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 ; Wed, 4 Apr 90 02:00:07 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: Reply-To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU From: space-request+@Andrew.CMU.EDU To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU Date: Wed, 4 Apr 90 01:59:36 -0400 (EDT) Subject: SPACE Digest V11 #215 SPACE Digest Volume 11 : Issue 215 Today's Topics: Re: "Brilliant Pebbles" vs. "Smart Rocks" (was Re: Railgun ...) Re: "Brilliant Pebbles" vs. "Smart Rocks" (was Re: Railgun ...) Re: Velikovsky's Theory Re: NASA Headline News for 03/29/90 (Forwarded) Re: Ejection seats Re: The Amazing technicolour flying coilgun Re: HF beacons on satellites Pegasus first flight coverage available on NASA Select TV (Forwarded) NASA/HQ News Release 90-57 5/1/90 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 1 Apr 90 13:33:23 GMT From: eru!luth!sunic!mcsun!ukc!icdoc!syma!nickw@bloom-beacon.mit.edu (Nick Watkins) Subject: Re: "Brilliant Pebbles" vs. "Smart Rocks" (was Re: Railgun ...) In article <354@memex.co.uk> peter@memex.co.uk (Peter Ilieve) writes: >Perhaps we should suggest that Teller has a public competition for the >next revision :-) Sagan's entry was "Genius Dust". Nick -- Dr. Nick Watkins, Space & Plasma Physics Group, School of Mathematical & Physical Sciences, Univ. of Sussex, Brighton, E.Sussex, BN1 9QH, ENGLAND JANET: nickw@syma.sussex.ac.uk BITNET: nickw%syma.sussex.ac.uk@uk.ac ------------------------------ Date: 2 Apr 90 22:26:00 GMT From: zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jpl-devvax!lwall@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Larry Wall) Subject: Re: "Brilliant Pebbles" vs. "Smart Rocks" (was Re: Railgun ...) In article <2433@syma.sussex.ac.uk> nickw@syma.susx.ac.uk (Nick Watkins) writes: : Sagan's entry was "Genius Dust". Because there are billions and billions of them, or because that's their IQ? Larry Wall lwall@jpl-devvax.jpl.nasa.gov ------------------------------ Date: 2 Apr 90 09:56:50 GMT From: bfmny0!tneff@uunet.uu.net (Tom Neff) Subject: Re: Velikovsky's Theory The burden of proof is on Velikovsky, not the rest of the world. Until conventional explanations prove incapable of explaining conditions on Mars, Jupiter and Venus -- something that ain't happened yet -- we don't need to adduce comets emitting themselves from Jupiter and careening all over the Solar System to explain things. Velikovsy's "theories" belong more to the sociocultural history of Russian mysticism than to cosmogeny or physics. Their enduring popularity among the Fort-and-Fuller crowd is a monument to the tenacity of good old American trailer park know-nothing-ism. Personally I'm a *real* big fan. I note in passing that VELIKOVSKY is a clever anagram for ELVIS YVOKK, which well-read para-students will recognize as The King's Atlantean name before he was lowered to Earth from a Crystal UFO in the Tennessee backwoods back in 1951. What does the Air Force know about this???? and why won't so called scientists admit it???! :-) -- "NASA Announces New Deck Chair Arrangement For \_/ Tom Neff Space Station Titanic" -- press release 89-7654 \_/ tneff@bfmny0.UU.NET ------------------------------ Date: 31 Mar 90 19:01:01 GMT From: mtndew!friedl@uunet.uu.net (Steve Friedl) Subject: Re: NASA Headline News for 03/29/90 (Forwarded) In article , gnb@bby.oz.au (Gregory N. Bond) writes: > > It takes a million years and a zillion dollars to make a manipulator > arm, human controlled. ... only because it was built in Canada. Steve :-) -- Stephen J. Friedl, KA8CMY / Software Consultant / Tustin, CA / 3B2-kind-of-guy +1 714 544 6561 voice / friedl@vsi.com / {uunet,attmail}!mtndew!friedl "How in the world did Vicks ever get Nyquil past the DEA?" - me ------------------------------ Date: 31 Mar 90 19:08:41 GMT From: mtndew!friedl@uunet.uu.net (Steve Friedl) Subject: Re: Ejection seats Al Bowers writes: > Your 25g estimate is in the ballpark. Older seats generated up to 40g > and had consequent higher