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, 16 Jun 1990 01:44:54 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <4aSQQre00VcJ4Nc04J@andrew.cmu.edu> Precedence: junk Reply-To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU From: space-request+@Andrew.CMU.EDU To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU Date: Sat, 16 Jun 1990 01:44:24 -0400 (EDT) Subject: SPACE Digest V11 #530 SPACE Digest Volume 11 : Issue 530 Today's Topics: Making fresh vegetables on long-duration space travel (Forwarded) Re: KH-12 NASA statement regarding Intelsat decision (Forwarded) 2nd CALL FOR VOTES: comp.lang.idl-pvwave Re: HST amateur projects Re: Space Sail Race Re: Weather Satellite Photos Re: Space Sail Race NASA Headline News for 06/15/90 (Forwarded) Administrivia: Submissions to the SPACE Digest/sci.space should be mailed to space+@andrew.cmu.edu. Other mail, esp. [un]subscription notices, should be sent to space-request+@andrew.cmu.edu, or, if urgent, to tm2b+@andrew.cmu.edu ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 14 Jun 90 20:32:23 GMT From: trident.arc.nasa.gov!yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Subject: Making fresh vegetables on long-duration space travel (Forwarded) Paula Cleggett-Haleim Headquarters, Washington, D.C. June 14, 1990 (Phone: 202/453-1547) Jane Hutchison Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. (Phone: 415/604-4968) RELEASE: 90-82 MAKING FRESH VEGETABLES ON LONG-DURATION SPACE TRAVEL The first working model of a "salad machine" that eventually will provide a variety of fresh vegetables for astronauts on long voyages is now growing its first crop at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. Dr. Mark Kliss, project manager and principal investigator, said one of the first things astronauts and submariners ask for, following days or weeks of eating freeze-dried or preserved foods, is fresh produce. "Our goal is to produce such a variety of fresh salad vegetables for consumption by the crews of Space Station Freedom and other long-duration missions," Kliss said. The presence of plants and the ability to "cultivate" a garden also can improve the crew members' morale by providing something for them to nurture and by offering a creative outlet during their free time, much like tending a garden on Earth, he said. Garden-variety plants such as leaf lettuce, carrots, radishes, onions, sprouts, tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers are being considered for inclusion in the salad machine. Most candidate vegetables have very similar temperature, humidity, lighting and nutrient requirements, thus simplifying the environmental control system. Because of limited space, some plants will be smaller than the varieties commonly found on Earth. Tomato plants, for example, will be less than 12 inches high. And because there is no gravity, some of the vegetables will grow "upside down" or "sideways," although in the weightlessness of space there is no true "up" or "down." Kliss' goal is for the salad machine to produce three salads per person per week for a crew of four. It also will recycle the water transpired by plants back into the nutrient delivery system. Eventually, Kliss hopes the salad machine can use recycled water to grow plants and produce potable water for crew consumption. It also will furnish oxygen-enriched air to the cabin environment after particulates and excess water vapor are removed. Food production, carbon dioxide scrubbing, oxygen generation and water purification are key functions of the "bioregenerative" life support systems being developed by the Advanced Life Support Division at Ames. Project engineers also face formidable engineering constraints. The amount of space available is limited to a single standard space station rack of 36 inches by 41.5 inches by 80 inches, or about 28.2 cubic feet of growing volume. The machine must operate on less than a kilowatt of power, produce a minimal amount of waste heat and provide light for the plants. A nutrient delivery system must be designed which can provide water and necessary nutrients to the growing plants, while keeping fluids in place in microgravity, or weightlessness of space. Kliss said that proper humidity will be maintained by recycling condensed water vapor, which also will decrease the amount of resupply water needed. The process of growing plants in the salad machine should be relatively simple. Seeds, contained in a cassette for ease of handling in microgravity, will be germinated for a few days. Once the seeds sprout, they will be placed in the plant growth chamber containing the nutrient delivery system. Kliss expects the activity of "planting" seed cassettes and harvesting mature plants to require 15-20 minutes of an astronaut's time every few days. By applying commercial hydroponic (soil-less) growing techniques, plant growth time from seed to harvest is much quicker than for field-grown counterparts. Kliss hopes to have the salad machine fully operational by Space Station Freedom's scheduled completion later this decade. ------------------------------ Date: 15 Jun 90 14:11:50 GMT From: vtserf!jarrell@uunet.uu.net (Ron Jarrell) Subject: Re: KH-12 In article <1990Jun14.175106.5438@cbnewsj.att.com> johna@cbnewsj.att.com (john.a.welsh) writes: > >A while ago NASA and the Pentagon said one of the spy >satellites (it sounded like KH-12) had not deployed >properly from a shuttle and parts were supposed to Actually the press release specifically said that the thing HAD deployed properly, and indicated that the Atlantis had completely fulfilled it's job profile. They