Return-path: X-Andrew-Authenticated-as: 7997;andrew.cmu.edu;Ted Anderson Received: from hogtown.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 ; Thu, 28 Feb 91 02:15:18 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: Precedence: junk Reply-To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU From: space-request+@Andrew.CMU.EDU To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU Date: Thu, 28 Feb 91 02:15:13 -0500 (EST) Subject: SPACE Digest V13 #210 SPACE Digest Volume 13 : Issue 210 Today's Topics: Re: Terraforming, sun shield Galileo Update - 02/27/91 Space conference in San Diego Re: Japanese Space Effort, II NASA Headline News for 02/27/91 (Forwarded) Re: Commercially-funded Space Probes (was Re: Space Profits) Re: Government vs. Commercial R&D (Really about MSFC) Re: HST Guide Star CD-ROMS Re: Terraforming, sun shield Administrivia: Submissions to the SPACE Digest/sci.space should be mailed to space+@andrew.cmu.edu. Other mail, esp. [un]subscription requests, should be sent to space-request+@andrew.cmu.edu, or, if urgent, to tm2b+@andrew.cmu.edu ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 28 Feb 91 00:18:11 GMT From: hbh@athena.mit.edu (Heidi Hammel) Subject: Re: Terraforming, sun shield In article <1991Feb27.223706.12865@zoo.toronto.edu> henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) writes: >In article <1991Feb27.214032.7928@athena.mit.edu> hbh@athena.mit.edu (Heidi Hammel) writes: >>... Humanity (in particular Western >>civilization) hasn't yet learned to live on the Earth without destroying >>it; it hardly seems appropriate to move on to the next planet. > >On the contrary, I think making our mistakes somewhere *else* would be a >fine idea. We're not going to be able to learn without mistakes. And >it's not as if we're going to be destroying existing ecosystems on, say, >Venus. We could hardly leave it in worse shape than it is now. ^^^^^ Spoken from a truly geocentric (humanocentric?) point of view ;-). >>and balances. Humanity so far has only demonstrated a marked ability to >>*destroy* stable ecosystems, returning them to barren wastelands. > >So which stable ecosystems are we going to be destroying on Venus or Mars? Hmmm... I seem to remember that one of the experiments for detecting life on Mars was tested in Antartica or some such unfriendly place. It concluded that there was no life. We can't know for sure what may or may not exist. I can't tell you for a fact what ecosystem might be perturbed, and nobody else can tell you that either, because we just don't know all the facts. Besides, maybe there are microbial critters who *like* the Cytherian atmosphere just the way it is ... there are some places on Earth that *I* sure wouldn't want to visit. >You haven't answered *my* question at all. Just because humanity *can* alter a system doesn't mean it *should* alter a system. *Especially* before the other world is fully explored robotically. What I'm trying to get across is that there is free choice is human intervention of natural evolution - whereas plants and insects (in the Hawaiian Island example given by Henry originally) are not making active, informed decisions to modify the ecosystem. Does *that* answer the question? If not, maybe you could rephrase the question? >Incidentally, it's quite possible to find cases where plants and animals >have destroyed stable ecosystems, starting with the greatest ecological >disaster in Earth's history: the evolution of photosynthesis. And look where it eventually lead us ... purported global warming due in large part to humanity's wanton abuse of a non-renewable resource, record numbers of species' extinctions, significant thinning of the stratospheric ozone layer. Disaster is right! At this rate, we'll soon have the Earth right back where it started before all this messy plant and animal life developed! Hey - maybe there's a lesson in all this for us, Henry! ;-) -- ------ Heidi B. Hammel (hbh@athena.mit.edu) MIT 54-316 -- Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences ------------------------------ Date: 28 Feb 91 03:11:48 GMT From: usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jato!mars.jpl.nasa.gov!baalke@apple.com (Ron Baalke) Subject: Galileo Update - 02/27/91 GALILEO STATUS REPORT February 27, 1991 The Galileo spacecraft is almost 33.5 million miles from Earth; it is just over 98 million miles from the Sun. Its speed in solar orbit is about 75,000 mph. Round-trip communication time with Earth is almost six minutes. Spacecraft health and mission performance are excellent. On Monday, February 25, the spacecraft was returned from the all-spin mode at about 2.9 