injury rates. So what causes these injuries? Hitting the ground? Hitting the canopy? Getting arms caught on something? Sheer acceleration? Running into another aircraft? :-( I find it easy to believe that ejecting is not A Fun Thing, but where specifically is the danger? Steve -- Stephen J. Friedl, KA8CMY / Software Consultant / Tustin, CA / 3B2-kind-of-guy +1 714 544 6561 voice / friedl@vsi.com / {uunet,attmail}!mtndew!friedl "How in the world did Vicks ever get Nyquil past the DEA?" - me ------------------------------ Date: 2 Apr 90 08:16:05 GMT From: eru!luth!sunic!mcsun!ukc!stc!root44!hrc63!mrcu!paj@bloom-beacon.mit.edu (Paul Johnson) Subject: Re: The Amazing technicolour flying coilgun In a previous <478@argus.mrcu> note I remarked that a chemical gun would be better than a coil gun since the accelerations involved are of the appropriate order (about 16000g). Paul Dietz (dietz@cs.rochester.edu) send me email pointing out that: > conventional guns crap out if the speed of the projectile greatly > exceeds the speed of sound in the combustion gas. Conventional > chemical guns can't do it. OK. Point taken. How about using a hybrid system? A chemical gun for the initial boost and a coil gun for the final boost to orbital velocity. This saves on power supply and coils, making the final system lighter. The only problem is that (I think) the acceleration in a chemical gun is not constant: initial acceleration would be higher than the acceleration at the end of the barrel. I suppose this could be compensated for by using a non-metallic barrel and putting the first coils around it (so initial thrust is a combination of coil and conventional, with coil taking over as chemical "craps out". Paul also wrote that: > You *can* reach the necessary speed if the driving gas is hot > hydrogen (low molecular weight --> high speed of sound). So-called > "two stage light gas guns", which use a large, explosive driven > piston to compress and heat a hydrogen propellant, are routinely > used to accelerate gram-sized plastic projectiles to 10 km/s for > impact physics experiments. Probably not feasible on a 747 though. I expect there would have to be a lot of VERY heavy stuff at the "breech" end of the gun. Not good for an aircraft. On another point, what sort of cargo can take 16000g accelerations? Can preformed construction materials take it? What about electronics (I seem to recall reading something about "smart shells" for millitary use somewhere)? What about food? -- Paul Johnson UUCP: !mcvax!ukc!gec-mrc!paj --------------------------------!-------------------------|------------------- GEC-Marconi Research is not | Telex: 995016 GECRES G | Tel: +44 245 73331 responsible for my opinions. | Inet: paj@uk.co.gec-mrc | Fax: +44 245 75244 ------------------------------ Date: 3 Apr 90 05:31:41 GMT From: winter@apple.com (Patty Winter) Subject: Re: HF beacons on satellites In article <2804@sactoh0.UUCP> mahaun@sactoh0.UUCP (Mark A. Haun) writes: >Does anyone know of any currently transmitting satellite beacons in >the range of 10-30 Mhz? Try the Soviet Radiosport satellites, RS-10/11. (Actually, one satellite with two transponders. I don't know which one is active right now.) Their beacons are on 29.403 and 29.453. For those who've never tried this before, you can determine when they'll pass over your location by using tracking software in conjunction with the Keplerian elements that Tom Kelso posts to rec.ham-radio (and sci.space?) every week or so. >Several months ago, I knew of two such satellites: UoSat-OSCAR 9, >an amateur radio satellite, carried propagation beacons on most >of the HF amateur bands, but it reentered last year. Really? I thought it was only on VHF. If it was on HF, maybe its sister satellite, UO-11, is on HF as well. Patty -- ***************************************************************************** Patty Winter N6BIS INTERNET: winter@apple.com AMPR.ORG: [44.4.0.44] UUCP: {decwrl,nsc,sun}!apple!winter ***************************************************************************** ------------------------------ Date: 3 Apr 90 05:35:51 GMT From: trident.arc.nasa.gov!yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Subject: Pegasus first flight coverage available on NASA Select TV (Forwarded) Mary Sandy Headquarters, Washington, D.C. April 2, 1990 Nancy Lovato Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility, Edwards, Calif. EDITORS NOTE: N90-19 PEGASUS FIRST FLIGHT COVERAGE AVAILABLE ON NASA SELECT TV The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Pegasus air-launched booster is slated to make its first flight on April 4. Coverage of the flight will be available on NASA Select television, Satcom F-2R, transponder 13, C-band, 72 degrees W. longitude, 3960.0 Mhz. The Pegasus will be carried aloft from NASA's Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility, Edwards, Calif., by a NASA B-52 aircraft, which will launch Pegasus at 42,000 feet over the Western Test Range. Television coverage will begin prior to the B-52 takeoff, now set for 2 p.m. EDT. Coverage will include the Pegasus launch at approximately 3:10 p.m. EDT and a post-flight press conference at approximately 6 p.m. EDT. Reporters may view coverage and pose questions during the press conference from NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. and various NASA field centers ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 2 Apr 90 19:14 CST From: Bill Higgins-- Beam Jockey Subject: NASA/HQ News Release 90-57 5/1/90 Original_To: SPACE > KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - WEDNESDAY, MARCH 28, 1990 - 3 P.M. > STS-31 - DISCOVERY (OV-103) - LAUNCH PAD 39-B > > Installation of the Hubble Space Telescope is now scheduled > for tomorrow. Yesterday, technicians worked to rid the Payload > Changeout Room of midges. A midge is an insect that looks like a > small mosquito. Five special traps were set up in the PCR and > hourly counts were made... W. Skeffington Higgins Headquarters, Washington, D.C. May 1,1990 Noon EDT RELEASE: 90-57 SPACE TELESCOPE REVEALS LIFE ELSEWHERE IN UNIVERSE Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (HST) have announced the discovery of life in outer space. Large insect-like creatures are the first major result from the new telescope, which was launched April 15 aboard the shuttle Discovery. Early images obtained with the HST reveal huge creatures which resemble mosquitoes or midges, but are billions of times larger. Features such as wings, legs, and compound eyes can be discerned in the pictures. Although the 2.4-meter telescope was expected to reveal many new discoveries, the new findings came as a complete surprise to scientists. "We never expected that the Hubble would find living creatures," said Herbert Polhode, a spokesman for the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, "and we never expected that life in space would be so widespread. It seems to be everywhere we look." So far, the alien creatures have been observed in the vicinity of several stars, in the nuclei of active galaxies, and even orbiting the planet Jupiter. On Monday HST astronomers sent a telegram to notify the International Astronomical Union (IAU) of their dramatic discovery. The news is expected to excite great interest among astronomers, biologists, and other scientists. Because of its angular resolution and its location above the Earth's obscuring atmosphere, the HST is the only telescope currently able to see the interstellar creatures. Continued intense study is planned to determine the origin and habits of the "insects." =============================================================== O~~* /_) ' / / /_/ ' , , ' ,_ _ \|/ - ~ -~~~~~~~~~~~/_) / / / / / / (_) (_) / / / _\~~~~~~~~~~~zap! / \ (_) (_) / | \ | | Bill Higgins \ / Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory - - Bitnet: HIGGINS@FNALB.BITNET ~ Internet: HIGGINS@FNAL.FNAL.GOV SPAN/Hepnet/Physnet: 43011::HIGGINS ------------------------------ End of SPACE Digest V11 #215 *******************