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 02:12:55 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: Precedence: junk Reply-To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU From: space-request+@Andrew.CMU.EDU To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU Date: Sat, 16 Jun 1990 02:12:23 -0400 (EDT) Subject: SPACE Digest V11 #532 SPACE Digest Volume 11 : Issue 532 Today's Topics: NASA Headline News for 06/14/90 (Forwarded) Re: Space Sail Race Re: 10 psi overpressure Re: NASA Headline News for 06/13/90 (Forwarded) Need To Know [was NASA Data access on Internet?] Re: KH-12 Re: KH-12 Re: Does anyone know where to find these books? NSS protests Chinese launch pricing Commercial Experiment Transporter planned (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 20:30:28 GMT From: trident.arc.nasa.gov!yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Subject: NASA Headline News for 06/14/90 (Forwarded) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday, June 14, 1990 Audio Service: 202/755-1788 ----------------------------------------------------------------- This is NASA Headline News for Thursday, June 14....... Kennedy Space Center Engineers yesterday began destacking operations to remove the Space Shuttle Columbia from the external tank and solid rocket boosters. A borescope inspection of the suspected liquid hydrogen leak area started yesterday. The orbiter is scheduled to be rolled to the Orbiter Processing Facility on Friday morning. Closeout operations continue on the orbiter Atlantis in the Vehicle Assembly Building at KSC. The liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen carrier plates have been mated and electrical mates are complete. The orbiter was powered up, followed directly by electrical interface and verification tests now underway. Rollout to pad A is scheduled for early Saturday morning. ******** The Galileo spacecraft is over 96 million miles from Earth and over 106 million miles from the Sun. It has gone more than 412 million miles in orbit since launch almost eight months ago, and has 234.5 million still to go before the first Earth gravity- assist, less than six months from now. The spacecraft performance continues to be excellent with routine science and data-gathering activities. ******** The Intelsat Board of Governors yesterday authorized Director General Dean Burch to enter an agreement with NASA. A shared Space Shuttle mission in February 1992, will "reboost" the Intelsat 6 spacecraft now parked in a safe low-Earth orbit. Space Shuttle Director, Robert Crippen, said the rescue effort offers NASA the opportunity for expanding our extravehicular activity experience in preparation for Space Station Freedom. ******** The Indian Space Research Organization has submitted a proposal to INMARSAT for the construction of that organization's third generation communication satellites, according to Space Fax Daily. The Daily said the latest issue of "Space India" reports the contractor for the multi-million dollar INMARSAT-3 satellite contract is expected to be selected by the end of this year. The 58-member INMARSAT organization now provides satellite communications for land, sea and air. -------------------------------------------------------------- Here's the broadcast schedule for Public Affairs events on NASA Select TV. All times are Eastern. Thursday, June 14....... 11:30 A.M. NASA Update will be transmitted. 12:00-2:00 P.M. NASA Video Productions C.A.S.I.S Workshop (Continued) 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: 15 Jun 90 09:01:12 GMT From: cs.utexas.edu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!utzoo!henry@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Henry Spencer) Subject: Re: Space Sail Race In article <9004@rice-chex.ai.mit.edu> kingdon@wheaties.ai.mit.edu (Jim Kingdon) writes: >The other problem is getting something launched by 1992, another >reason to favor small and simple projects which don't require things >like the development of new (thinner) plastic films (MIT uses existing >films). Everyone (as far as I know) is using existing films. Nobody has the money to develop new ones just for this project. The schedule is also a reason to favor off-the-shelf solutions where MIT's tight weight budget will probably mean new hardware development. -- As a user I'll take speed over| Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology features any day. -A.Tanenbaum| uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu ------------------------------ Date: 12 Jun 90 18:20:34 GMT From: voder!pyramid!unify!csusac!csuchico.edu!rreid@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Ralph Reid) Subject: Re: 10 psi overpressure In article <543.2673B35B@ofa123.fidonet.org> David.Anderman@ofa123.fidonet.org (David Anderman) writes: >I seem to recall that the Challenger was destroyed by air pressure, >rather than an explosion of the external tank. Wouldn't that indicate >the overpressure in the payload bay was somewhat higher than 10psi? > . . . You seem to have forgotten the emphasis placed on redesigning the SRB seals. I remember that pictures of the Challenger just prior to the explosion were closely