rpm to dual-spin at about 3.15 rpm. In the dual- spin mode, the lower section containing the camera and other instruments is de-spun and held fixed relative to surrounding space. The spacecraft's star tracker must be able to detect a pattern of stars to maintain this mode; at present, the spacecraft must also orient its "top" toward the Sun for thermal protection. For the past six weeks, in this spacecraft attitude, suitable guide stars were not available until now. Galileo will continue gathering and reading out scientific data, checking out instruments and other subsystems, and conducting routine maintenance operations in the cruise mode. On the ground, the Galileo team is developing and testing future sequences and planning for the asteroid encounter late this year. ___ _____ ___ /_ /| /____/ \ /_ /| Ron Baalke | baalke@mars.jpl.nasa.gov | | | | __ \ /| | | | Jet Propulsion Lab | Is it mind over matter, ___| | | | |__) |/ | | |___ M/S 301-355 | or matter over mind? /___| | | | ___/ | |/__ /| Pasadena, CA 91109 | Never mind. |_____|/ |_|/ |_____|/ | It doesn't matter. ------------------------------ Date: 25 Feb 91 18:39:37 GMT From: swrinde!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!zardoz.cpd.com!dhw68k!ofa123!David.Anderman@ucsd.edu (David Anderman) Subject: Space conference in San Diego On February 17th, 1991, San Diego L5, a chapter of the National Space Society, was designated as the host of the seventh California Space Development Conference, to be held February 16-17, 1992. Under the new, expanded format for the conference, several hundred space activists, aerospace industry leaders, and political figures are expected to attend. The California Space Development Council (CSDC), the sponsor of the event, is a coalition of California chapters of the National Space Society, and has over 1,000 members. CSDC recently successfully staged the 1990 International Space Development Conference in Anaheim. San Diego L5, founded in 1982, promotes space development via public education, political activity, and communication with other special interest groups. For more information about the 1992 California Space Development Conference, please contact Flint Webb, Conference Chairman, at 619/295-3690. San Diego L5 P.O. Box 4636 San Diego, CA 92164 -- David Anderman Internet: David.Anderman@ofa123.fidonet.org Compuserve: >internet:David.Anderman@ofa123.fidonet.org -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: 27 Feb 91 09:26:39 GMT From: zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!ccut!tansei1!tansei!a87466@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Takahiro YAMADA) Subject: Re: Japanese Space Effort, II In article <1991Feb26.172257.14180@zoo.toronto.edu> henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) writes: >In article <21225@crg5.UUCP> szabo@crg5.UUCP (Nick Szabo) writes: >>> *Autonomous Japanese space station.... >> >>"Automomous" -- that's certainly not the traditional Western conception >>of a "space station". Sounds more like the Fairchild concept which >>NASA killed in the early 80's for automated microgravity research and >>production. > >Uh, Nick, I think you are letting your prejudices get in your way. :-) >Almost certainly they are using "autonomous" to mean not "unmanned" but >"all-Japanese", i.e. not dependent on US launchers. I think in this case "autonomous" means "unmanned" not "all-Japanese", although I am sure we will use Japanese launch vehicles to launch a Japanese unmanned space station. One of my colleagues at my institute (ISAS) is conducting a study on an unmanned space station which utilizes space robotics. The concept of the station is quite similar to that of an unmanned orbiting service vehicle with a lot of robot arms. >>They have shrugged off the obsessions with "manned" projects and >>mis-scaled technology... > >Again, I think your prejudices are getting in the way. The Japanese are >very interested in manned projects. NASDA's Christmas card this year >featured the impending (although not as impending as they thought!) Japanese >Spacelab mission. That's right. NASDA is very interested in manned projects, for example, Spacelab on the Space Shuttle and the Japanese Experimenta Module of the Space Station Freedom. But in both cases the transportation means is the American Space Shuttle. We do not have any plan to develop a manned launch vehicle on our own at the moment. Takahiro YAMADA, Spacecraft Engineering Division, The Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), JAPAN. ------------------------------ Date: 27 Feb 91 22:35:00 GMT From: usenet@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Subject: NASA Headline News for 02/27/91 (Forwarded) Headline News Internal Communications Branch (P-2) NASA Headquarters Wednesday, February 27, 1991 Audio Service: 202 / 755-1788 This is NASA Headline News for Wednesday, February 27, 1991 Resolution of the cracked hinge issue on Discovery awaits the STS-39 Flight Readiness Review, scheduled to begin at the Kennedy Space Center Monday, March 4. In the meantime, technicians continue processing Discovery to support a planned early March launch for the eight-day dedicated Department of Defense mission. The three primary STS-39 payloads, Air Force Package 675, the Infrared Background Signature Survey, and the Space Test Payload 1, are inside Discovery's payload bay and undergoing routine inspections and maintenance. Scheduled work includes cryogenic servicing on the Cirris and Shuttle Pallet Satellite. Work in the Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 2 is nearing completion on Atlantis, as that orbiter is prepared for rollover to the Vehicle Assembly Building. Work currently underway includes tests of the orbiter's flight control surfaces and a gimbal clearance check of the three main engines. Technicians are evaluating a possible leaking thruster on the right orbital maneuvering system pod. If the thruster has to be changed, rollover will most likely occur late next Tuesday, March 5, or early Wednesday, March 6. Columbia's STS-40 payload, the Spacelab Life Sciences habitable module, is still in the Operations and Checkout Building awaiting a late March move to the Orbiter Processing Facility for installation in that orbiter's payload bay. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Johnson Space Center management has created a project office for the development and implementation of Space Station Freedom flight operations. The Space Station Mission Operation Project Office will be an element of the Mission Operations Directorate (MOD), which has overall responsibility for the development and conduct of flight planning, training, and operations for the shuttle and space station programs. Eugene Kranz, mission operations director, says the new organization will provide more direct interaction between MOD and the space station work package teams, institutions, and international partners in developing and defining the space station operational concepts. The new office will be headed by former flight director Charles R. Lewis. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Magellan project will hold a science briefing on recent Venus discoveries next Tuesday, March 5, at 1:00 pm EST. The briefers will discuss recent radar images, including those made in the past few weeks, of a major uplifted region of the planet. They will also discuss the four competing theories concerning the nature of the continent-sized highland region known as Aphrodite Terra. Aphrodite Terra is the largest of the Venus' highland regions and extends nearly two-thirds of the way around the planet. Magellan has completed radar mapping of this region. Earlier data provided by Pioneer Venus Radar Mapper suggested that Aphrodite Terra's regional topography might be similar to Earth's continents. The launch of Joust 1, a commercial suborbital rocket carrying 10 materials and biotechnology experiments, has been scheduled for 8:30 am EST on March 29 from Launch Complex 20 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The Joust 1 mission is sponsored by the University of Alabama in Huntsville's Consortium for Materials Development in Space, a NASA Center for Commercial Development of Space. Orbital Sciences Corp., Space Data Division, Chandler, Ariz., will provide the rocket and launch services under a contract with UAH. Space Data will use its Prospector launch vehicle to lift the payload approximately 400 miles into space, providing about 13 minutes of microgravity time for the experiments. The Joust 1 flight will involve participation from four other NASA commercial development centers: Advanced Materials Center, Battelle Columbus Laboratories, Columbus, Ohio; Center for Cell Research, Pennsylvania State University, State College; Bioserve Space Technologies, University of Colorado, Boulder; and the Center for Commercial Development of Space Power and Advanced Electronics, Auburn University, Alabama. Here's the broadcast schedule for Public Affairs events on NASA Select TV. All times are Eastern. NASA Select TV is carried on GE Satcom F2R, transponder 13, C-Band, 72 degrees W Long., Audio 6.8, Frequency 3960 MHz. Wednesday, 2/27/91 4:00 pm Magellan-at-Venus report, taped replay of 1:15 pm report from Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Thursday, 