then indicated that "material related to the mission will reenter" etc.. etc.. (They never actually said a spy sattelite broke up, the soviets are the ones who noted that one large lump became 4 smaller lumps, the pentagon just claimed mission material was reentering.). Personally, sounds to me like they tried to move a KH-11 to cover something (think there was something going on in the mideast that weekend, like an explosion or such) and one of the thrusters exploded. ------------------------------ Date: 14 Jun 90 18:08:27 GMT From: trident.arc.nasa.gov!yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Subject: NASA statement regarding Intelsat decision (Forwarded) Edward Campion June 13, 1990 Headquarters, Washington, D.C. 3:30 p.m. EDT (Phone: 202/453-8536) NASA STATEMENT REGARDING INTELSAT DECISION The following statement was released by Space Shuttle Director Robert L. Crippen today following the Intelsat announcement of an agreement between NASA and Intelsat to rescue the Intelsat VI satellite. "All of us at NASA are pleased with today's announcement from the board of governors at Intelsat. The rescue offers us the opportunity for expanding our experience base in the planning, training and performance of extravehicular activity. Knowledge gained in this effort will help with the preparations for Space Station Freedom. The quickness with which a rescue plan was proposed and accepted is a reflection of the excellent working relationship developed in the past betwen the Space Shuttle Program and the commercial satellite industry. We are very pleased to be able to assist Intelsat and to have an opportunity to once again demonstrate the versatility of the Space Shuttle ." ------------------------------ Date: 14 Jun 90 02:16:41 GMT From: caldwr!rfinch@ucdavis.ucdavis.edu (Ralph Finch) Subject: 2nd CALL FOR VOTES: comp.lang.idl-pvwave 2nd CALL FOR VOTES: creation of comp.lang.idl-pvwave This is to solict votes to create a group for a language called either IDL or PV-Wave (depending on whom you buy it from). Group Name: comp.lang.idl-pvwave Vote period: Through June 25, 1990. [this changed from June 22 in the 1st CFV to conform with the 21 day voting period in the guidelines] To vote: send mail to rfinch@water.ca.gov ---or--- ...ucbvax!ucdavis!caldwr!rfinch Replying to this message should work. Indicate clearly in the subject and/or message whether your vote is YES or NO for creating comp.lang.idl-pvwave. Qualified votes ("I vote yes if...."), votes posted to a group, or unclear votes cannot be counted. I'll reply to each vote individually; a mass acknowledgment will be made at the end. [I haven't been able to respond to a few addresses, those people should look for the mass acknowledgement] Charter: An unmoderated newsgroup for discussing the programming language known as both Interactive [Data/Display] Language (IDL) and PV-Wave (Precision Visuals Workstation Analysis and Visualization Environment). Topics will be programming tips, techniques, and code exchanges, either full programs or fragments. The proposed group is intended primarily to discuss numerical analysis, imaging, scientific visualization, etc. *as performed using the IDL/Wave language*; it is not intended to support discussions concerning those topics directly, as groups already exist for those purposes (e.g. sci.math.num-analysis). The existing group comp.lang.idl is for the Interface Description Language, something else entirely. This Call For Votes does not constitute an endorsement of any product or company. -- Ralph Finch 916-445-0088 rfinch@water.ca.gov ...ucbvax!ucdavis!caldwr!rfinch Any opinions expressed are my own; they do not represent the DWR ------------------------------ Date: 14 Jun 90 23:29:41 GMT From: usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!qucdn!gilla@apple.com (Arnold G. Gill) Subject: Re: HST amateur projects In article <1990Jun13.111515.28686@cc.ic.ac.uk>, umapu02@sunc.cc.ic.ac.uk (D.A.G. Gillies Supvsr Dr K.J. Bignell) says: > >In article <1990Jun12.022939.5130@ecn.purdue.edu> >muttiah@stable.ecn.purdue.edu >(Ranjan S Muttiah) writes: >>How far into the edges of the universe can HST point ? > According to a NASA scientist writing in Scientific American,about >14 000 million light years,or roughly 90% of the way to the big bang. Isn't this a little bit misleading? Given an object that is bright enough, one should be able to see it all the way back to the Big Bang (even if it has been red-shifted away). I guess it is a little difficult to explain to the public that it is not how far you can see with HST that is important, but rather how faint and with what resolution. In fact, in astronomy, asking how far is almost meaningless - it depends on far too many theories/assumptions. ------- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- | Arnold Gill | | | Queen's University at Kingston | If I hadn't wanted it heard, | | BITNET : gilla@qucdn | I wouldn't have said it. | | X-400 : Arnold.Gill@QueensU.CA | | | INTERNET : gilla@qucdn.queensu.ca | | -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ------------------------------ Date: 15 Jun 90 15:08:50 GMT From: mojo!SYSMGR%KING.ENG.UMD.EDU@mimsy.umd.edu (Doug Mohney) Subject: Re: Space Sail Race In article <1990Jun14.135824.21829@watdragon.waterloo.edu>, jdnicoll@watyew.uwaterloo.ca (Brian or James) writes: > > Another one of my questions that prove I shouldn't dry my >hair in a microwave oven: The Sailcraft *are* doing a flyby of Mars, >not a rendezvous, right? What kind of velocity [solar, Earth *and* >Mars-centric] will they be doing during the closest approach? I