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 ; Sat, 9 Mar 91 02:03:29 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: Precedence: junk Reply-To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU From: space-request+@Andrew.CMU.EDU To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU Date: Sat, 9 Mar 91 02:03:25 -0500 (EST) Subject: SPACE Digest V13 #246 SPACE Digest Volume 13 : Issue 246 Today's Topics: Re: Space Profits Re: Wednesday NOVA on PBS: Russian Right Stuff Re: Government vs. Commercial R&D Magellan Update - 03/04/91 Voyager Update - 03/06/91 Info Needed on Iridium Sat Comm Network 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: 7 Mar 91 18:27:47 GMT From: zephyr.ens.tek.com!tektronix!sequent!crg5!szabo@beaver.cs.washington.edu (Nick Szabo) Subject: Re: Space Profits In article <9103051901.AA07156@iti.org> aws@ITI.ORG ("Allen W. Sherzer") writes: >In article <21281@crg5.UUCP> Nick Szabo writes: [Lunar oxygen] >>* All customers would have to add refueling equipment to their >> satellites > >Yes but I doubt it would be that hard when it is done in a standard >way and everybody does it. Hahahahahahaha!!!! (He he! :-) :-) :-) Allen, we can't even agree on a _measuring system_ on this planet. Rocket makers can't even agree on an _accounting system_. Ad nauseum.... How do you plan to enforce these added expenditures across dozens of competing corporations and nations? >This would also have the advantage of allowing >satellites to be refueled thus making their operational lives much longer >and reducing costs. Operational life is based on quite a bit more than stationkeeping fuel. This would involve further redesign towards materials that last longer in space, greater lifetime for circuitry, etc. etc. >Why haul them up all the time? Attack an ion engine or solar sail so they >can be recovered and reused in LEO. If we are using ion or solar sails, who needs LOX? Another risk factor. >>* The amount of LOX used for OTV and stationkeeping is less than 100 tons >> per year, which at half current costs to LEO is $150 million, > >100 tons at current launch costs to LEO is closer to $1 billion per year. >If we can interest the Soviets in a joint venture then that market size >would double. You are correct about launch costs _if_ they stay even (you argued in another forum that they could drop by a factor of 2-3 in the near future). < 100 tons includes launches from all nations (even those that would never be interested in relying on capitalist LOX). >> or only 1/10 of 1% the proposed cost of NASA's manned lunar base. > >But about 25% the cost of the LLNL infrastructure LLNL price estimates are probably unrealistic. LLNL has zero experience in manned spaceflight and space mining. Furthermore, the market demand will be much lower than the total usage due to the cost of redesigning upper stages and standarization. However, the LLNL concept does sound very interesting, and it would be good to see a reasanable budget (c. $100 million/yr.) to get the lunar mining and processing equipment prototyped. If LLNL can help solve these important problems, great strides will have been made towards space coloniziaton. I would love to see LLNL, SSI, and the Bureau of Mines work something out here. >The LLNL design is fully automated. Well, that's one thing they got right. Now what about the half-dozen other space mining issues I posted about? How about the asteroid alternative? >It can recover a years worth of >H2 and O2 in a year. A year's worth for Great Exploration or the entire LEO demand? >It even includes the extra fuel needed for transport >from the moon to LEO. Adding a mass driver would double their productivity. What about the productivity of the mining equipment? -- Nick Szabo szabo@sequent.com "What are the _facts_, and to how many decimal places?" -- RAH ------------------------------ Date: 4 Mar 91 05:23:43 GMT From: mcsun!ukc!uos-ee!cam-cl!news@uunet.uu.net (Kish Shen) Subject: Re: Wednesday NOVA on PBS: Russian Right Stuff >Russian Right Stuff >A three-part look at the Soviet space program opens with a profile of its chief >designer Sergei Korolev I think this is the "Horizon" (a BBC TV science program) shown here in the UK a few months back. If I remember correctly, the commentator was one of the regular person used by Horizon, and was British. Does anybody know how this was program was made? Was it a co-operation between BBC and some other company? One thing I remember was that in the last program, they interviewed the Cosmonaut who returned from Mir, and whom they have been following from before the flight, and one of the Cosmonaut said something like "we remember our interview with you when we fly over the UK and Canada", which seem to suggest that the program is a UK-Canadian effort. Does anyone know? Kish Shen Computer Laboratory University of Cambridge ------------------------------ Date: 7 Mar 91 14:53:01 GMT From: magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!unix.cis.pitt.edu!pitt!nss!Paul.Blase@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Paul Blase) Subject: Re: Government vs. Commercial R&D I believe that you, like Nick, missed my main point. Maybe it is more subtle than I thought. I was saying that for the most part, it is only the government that has the need and the money to fund the development ---- ----- of the first useful product from advanced research, especially if that product is the first of its kind. Basic research is one thing, bringing a product to market is another. Companies tend to be conservative - they bet on known technology, known markets, known products. Taking an existing product and improving on it, or even finding a new use for it, is relatively easy. Taking a whole new concept from the labs (e.g. the laser or radar) and finding a market for it in the first place takes a lot more. --- via Silver Xpress V2.26 [NR] -- Paul Blase - via FidoNet node 1:129/104 UUCP: ...!pitt!nss!Paul.Blase INTERNET: Paul.Blase@nss.FIDONET.ORG ------------------------------ Date: 8 Mar 91 19:13:16 GMT From: snorkelwacker.mit.edu!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jato!mars.jpl.nasa.gov!baalke@bloom-beacon.mit.edu (Ron Baalke) Subject: Magellan Update - 03/04/91 MAGELLAN STATUS REPORT March 4, 1991 Full mapping was resumed on March 2 when the 10-minute early turn from mapping attitude to playback attitude was removed. Thermal conditions had improved late last week due to periapsis solar occultation season commencement, allowing the removal of the maneuver. Temperatures continue to decline after a short-lived rise over the weekend as a result of the early maneuver removal. The gyroscopes increased about 1/2 degrees C before continuing to cool. Current peaks are about 67.7 degrees C. All spacecraft component temperatures remain within established limits. Star scanner filter activity continues to be moderate. Three star scans were partially successful since March 1; the remaining nineteen were fully successful. ___ _____ ___ /_ /| /____/ \ /_ /| 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: 9 Mar 91 00:54:30 GMT From: elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jato!mars.jpl.nasa.gov!baalke@decwrl.dec.com (Ron Baalke) Subject: Voyager Update - 03/06/91 VOYAGER STATUS REPORT March 6, 1991 Voyager 1 The Voyager 1 spacecraft continues to collect routine science and engineering data. UVS (Ultraviolet Spectrometer) data was collected from sources NGC 6752 and NGC 6681. One frame of PWS (Plasma Wave) data was recorded on the DTR (Digital Tape Recorder)on February 26. Round trip light time is 12 hours, 13 minutes. On February 25, gyroscopes B & C were turned off. The PWS instrument has been observing gyro interference signals since February 18. These interference signals ceased when the gyros were turned off. This completed the one week gyro conditioning. On February 26, a short form TLC (Tracking Loop Capacitor) test was performed; the results were nominal. Voyager 2 The Voyager 2 spacecraft also continues to collect routine science and engineering data. UVS data was collected from source FAIRALL 9. On February 26, one frame of high-rate PWS data was recorded. Round trip light time is 9 hours, 34 minutes. On February 22, an AACS (Attitude and Articulation Control Subsystem) MRO (Memory ReadOut) was performed; the results were per predicts. Gyroscopes B and C were also turned off. This completed the second gyro swap investigation mini-sequence. On February 28, a science calibration for PLS/MAG/LECP (Plasma/Magnetometer/Low Energy Charged Particles) instruments was completed. Initial analysis of the data indicates a successful calibration. CCS (Computer Command Subsystem) load B009 was uplinked to the spacecraft on February 28. The load is due to start on March 4. CONSUMABLE STATUS AS OF 03/06/91 P R O P E L L A N T S T A T U S P O W E R Consumption One Week Propellant Remaining Output Margin Spacecraft (Gm) (Kg) Watts Watts Voyager 1 6 36.2 + 2.0 366 55 Voyager 2 5 39.1 + 2.0 370 59 ___ _____ ___ /_ /| /____/ \ /_ /| 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: 9 Mar 91 01:16:03 GMT From: limabean.veggard.mn.org!brent@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Brent J. Nordquist) Subject: Info Needed on Iridium Sat Comm Network I'm posting this for a friend. She is working on her Master's Degree at the U of CO, Colo Springs. She needs any information she can get on Motorola's Iridium sat comm network. Any pointers to books, periodicals, etc. would be greatly appreciated! Please reply via e-mail as I do not read sci.space. Thanks. -- Brent J. Nordquist brent@limabean.veggard.mn.org ...!relay.hp.com!hp-lsd!limabean!brent ------------------------------ End of SPACE Digest V13 #246 *******************