2/28/91 Validation tests will occur throughout the day. All events and times may change without notice. This report is filed daily, Monday through Friday, by 12:00 pm, Eastern. It is a service of NASA Headquarters Office of Public Affairs. Contact: CREDMOND on NASAmail or at 202/453-8425. ------------------------------ Date: 26 Feb 91 06:25:47 GMT From: zephyr.ens.tek.com!tektronix!sequent!crg5!szabo@uunet.uu.net (Nick Szabo) Subject: Re: Commercially-funded Space Probes (was Re: Space Profits) In article <887@idacrd.UUCP> mac@idacrd.UUCP (Robert McGwier) writes: > >A Microsat bus is available from Interferometrics, Inc. in Vienna, Va. >for about $1000000 (10^6) WITHOUT the instrument.... This sounds interesting! Is there a detailed reference to which we could refer? -- Nick Szabo szabo@sequent.com Forward in all directions! ------------------------------ Date: 27 Feb 91 19:09:49 GMT From: sun-barr!cs.utexas.edu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utzoo!henry@apple.com (Henry Spencer) Subject: Re: Government vs. Commercial R&D (Really about MSFC) In article dlbres10@pc.usl.edu (Fraering Philip) writes: >I thought I might mention on the side that Marshall is supposed to be >doing a lot of research on space science itself, such as the Sun >itself and the solar wind. I believe the Solar Max mission was run >from Marshall. I thought _Lewis_ was supposed to be doing the lion's >share of the advanced propulsion research... The crucial fact here is that the roles of the various centers got thoroughly muddled during the post-Apollo cutbacks, when they were all scrambling for some work, any work, to avoid cutting staff. Things have only gotten worse since. Historically, Marshall did launchers in particular and chemical rockets in general. Lewis was involved with space power systems, I think, which also got them involved in electric propulsion systems. It is a mistake to assume that "advanced propulsion" and "chemical rockets" are mutually exclusive. -- "But this *is* the simplified version | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology for the general public." -S. Harris | henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry ------------------------------ Date: 27 Feb 91 20:01:31 GMT From: dftsrv!stars.gsfc.nasa.gov!warnock@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Archie Warnock) Subject: Re: HST Guide Star CD-ROMS In article <1991Feb27.160146.28664@rice.edu>, uk1@spacsun.rice.edu (Paul A. Scowen) writes... >remember rightly. Also watch out for the so-called "guidestars", we identified >5 of them in one field to be giant extragalactic HII regions - hardly point >sources! Hope HST really isn't using this list. Useful for reference though. It really _is_ using them. There are flags in the catalog to indicate whether the object was recognized as "stellar" by their software (generation of the catalog was pretty much fully automated). Still, some non-stellar things slipped through, which is why there are two possible pairs of guide stars for each scheduled observation. -- Archie Warnock Internet: warnock@stars.gsfc.nasa.gov -- ST Systems Corp. SPAN: STARS::WARNOCK -- Laboratory for Astronomy and Solar Physics -- Goddard Space Flight Center "Unix - JCL for the 90s" ------------------------------ Date: 26 Feb 91 14:08:09 GMT From: sdd.hp.com!spool.mu.edu!news.cs.indiana.edu!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!bradley.bradley.edu!buhub!moonman@ucsd.edu (Craig Levin) Subject: Re: Terraforming, sun shield In <53987@sequent.UUCP> dafuller@sequent.UUCP (David Fuller) writes: >I find the concept that humans find "uninhabited" planets fertile ground >for cultivation repulsive, ignorant and a propulsion of the status quo. A "propulsion"? Are you sure you've used the right word? By the by, if some of us leave for parts unearthly, it does mean that those who stay behind get more room here and the chance for more resources from here. >Without understanding the greater nature of the universe, we propose to >make a planet habitable inasmuch as sticking some giant terrestrial penis >into Venus' vagina without understanding in any real sense why >Venus is there or whether there is something more subtle to be learnt. What's this? Why is Venus there? Nobody knows. It just is, and IMHO, this place would be better off without odd phallic fantasies about deities and planets. Craig\The Moonman\Levin ***[]*** /////// moonman@buhub.bradley.edu )`-----// You are Here ``````` \~ V |~ . o o . :;: () -O- 0 . O |~ Wouldn't you rather be out there-----> /~ ------------------------------ End of SPACE Digest V13 #210 *******************