examined, and a blowtorch like flame was seen, which extended from one of the SRB's to the external tank. Some one told me (whether it is correct or not) that the main engines may have been throttled up to 104% of capacity (this is a normal condition for the main engines during launch) before the max-q point was reached. If the tank was overstressed beyond its limits while the flame from the SRB was burning a hole in it, it seems to me that the tank may have ruptured, but this is only guess work on my part. Perhaps the air pressure you believe may have contributed to the disaster was the max-q point in the flight, which has little or nothing to do with the internal pressure anywhere inside the shuttle. If you have opinions, you can put them in your own article; I refuse to put them in mine! -- Ralph. ARS N6BNO rreid@cscihp.csuchico.edu ------------------------------ Date: 15 Jun 90 02:30:55 GMT From: mephisto!prism!ccoprmd@rutgers.edu (Matthew DeLuca) Subject: Re: NASA Headline News for 06/13/90 (Forwarded) In article <51683@ames.arc.nasa.gov> yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) writes: > >The Canadian Space Agency will begin breaking new ground for the >$1.2 billion Canadian Space Agency Facilities. The 99-acre site >in Montreal will be the location for its new headquarters to be >completed sometime in 1993, according to Space Fax Daily. Confident, aren't they? I would think they'd wait until after the 23rd of the month...else it might turn into the Quebec Space Agency, or however you say that in French. :-) -- Matthew DeLuca Georgia Institute of Technology Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, Office of Computing Services for they are subtle, and quick to anger. ARPA: ccoprmd@prism.gatech.edu ------------------------------ Date: 14 Jun 90 13:49:36 GMT From: attcan!utgpu!watserv1!maytag!watdragon!watyew!jdnicoll@uunet.uu.net (Brian or James) Subject: Need To Know [was NASA Data access on Internet?] >There you have it. The capability exists. Those who know how >to do it must be the ones who have a "real" need for the data! > A True Story about 'Need To Know': I'm a compulsive info-scrounger, and a while back I got this twenty kilo box of documents from Emergency Planning Canada [the folks who do much of the contingency planning in Canada]. EPC has large responsibilities, and a not so large budget to carry them out, and I got this feeling *noone* every talks to them [Very friendly folks]. One of the documents they sent me had a announcement that while the book I was holding wasn't classified, it could only be sent to those persons or corporations who had a demonstrated 'Need To Know'. I'm paranoid, so I called them up and asked if they *meant* to send me this document. The reply I got was that I needn't worry, as EPC considered possession of the document as proof of 'Need To Know'. The fellow on the phone said that this policy 'saved us lots of time' in verification of NTK. A user-friendly bureaucracy! JDN PS: The longest document was titled 'The Preservation of Vital Documents'. Our tax forms will out live us! ------------------------------ Date: 16 Jun 90 02:55:15 GMT From: sdd.hp.com!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!aplcen!haven!wam!yun@ucsd.edu (Dragon Taunter) Subject: Re: KH-12 In article <1475@vtserf.cc.vt.edu> jarrell@vtserf.cc.vt.edu.UUCP (Ron Jarrell) writes: >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. I have read that the KH designations are no longer used and that the actual codename for the satellite was LACROSS or something like that. I am under the impression that the USAF knew the satellite was lost so they intentionally blew it incase any parts of it should fall into the USSR. Thus explaining they breakup into four peices. -- yun@wam.umd.edu yun@eng.umd.edu Dan Quayle is so dense, he absorbs neutrinos. ------------------------------ Date: 14 Jun 90 17:51:06 GMT From: att!cbnewsj!johna@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (john.a.welsh) Subject: Re: KH-12 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 re-enter the atmosphere (with some hitting the ground). Has anybody heard anything about this? John Welsh ------------------------------ Date: 14 Jun 90 19:03:41 GMT From: sppy00!blm@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (MORTLAND BRUCE) Subject: Re: Does anyone know where to find these books? Gliese's Catalogue of nearby stars OCLC #77244 LCCN #72473315 //R852 Woolley's Catalogue of stars withing 25 parsecs of the Sun OCLC #11439770 Your library should be able to get you more information on either of these books. I'm not a librarian, but I found them quite easily. Good Luck. I could display the location codes for the libraries that have the books, but I am not knowledgeable enough to turn that into addresses. ------------------------------ Date: 16 Jun 90 04:51:04 GMT From: thorin!homer.cs.unc.edu!leech@mcnc.org Subject: NSS protests Chinese launch pricing I read in a recent Clarinet article (by UPI science writer William Harwood) that NSS has protested (to the US govt.) unfair pricing of Chinese Long March launch services, via a letter from executive director Lori Garver. The primary complaint