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 ; Fri, 20 Apr 90 02:09:39 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: Reply-To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU From: space-request+@Andrew.CMU.EDU To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU Date: Fri, 20 Apr 90 02:09:09 -0400 (EDT) Subject: SPACE Digest V11 #289 SPACE Digest Volume 11 : Issue 289 Today's Topics: Re: Arecibo (sp?) message Re: Materials (Was: Re: Energy consumption) Re: Drake Equation (was Re: Interstellar travel) Re: Discovery's Spin in 2010 (Was Re: Artificial gravity) B70/B58 - Pegasus launch Re: Reach Re: Discovery's Spin in 2010 (Was Re: Artificial gravity) Re: Decompression and 2001 Re: Decompression and 2001 Re: Drake Equation (was Re: Interstellar travel) Payload Status for 04/18/90 (Forwarded) Re: NASA Headline News for 04/13/90 (Forwarded) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 18 Apr 90 23:18:31 GMT From: agate!shelby!neon!jkl@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (John Kallen) Subject: Re: Arecibo (sp?) message In article <8178@hydra.gatech.EDU> ccoprmd@prism.gatech.EDU (Matthew DeLuca) writes: >From memory, I believe the picture included a stick-figure human, to indicate >our basic physical structure, a very simple diagram of our solar system, >with the third planet highlighted, and a simple image of the Arecibo dish. >Also included was information on our chemical makeup, data on the dish, and >some elementary information on our solar system. I recall seeing the height of the stick figure specified in 20-cm units (the wavelength of the band used for transmitting the image), and a head count of the Earth's population (hopelessly outdated by now! :-) _______________________________________________________________________________ | | | | |\ | | /|\ | John Kallen "The light works. The gravity | |\ \|/ \| * |/ | |/| | | PoBox 11215 works. Anything else we must | |\ /|\ |\ * |\ | | | | Stanford CA 94309 take our chances with." _|_|___|___|____|_\|___|__|__|_jkl@polya.stanford.edu__________________________ ------------------------------ Date: 19 Apr 90 03:23:22 GMT From: mnetor!utzoo!henry@uunet.uu.net (Henry Spencer) Subject: Re: Materials (Was: Re: Energy consumption) In article <1990Apr18.065015.380@agate.berkeley.edu> gwh@OCF.Berkeley.EDU (George William Herbert) writes: >>titanium like the shuttle... > >The shuttle is good ole Aluminum alloys, much of it garden variety 2024 and >7075 ... Hm. Don't know where I got the idea that it was titanium. The usual references confirm the bulk of the structure is aluminum, with bits of titanium and composites here and there. -- With features like this, | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology who needs bugs? | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu ------------------------------ Date: 19 Apr 90 06:03:22 GMT From: munnari.oz.au!goanna!minyos!rxtajp@uunet.uu.net (Andrew Pettifer) Subject: Re: Drake Equation (was Re: Interstellar travel) What about all those 50Hz power grids? They would cause some beat frequencies, and i'm sure that the phase relationships are drifting all the time, which would help to make the signal(?) seem more random. ------------------------------ Date: 18 Apr 90 15:25:56 GMT From: mcsun!ukc!icdoc!syma!nickw@uunet.uu.net (Nick Watkins) Subject: Re: Discovery's Spin in 2010 (Was Re: Artificial gravity) In article <5675@scolex.sco.COM> natei@sco.COM (Nathaniel Ingersoll) writes: >One thing that has always impressed me about 2001 was the lack of >sound in the outer-space (ie outside of spacecraft) shots; no >Star Wars-like deep, low freq rumble of powerful thrust engines. They were switched off though, weren't they ... :-) Seriously though, I agree, and feel the use of the "heavy breathing" for Poole's EVAs was thus doubly effective. Pity 2010 didn't follow suit, but had some ridiculous cliffhanger episode with a tethered astronaut being pulled along when engines started noisily. >Any other such movies with silent space? Even Alien, with "in space >no one can hear you scream", you could hear the engines from "outside". Silent Running ? 