don't suppose there's anyway to "furl" the sail, turn it, and drop it into the Martian atmosphere as an "anchor" of sorts to slow down the probe? Just a maniac thought to follow his (I haven't tried the microwave oven hair dryer trick today, however...) ------------------------------ Date: 15 Jun 90 04:15:37 GMT From: usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!uupsi!uhasun!jbloom@ucsd.edu (Jon Bloom) Subject: Re: Weather Satellite Photos In article <15073@reed.UUCP>, odlin@reed.bitnet (Iain Odlin) writes: > > At last!!! The opportunity to amend something Henry Spencer has said! :-) > > With a ham radio and a personal computer, you can nab all the satellite > photos and NOAA charts your heart desires from the airwaves. You don't > need any special equipment, because the satellite pictures are rebroadcast > by the NOAA on normal radio frequencies. I know this is drifting from the sci.space subject, but I just have to nip this sort of thing in the bud.... Receiving weather satellite data has _nothing_ to do with ham radio. The Amateur Radio Service (ham radio) is a licensed radio service in which qualified individuals perform public- service communications, experiment in the electronic communications art and foster international contact. (More info is available from the address given in the .sig). While there are many hams interested in reception of weather satellite photos, the equipment used is _not_ typical ham radio equipment, but rather special purpose receivers designed to receive the APT transmissions. This is not meant as a flame, just a correction :-) Jon -- Jon Bloom, KE3Z | American Radio Relay League Internet: jbloom@uhasun.hartford.edu | Snail: 225 Main St., Newington, CT 06111 | "I have no opinions." ------------------------------ Date: 14 Jun 90 13:58:24 GMT From: attcan!utgpu!watserv1!maytag!watdragon!watyew!jdnicoll@uunet.uu.net (Brian or James) Subject: Re: Space Sail Race Another one of my questions that prove I shouldn't dry my hair in a microwave oven: The Sailcraft *are* doing a flyby of Mars, not a rendezvous, right? What kind of velocity [solar, Earth *and* Mars-centric] will they be doing during the closest approach? JDN ------------------------------ Date: 15 Jun 90 22:14:27 GMT From: trident.arc.nasa.gov!yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Subject: NASA Headline News for 06/15/90 (Forwarded) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Friday, June 15, 1990 Audio Service: 202/755-1788 ----------------------------------------------------------------- This is NASA Headline News for Friday, June 15....... The Space Shuttle Atlantis is powered up in the Kennedy Space Center Vehicle Assembly Building for the shuttle interface test of the critical integrated connections between the mobile launcher platform, the solid rocket boosters, the external tank and the orbiter. This test will conclude today. The rollout to the launch pad is scheduled for just after midnight on Sunday. The astronauts will also arrive on Monday to prepare for the countdown dress rehearsal which is scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday. The crew will be on the flight deck for the last three hours of the countdown Thursday morning. Meanwhile, in the adjacent high bay in the Vertical Assembly Building, work is underway to demate Columbia from the external tank today. The Columbia will be towed to the Orbiter Processing Facility tomorrow. The external tank quick disconnect valve will then be removed and shipped to the vendor. A new valve will also be installed. ******** AEROSPACE DAILY reports a House Appropriations Subcommittee has made substantial cuts in the Space Station and the Moon and Mars initiative in approving $14.3 billion in FY '91, which is more than $800 million below the Administration's requested $15.1 billion for NASA. The U.S. House Appropriations Committee will review the recommendation. ******** Pakistan's Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission recently announced that their experimental satellite has been transported to China for launch atop a Long March 2E Rocket late this June or July, according to SPACE FAX DAILY. The upcoming launch will be the first for China's 2E rocket which is designed to boost 7,000 kg to a 400 X 800 km elliptical orbit. ******** Jean Olivier, Deputy Huble Space Telescope Project Manager at the Marshall Space Flight Center, Wednesday received from John Bahcal, president of the American Astronomical Society, a plaque expressing the admiration and appreciation of the Society for all NASA's work in getting the Hubble Space Telescope ready for operations. The plaque was presented to Jean but was for all NASA engineers involved in the project. The AAS was holding their biannual meeting at Albuquerque, New Mexico. -------------------------------------------------------------- Here's the broadcast schedule for Public Affairs events on NASA Select TV. All times are Eastern. Tuesday, June 19........ 12:00-2:00 P.M. NASA Video Productions ----------------------------------------------------------------- All events and times are subject to change without notice. These reports are filed daily, Monday through Friday, at 12:00 P.M. EDT. This is a service of the Internal Communications Branch, NASA HQ. Contact: JSTANHOPE or CREDMOND on NASAmail or at 202/453-8425. ----------------------------------------------------------------- NASA Select TV: Satcom F2R, Transponder 13, C-Band 72 Degrees West Longitude, Audio 6.8, Frequency 3960 MHz. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ End of SPACE Digest V11 #530 *******************