appears to be unfair pricing and competition with US launch providers. I'm not throughly familiar with the issue, but I find it rather disturbing (albeit not surprising) that NSS has taken an egregiously anti-free-trade position such as this without any notice to, let alone consultation with, the members. As far as I'm concerned, Douglas and the rest can damned well figure out how to price launchers cheaply if they want a market. Note that I despise the Chinese govt.; that's not the point. But then, I remember the days when the L-5 staff and leadership were actually responsive to the members. Before the move to Washington, for one thing. I'm with Keith Lofstrom's posting of 19 Jan 1989 on bureaucratic bozosity of NSS - let's start the L-4 Society! L-5 News 1980 - articles on lightsails and mass drivers. As Astra 1990 - articles on shuttle launch tours and happenings on the Hill. This is progress? Feh. -- Jon Leech (leech@cs.unc.edu) __@/ ``Before I refuse to take your questions, I have an opening statement.'' - Ronald Reagan ------------------------------ Date: 14 Jun 90 20:34:19 GMT From: trident.arc.nasa.gov!yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Subject: Commercial Experiment Transporter planned (Forwarded) Barbara Selby Headquarters, Washington, D.C. June 14, 1990 (Phone: 202/453-2927) Andes Hoyt Center for Advanced Space Propulsion, Tullahoma, Tenn. (Phone: 615/454-9294) RELEASE: 90-83 COMMERCIAL EXPERIMENT TRANSPORTER PLANNED The National Aeronautics and Space Administration today announced support for plans to develop a system for launching and recovering commercial spaceborne experiments. Sponsored by NASA's Office of Commercial Programs, the objective of the Commercial Experiment Transporter (COMET) program is to develop both hardware and infrastructure to facilitate the commercial development of space by the United States. NASA's Centers for the Commercial Development of Space (CCDS) initiated the program and will be totally responsible for system design, fabrication, test and operations in which industry will be encouraged to be innovative. "Proceeding with this innovative concept represents another significant step in the commercial development of space," said James T. Rose, NASA Assistant Administrator for Commercial Programs. "The COMET program will help provide the access to space that is critical in meeting industry's needs." Carried aloft by an expendable launch vehicle, the COMET free-flyer will contain both a service module and a recovery system. The two components will separate prior to reentering the atmosphere so that most experiments will be returned to Earth in the recovery system, while others not requiring retrieval, could continue their mission aboard the service module. There are six major elements to the COMET program: launch vehicle and services, payload integration, the service module, orbital operations, recovery system and services, and systems engineering. Contractors will be expected to provide key hardware and services for each segment of COMET development and operations. The COMET program plans call for a mid-1992 launch of a free-flyer, weighing up to 1,800 pounds, into an equatorial orbit with an inclination of about 40 degrees. Commercial experiments and processes to be returned to Earth will be carried out during a nominal 30-day mission, while non-recoverable payloads can remain on orbit in the service module for a year or longer. Completion of the second phase of flight will result in reentry of the recovery system and its payload at a site within the continental United States. Specific launch and recovery locations have not been defined since industry will be allowed to propose the most cost-efficient method to meet mission requirements. Launching the COMET on expendable rockets offers experimenters flexibility in selecting orbital parameters which are different from those of the Space Shuttle. Additionally, the free-flyer will stay in orbit longer and can carry industrial research materials that could be hazardous to the Shuttle and its crew. The lead CCDS, the Center for Advanced Space Propulsion (CASP) located at the University of Tennessee Space Institute, Tullahoma, will be responsible for program management and systems engineering. Other participating CCDSs include: - Center for Macromolecular Crystallography, University of Alabama-Birmingham (payload integration); - BioServe Space Technologies, University of Colorado, Boulder (recovery system); - Center for Space Power, Texas A&M University, College Station (service module); - Consortium for Materials Development in Space, University of Alabama-Huntsville (expendable launch vehicle); and - Space Vacuum Epitaxy Center, University of Houston (orbital operations). The CCDS team, through CASP, will prepare statements of work, evaluate proposals and, upon contractor selection, provide technical observation and contract monitoring. The University of Tennessee-Calspan Center for Aerospace Research, the legal entity for CASP, will issue a request for proposals this summer. Joseph F. Pawlick Jr., CASP, is the COMET program manager. ------------------------------ End of SPACE Digest V11 #532 *******************