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: 18 Apr 90 17:47:32 GMT From: cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!samsung!noose.ecn.purdue.edu!news@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Duane P Mantick) Subject: B70/B58 - Pegasus launch I have seen the SOLE SURVIVING XB70 at the Air Force Museum within the last two weeks. Just from external views, I'd say forget it. Even to the untrained eye (at least, untrained in maintenance of Mach3 aircraft :-) ), it looks to me like this bird will NEVER fly again. Sad but true. Many skin sections appear to be fairly thoroughly hosed and just patched for display purposes. And where can you find a GE J93 engine anymore? This particular Valkyrie was really the "dog" of the two. Since it was the first, a lot of bugs in it got ironed out in the second one. #1 got to a point where it's speed was limited to fairly low mach numbers due to skin peeling and other problems, not the least of which was fuel leakage (which, in a high mach heated airframe can be bloody dangerous - the SR71 being an exception thanks to JP7). All of this may be a moot point, however, in the case of the Valkyrie. There is no such thing as a wing "hard-point" on this bird. In addition the constuction of the main fuselage bottom is such that it might not be possible to put in separation equipment without compromising structural integrity (speculation on my part). However, think about this (even outside of the Pegasus discussion): How would a 1990's technology Valkyrie perform? Utilize a higher percentage of titanium and composites with less cold hard steel, for instance. Use up-to-date avionics and control systems, likewise. Whilst I have said that the XB70 at Dayton was probably not useable - an all new Valkyrie would be a marvelous aircraft, IMHO. Wouldn't be cheap, though. I suspect that better engines are available now off-the-shelf than the J93 ever was, and six of them side by side...... ooh, goose pimples! Ah well, such is the stuff dreams are made of. Duane ------------------------------ Date: 18 Apr 90 21:46:20 GMT From: zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!lavaca.uh.edu!uhnix1!nuchat!henrym@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Henry Malmgren) Subject: Re: Reach In article <29028@cup.portal.com> phorgan@cup.portal.com (Patrick John Horgan) writes: >Has anyone else read Reach? It's a sci-fi book by Edward Gibson of >skylab fame. It's really interesting reading a book on space travel >written by an astronaut. I'm about half-way through, and so far >rate him a farely good writer. Occasionally he gets a little to >bogged down in detail and the story drags, but not for long. >It's given me a great insight into the mind and motive of an astro- >naut. > >Patrick Horgan phorgan@cup.portal.com I disagree with you. I have a signed copy of the book, and frankly I found it to be rather disapointing. The book jacket makes it seem really upbeat, but in reality, it was a rather long-winded story about nothing. The plot was pretty weak, and the mysterious Alien Life Form was just too abstract for my tastes. It seems to me that ex-astronauts have a better history of writing factual books about their real experiences, then they have when they write fiction. The book must not have done very well in stores, since I never saw it on any bestseller list. I do hope he tries again, and possibly his next one will be better. Henry Malmgren henrym@nuchat.uucp ------------------------------ Date: 19 Apr 90 23:21:11 GMT From: vsi1!hsv3!mvp@apple.com (Mike Van Pelt) Subject: Re: Discovery's Spin in 2010 (Was Re: Artificial gravity) In article <2483@syma.sussex.ac.uk> nickw@syma.susx.ac.uk (Nick Watkins) writes: >>Any other such movies with silent space? >Silent Running ? Nope, "Silent Running" goofed, too. The nuclear explosions, though visually very good, made noise -- the "bang" *BEFORE* the flash! I could accept some kind of tenuous shock wave hitting the ship some time after the explosion, but *BANG*FLASH* is just stupid. -- Mike Van Pelt I would like to electrocute everyone who uses the Headland Technology word 'fair' in connection with income tax policies. (was: Video Seven) -- William F. Buckley ...ames!vsi1!v7fs1!mvp ------------------------------ Date: 20 Apr 90 02:06:33 GMT From: news-server.csri.toronto.edu!helios.physics.utoronto.ca!physics.utoronto.ca!neufeld@rutgers.edu (Christopher Neufeld) Subject: Re: Decompression and 2001 In article <2302@wrgate.WR.TEK.COM> dant@mrloog.WR.TEK.COM (Dan Tilque) writes: >gateh@CONNCOLL.BITNET writes: >> >>I have often wondered about this as well, and recall reading a sci-fi story >>or two where humans moved between two craft in open space without suits >>(supposedly the decompression problems were solved by hyperventilating, then >>expelling all air from the lungs and leaving your breathing passages open >>8-O ?). > >By a not so amazing coincidence, this was also a Clarke story. It was >written back in the 50's, I think. Unfortunately, I can't remember the >name but the plot goes like this: > > [ follows a description of a space station construction accident ] > See also Arthur C. Clarke's _Earthlight_. The