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Date: Tue,  2 Apr 91 02:06:43 -0500 (EST)
Subject: SPACE Digest V13 #345

SPACE Digest                                     Volume 13 : Issue 345

Today's Topics:
			    Solar Eclipse
		   Saturn V -- the Iraqi connection
			  Re: Solar Eclipse

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----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 2 Apr 91 03:45:57 GMT
From: olivea!samsung!sdd.hp.com!usc!mizar.usc.edu!robiner@apple.com  (Steve Robiner)
Subject: Solar Eclipse


Can someone out there who has seen (well, maybe not directly) a total
solar eclispe describe to me what it and the sky look like at the time?

Questions:

Does the whole sky turn very dark (or just a circular area around the
sun/moon?  Can one see the stars in that area?

Is it truly more dangerous to look at an eclipse than looking at the
normal sun?  It can't possibly be any brighter.  The only danger I can
see is that while viewing the relatively dark eclipsed sun, the moon
moves out of the way, and one's dialated eye is caught off gaurd and
exposed to the sun's full brightness.  Is there any other danger
beyond that?

Has the sun's corona been observed above the Earth's atmosphere?  If not,
isn't possible that it is merely an atmospheric phenomenon, just light
scatering and refracting around the edges of the moon.

How big is the Moon's shadow on the Earth?  I would guess it's nearly the
size of the moon, but there must be some refraction of light around the
edges of the moon, making the totally dark shadow of the moon somewhat
smaller.


Is the moon, during a full total eclipse, exactly the same apparent size as
the sun, or is it larger?

Thanks in advance,

=steve=


robiner@mizar.usc.edu

------------------------------

Date: 1 Apr 91 05:26:04 GMT
From: usc!rpi!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!utzoo!utdoe!contact!egr@apple.com  (Gordan Palameta)
Subject: Saturn V -- the Iraqi connection


               Soviet experts make startling claim:

                  Saddam was building moon rocket
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

          From the Soviet newspaper Krivda  [ Crimean Pravda? ]
                   Reprinted without permission.

[ Translator's note: not responsible for any accuracy which may have
                     inadvertently been introduced into this article. ]


    According to reliable Soviet military sources, Iraq was
    attempting to build a copy of the US-designed Saturn V rocket,
    using stolen technical information supplied by the Soviet Union.

    The most powerful rocket ever built, the Saturn V was used in
    the Apollo moon landings during the late 1960s and early 1970s.

    Although experts agree the Iraqi program had little chance of
    success, these new revelations are bound to raise a storm of
    controversy in the United States.


    Design plans for the Saturn V were allegedly obtained by Soviet
    intelligence in the mid 1970s from a NASA scientist "at the very
    highest level", known only as "W". These plans apparently
    included the complete set of original blueprints and later
    design modifications (known as "engineering change numbers").

    Anguished by the cancellation of the Apollo program, and encouraged
    by Soviet-American political detente and space cooperation at the time
    (as shown by the Apollo-Soyuz joint mission), "W" provided the Soviets
    with the Apollo plans in the idealistic hope that they would continue
    the moon exploration program abandoned by the US.

    However, the Soviet space program also soon abandoned the idea of
    moon landings.  Although a prototype heavy-lift booster (code-named
    "Podyobka") was developed based on the Apollo plans, this was eventually
    replaced with the more modern Soviet-designed Energiya rocket.


[ Transl. note: "podyobka" may be based on the Russian word "podyom",
  meaning "lifting" or "ascent".  I cannot seem to find this word
  in any reputable Soviet dictionary. ]


    Ironically, the Apollo technology has been "lost" in the US itself,
    since no systematic attempt was made to conserve the technical
    design specifications after the moon landing program was cancelled.

    It is believed that Soviet president M. S. Gorbachev actually
    offered US president R. W. Reagan the Apollo plans during the
    Reykjavik summit, in exchange for easing restrictions on
    high-technology exports to the Soviet Union.

    Although initially favorable, Reagan eventually rejected the
    idea under strong pressure from the Pentagon and from NASA, for
    whom the resurrection of the Apollo plans would have been a
    serious political embarrassment.


    In the most startling development however, the Apollo plans were
    apparently sold to Iraqi president Saddam Hussein in the mid
    1980s by a disgruntled Iraq-based Soviet military adviser,
    identified only as "Ivan Chonkin".

    According to reliable sources, "Saddam just wanted the biggest
    rocket he could get his hands on.  Nobody dared point out that
    it was useless for bombing Tel Aviv."

