so hopefully it won't be fouled up. I am > also pretty dumb when it comes to using mail so I hope that the address > thingamajigger means something to somebody! Then this must be your first flame. Actually, it's more of a mild breeze of hot air. You've managed to trigger one of my major pet peeves. Speaking as someone who would love to play some part in the ongoing drama, keep this in mind: "They also serve who stand and file wiring change request forms" Lou Adornato | Statements herein do not represent the opinions or Cray Research | attitudes of Cray Research, Inc. or its subsidiaries. lfa@cray.com | (...yet) ------------------------------ Date: 24 Mar 90 03:49:46 GMT From: mailrus!b-tech!kitenet!russ@uunet.uu.net (Russ Cage) Subject: If Freedom is unbuildable, *then* what? Suppose for a moment that the critics of NASA are correct, that Freedom cannot be built and operated as designed. Is there any information about what NASA did that made it so failure-prone compared to current orbital hardware? On a more interesting note, has anyone compared details of the LLNL inflatable concept to see if it has similar weaknesses? Could "cheap 'n quick" possibly get a boost from this revelation? Or is something else indicated? -- I am paid to write all of RSI's opinions. Want me to write some for you? (313) 662-4147 Forewarned is half an octopus. Russ Cage, Robust Software Inc. russ@m-net.ann-arbor.mi.us ------------------------------ Date: 27 Mar 90 05:36:35 GMT From: zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jato!mars.jpl.nasa.gov!baalke@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Ron Baalke) Subject: Mars Rover Update (Forwarded) - 03/26/90 Aviation Week & Space Technology, March 26, 1990 "NASA Begins Operating Testbed to Access Semi-Autonomous Navigation Techniques" by Michael Dornheim The NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory has started operating a six-wheeled vehicle here to test semi-autonomous navigation techniques applicable to a Mars rover or situations where real-time human control is not pratical. The testbed vehicle, funded at about $1 million in Fiscal 1990, is part of the Exploration Technology Initiative of NASA's Office of Aeronautics and Exploration Technology. The purpose of the initiative is to provide information for future decisions on NASA programs. The vehicle takes navigation ideas developed in the laboratory and tests them in a realistic environment. The six-wheeled articulated chassis is a leading contender for a Mars rover configuration, according to Brian H. Wilcox, supervisor of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) robotic sensing and percerption group. The alternative configuration is a "walker" concept that has about twice the relative mobility, but the six-wheeled configuration should be adequate for all but high-risk terrain, and should be simpler and more reliable, Wilcox said (AW&ST Oct 9, 1989, p. 85). DIFFERTIAL WHEEL MOTION The testbed has a central chassis with two wheels, a forward axle that is free to move in roll and yaw and an aft axle that is free to move in roll, pitch and yaw. Steering is by differential wheel motion on the fore and aft axles. A robotic arm is on the front axle, and a set of television cameras is on a bar atop the central chassis. Experimenters monitor the testbed with an externally mounted computer - there is no radio link. The six-wheel configuration technology was developed by General Motors since the 1960s, and the purpose of the testbed is to evaluate software, not the basic mobility system. Three outings had been made as of late last week, and the rover has not yet been operated autonomously. A drive-train fault prevented this Aviation Week & Space Technology editor from observing autonomous travel on the third outing. With current hardware, the testbed will be able to move autonomously about 50 meters (164 feet) in an 8 hour day, Wilcox said. The algorithm works by first using stereo cameras to make a 3D map of the terrain ahead, plotting a course through the terrain and then executing this course without further visual reference. This process is repeated in 5-8 meter (16-26 feet) segments with the current software and hardware. Each segment takes about 1 hour to execute and most of this time is spent deriving the map and plotting the course. Expected inclination angles and other data are calculated during the course plotting and compared with actual sensor data as the rover moves. If the sensors differ too much from the expected value, the rover stops for safety. Besides unseen rocks, one hazard postulated on the Mars surface is "dusttraps" - pits that have been filled with fine dust so their danger is not seen by the cameras. A local terrain map is built up from the vehicle's motion and is compared with a stored global terrain map with 1-meter resolution, comparable to what might be expected from a satellite map of Mars. As more powerful computers become available, the weighting of the various algorithms may change. For example, vision is not used during movement now because the data takes too long to process. But a new pipeline processor should greatly spped up this task; then vision may be used as another input during motion and paths may be replotted in shorter segments. HIGH-SPEED MICROPROCESSORS The visual pipeline processor and other high-speed microprocessors are to be installed within a year, and then the rover testbed should be able to travel at its full average speed of 3 cm/sec (1 inch/sec), or about 1000 km on an actual Mars mission, Wilcox said. This would allow the rover to adequately survey sites before sending samples back to Earth. Good Earth launch opportunities fo a Mars sample return mission are in 2000 and 2002. The testbed is now being operated in rocky dry riverbed next to JPL, but will later be tested at a lava crater and in sand dunes. Wilcox hopes to put hundreds of test kilomters on the rover. (Photo shows the Mars rover with a JPL person typing on a keyboard and monitor placed atop the rover). Ron Baalke | baalke@mars.jpl.nasa.gov Jet Propulsion Lab M/S 301-355 | baalke@jems.jpl.nasa.gov 4800 Oak Grove Dr. | Pasadena, CA 91109 | ------------------------------ End of SPACE Digest V11 #189 *******************