copyright on the book is 1939, but it has probably been updated because there is some mention of atomic weaponry and power generation. There is also a description of people navigating vacuum without a space suit in _The McAndrew Chronicles_ by Charles Sheffield. >--- >Dan Tilque -- dant@mrloog.WR.TEK.COM -- Christopher Neufeld....Just a graduate student | "Like most neufeld@helios.physics.utoronto.ca | intellectuals he is cneufeld@pro-generic.cts.com Ad astra! | intensely stupid." "Don't edit reality for the sake of simplicity" | Marquise de Merteuil ------------------------------ Date: 19 Apr 90 22:33:16 GMT From: janus.Berkeley.EDU!bwood@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Blake Philip Wood) Subject: Re: Decompression and 2001 In article <9004181403.AA25145@mvax.cc.conncoll.edu> gateh@CONNCOLL.BITNET writes: >.... in the film _2001_, I couldn't help but wonder about the scene where >Dave is forced to blow the pod door and reenter Discovery through the >emergency hatch. There's a book about the making of 2001, and this is addressed in it. It's been a long time, but the story goes something like this: Kubrick (sp?) originally planned to leave the helmet off, then someone questioned how realistic that was, so he decided to have Dave in his helmet. At the last minute someone produced some study which showed that lab animals could survive short periods in a vacuum, so the helmet came off again. Blake P. Wood - bwood@janus.Berkeley.EDU Plasmas and Non-Linear Dynamics, U.C. Berkeley, EECS ------------------------------ Date: 18 Apr 90 18:47:22 GMT From: att!cbnewsh!lmg@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (lawrence.m.geary) Subject: Re: Drake Equation (was Re: Interstellar travel) Since the early 1950's the earth has been emitting a particular signal which repeats every 30 minutes. Even if alien listeners cannot recognize the signal as being of intelligent origin, it's odd periodicity will give it away. It will also make the signal easier to detect at distances of many light years, even through the cacophony of other RF sources. When the aliens do come in their vast starships, they will land in an open field near the source of the signals - possibly Central Park in New York, or the wetlands outside Seacaucus NJ. In order to attempt communication with us, they will play back to us the signal we have been sending toward the stars these many decades. A portal will open in the side of the starship, and a large flat screen will erect itself. Rhythmic music will be heard to come from the ship, and the screen will begin to display a stylized human heart over which will be superimposed, in a flowing script font, the following words: I Love Lucy -- --Larry: 74017.3065@compuserve.com ------------------------------ Date: 18 Apr 90 17:47:20 GMT From: trident.arc.nasa.gov!yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Subject: Payload Status for 04/18/90 (Forwarded) Daily Status/KSC Payload Management and Operations 04-18-90. - STS-31R HST (at pad-B) - HST battery charging continues. - STS-35 ASTRO-1 (at OPF) - Support for VAB operations continues. - STS-40 SLS-1 (at O&C) - The aft end cone was mated to the module on Tuesday. Today module leak checks will begin, rack and floor installation into the module, and preps for experiment train interface test will continue. - STS-42 IML-1 (at O&C) - On Tuesday module pyrell foam replacement along with racks 4, and 7 staging operations were performed. Pyrell foam replacement will continue today along with racks 4, 8, 9, and 11 staging. Floor staging will also be active today. - STS-45 (Atlas-1)- Connector bracket, support structure, and hardpoint installations will continue today. - STS-55 SL-D2 (at O&C) - No activity is scheduled for today. - HST M&R (at O&C) - ORUC power network verification and cable installation were performed Tuesday. The ORUC interface test will start today. ------------------------------ Date: 19 Apr 90 16:23:59 GMT From: att!cbnewsl!sw@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Stuart Warmink) Subject: Re: NASA Headline News for 04/13/90 (Forwarded) friedl@mtndew.UUCP (Steve Friedl) writes: > Does this mean that they will throttle the engines to (say) 110% > rather than the 104% that they do now? Perhaps of more importance, does it mean we are going to get another series of postings on "what does greater than 100% mean"? :-) -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stuart Warmink, Whippany, NJ, USA | sw@cbnewsl.ATT.COM | Hi! -------------------------> My opinions are just that <------------------------ ------------------------------ End of SPACE Digest V11 #289 *******************