    However, the placement of the launch site in southern Iraq suggests
    that orbital or suborbital launches may have been intended, since
    such launches require proximity to the equator for maximum efficiency.


    Development of the Saddam V rocket, still at a preliminary stage,
    was brought to a sudden halt by the recent Gulf War.  The
    launch site, within territory currently occupied by American
    troops, was subjected to particularly heaving bombing throughout
    the war and is thought to have been utterly destroyed in a
    commando raid during the final ground offensive.


[ Transl. note:  the article continues with political analysis,
  sharply critical of Soviet president Gorbachev and of previous
  Soviet support of Saddam Hussein.  It demands to know why the
  Apollo plans have not been licensed to private American companies
  such as Boeing, in order to obtain hard currency "to buy bread for
  the Soviet people". ]

------------------------------

Date: 2 Apr 91 06:29:14 GMT
From: mips!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!ra!tlm1@apple.com  (Terry Matula)
Subject: Re: Solar Eclipse

In reply to: Steve Robiner

>Can someone out there who has seen (well, maybe not directly) a total
>solar eclispe describe to me what it and the sky look like at the time?

Okay, I haven't seen one myself, but I have taken a couple of astronomy
courses and feel that I can give you some information.

>Questions:
>
>Does the whole sky turn very dark (or just a circular area around the
>sun/moon?  Can one see the stars in that area?

Yes, in a TOTAL solar eclipse, the entire sky does get very dark and the
stars are visible.  The remaining corona has a brightness somewhat similar
to the full moon or maybe slightly brighter.  Stars are not visible in
any partial eclipse, however, because even a thin little sliver of the sun
is much brighter than any star.

>Is it truly more dangerous to look at an eclipse than looking at the
>normal sun?  It can't possibly be any brighter.  The only danger I can
>see is that while viewing the relatively dark eclipsed sun, the moon
>moves out of the way, and one's dialated eye is caught off gaurd and
>exposed to the sun's full brightness.  Is there any other danger
>beyond that?

Well, what you say is true.  Also, during a partial eclipse (before and
after totality) the sun is a good bit dimmer than normal and a person
can comfortably look directly at the sun for long periods of time without
experiencing any discomfort.  But the ultraviolet rays are still present
and can do permanent damage to the delicate structures in the eye during
this time.  

>Has the sun's corona been observed above the Earth's atmosphere?  If not,
>isn't possible that it is merely an atmospheric phenomenon, just light
>scatering and refracting around the edges of the moon.

The sun's corona is real, its not an atmospheric phenomenon.  Some of the
best observations have been made from above the atmosphere.  The solar 
eclipse of Feb. 16, 1980 was photographed in a jet flying @36,000 ft.  
In enhanced photographs the sun's corona was seen to extend out to a 
distance of about 12 times the solar radius (pretty impressive photograph).
Also, a NASA satellite know as Solar Maximum studied the corona by covering
the solar disk with a circular disk in front of the camera.

>How big is the Moon's shadow on the Earth?  I would guess it's nearly the
>size of the moon, but there must be some refraction of light around the
>edges of the moon, making the totally dark shadow of the moon somewhat
>smaller.

The part of the moon's shadow where a total eclipse is visible is know as
the umbra.  The part where a partial eclipse is visible is know as the
penumbra.  The penumbra is pretty much the same size as the moon itself.
The umbra, however, barely reaches Earth and is never larger than 269 km
(168 miles) in diameter.

>Is the moon, during a full total eclipse, exactly the same apparent size as
>the sun, or is it larger?

They are very close in apparent size.  The sun has a diameter of about
400 times that of the moon, but it is almost exactly 400 times farther
away.  However, the moon's orbit is slightly elliptical and its distance
from Earth varies by about 6 percent.  During most eclipses, the moon 
appears slightly larger than sun.  Occasionally, when the moon is the 
fartherest from the Earth, the sun can appear slightly larger than the 
moon.  An eclipse that occurs during this time is know as an annular 
eclispe.  The moon is too small to completely cover the sun, and we can
see the sun's bright photosphere (the surface, not the corona) around the
edge of the moon in a bright ring.  This small ring is still much brighter
than the faint corona, so the corona is not visible.

The upcoming eclipse on July 11, 1991 will be a total eclispe.  An
annular eclipse will be visible from the central U.S. on May 10, 1994.

Well, if anyone out there sees an error, be sure and let me know about it,
okay! :) :) :)

tlm1@ra.msstate.edu

------------------------------

End of SPACE Digest V13 #345
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