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 ; Wed, 24 Apr 91 01:48:56 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: Precedence: junk Reply-To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU From: space-request+@Andrew.CMU.EDU To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU Date: Wed, 24 Apr 91 01:48:50 -0400 (EDT) Subject: SPACE Digest V13 #449 SPACE Digest Volume 13 : Issue 449 Today's Topics: Re: Atlas Centaur bites the big one, 4/18 NASA Headline News for 04/23/91 (Forwarded) new gifs available Re: Saturn V blueprints Galileo's main antenna. Watching the Space Shuttle Land Re: Saturn V blueprints Re: Government vs. Commercial R&D 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: 23 Apr 91 15:12:43 GMT From: world!ksr!jfw@decwrl.dec.com (John F. Woods) Subject: Re: Atlas Centaur bites the big one, 4/18 rivero@dev8a.mdcbbs.com writes: >In article <1991Apr19.161351.6679@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>, mcdonald@aries.scs.uiuc.edu (Doug McDonald) writes: >> In article <1991Apr19.055759.4781@nas.nasa.gov> ranma@noc.arc.nasa.gov (Robert Gutierrez) writes: >>>I wrote: >>>> Aside from the usual news reports, does anybody have any better details >>>> on the Atlas Centuar KSC self-destructed??? >>>I'll bet those Arainespace launchings are looking better and better >>>every day to everybody else ... >> The folks who lost one to the Atlas had just finished losing one to >> Arianespace. >Okay! What is everybody doing WRONG? How can we (meaning all of Earth) develop >a reliable, economic orbital delivery system? By building them and blowing them up until we learn how to do it right? ------------------------------ Date: 24 Apr 91 04:19:48 GMT From: usenet@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Subject: NASA Headline News for 04/23/91 (Forwarded) Headline News Internal Communications Branch (P-2) NASA Headquarters Tuesday, April 23, 1991 Audio Service: 202 / 755-1788 This is NASA Headline News for Tuesday, April 23, 1991 . . . NASA mission managers cancelled today's planned launch of Discovery for the STS-39 mission at 1:15 am this morning. The cancellation was based on the failure of a transducer on the high pressure oxidizer turbopump on main engine #3. The Kennedy Space Center launch team is in the process of detanking and safing the orbiter now. Once the safing operation is completed, engineers will enter Discovery's aft compartment to perform troubleshooting procedures. The launch team is currently working on an extended turnaround schedule for the STS-39 mission, but the earliest possible date for a launch would be Sunday, April 28. STS-39 crew members Mike Coats, Blaine Hammond, Gregory Harbaugh and Donald McMonagle will fly back to Houston and return to Kennedy by Friday. Crew members Richard Hieb, Guy Bluford and Charles Veach will remain in Florida. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Marshall Space Flight Center Gamma Ray Observatory scientists report that their Burst and Transient Source Experiment instrument detected its first gamma-ray burst last Thursday, April 18. Gamma-ray bursts are mysterious flashes of gamma-ray energy which occur randomly in different positions of the sky. The bursts are so powerful that they release in just 1/10 of a second the energy our Sun releases in a thousand years. Dr. Gerald Fishman, Marshall, is the principal investigator and reports that this first observation confirms that their instrument is working. The next day, the instrument experienced what is probably a computer chip malfunction. The chip is on a redundant circuit board. The backup circuit for that function is operating now and the instrument is operating at 100 percent of its capabilities. The Gamma Ray Observatory will be pointing at the Crab Nebula for the remainder of the week so that the four instruments on board can be calibrated. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Jet Propulsion Laboratory yesterday awarded a $145 million contract to Loral Corp. to design and build the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder instrument, to be flown aboard the first of the Earth Observing System satellites, now scheduled for launch in 1998. The infrared sounder will be a global thermometer and will measure atmospheric temperature profiles with an accuracy of one degree, Celsius. Principal Investigator for the instrument is JPL's Dr. Moustafa Chahine. The instrument is expected to operate continuously for five years. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Stennis Space Center education specialists held Early Education Monday last week for 170 students at two schools in Mississippi and one school in Louisiana. The Stennis visitor's center hosted 3,111 guests last week, representing 38 states and 15 countries. The center also conducted tours and briefings for members of the Arkansas Space Grant Consortium. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Joust 1, a commercial suborbital rocket carrying 10 materials and biotechnology experiments has been rescheduled for launch at 8:30 am EDT, on Monday, May 6, from launch complex 20 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The Joust 1 mission is sponsored by the University of Alabama-Huntsville's Consortium for Materials Development in Space. The Consortium is a NASA Center for the Commercial Development of Space affiliate. A preflight press briefing on the mission and the 10 experiments will be held at 1:00 pm, Friday, May 3. Both the preflight press briefing and the launch will be carried live on NASA Select TV. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Marshall Space Flight Center officials provided a special tour for 24 students who were category winners from the Huntsville City and Madison County Science Fairs. Three of the students, who were selected for special recognition, met with Marshall center engineers who work in areas associated with the student's project. Marshall engineers and scientists will be on the road to three universities, University of Alabama-Birmingham, Harding University, Arkansas, and Valdosta State College, Georgia, this week giving presentations to students and staff on the center's work in astronomy and materials science. Here's the broadcast schedule for Public Affairs events on NASA Select TV. Note that all events and times may change without notice, and that all times listed are Eastern. Tuesday, 4/23/91 2:00 pm Magellan Science Seminar, live from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. This will be a presentation by the Magellan science team of current Venus surface images and analysis of those images. 6:00 pm Replay of the Magellan Science Seminar. Wednesday, 4/24/91 1:15 pm Magellan-at-Venus status briefing live from Jet Propulsion Laboratory. This report is filed daily at noon, Monday through Friday. It is a service of NASA's Office of Public Affairs. The contact is Charles Redmond, 202/453- 8425 or CREDMOND on NASAmail. NASA Select TV is carried on GE Satcom F2R, transponder 13, C-Band, 72 degrees West Longitude, transponder frequency is 3954.5 megaHertz, audio is offset 6.8 MHz, polarization is vertical. ------------------------------ Date: 23 Apr 91 17:04:57 GMT From: borg!altair!weaver@mcnc.org (Laura Weaver) Subject: new gifs available I ftp'ed a couple of the neptune gif files, but am having trouble displaying them with VUIMG and CSHOW. CSHOW says that the files have bad block i.d.'s. Any suggestions as to what could be the problem would be appreciated. Laura Weaver weaver@cs.unc.edu Computer Science Dept. Univ. of NC at Chapel Hill ------------------------------ Date: 24 Apr 91 04:49:03 GMT From: usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!mvk@ucsd.edu (Michael V. Kent) Subject: Re: Saturn V blueprints In article <1991Apr23.144137.17904@iti.org> aws@iti.org (Allen W. Sherzer) writes: [Sorry, I lost the original poster. Allen didn't write the >> stuff.] >>You also must realize, Rocketdyne is looking for a contract. *Of Course* >>they are going to give their 'best estimate.' > >I think their proposal was a fixed price contract. If it costs more then >it is out of their hide. You may be assured it is indeed a good estimate. > >If it wasn't a fixed price offer, we make them offer it fixed price. >If it is still cheaper than ALS, go for it. What's wrong wiht that? Good luck trying to get any aerospace contractor to take a fixed price contract. I know McDonnell Douglas, General Dynamics, and Lockheed are staying far away from them. The hazards of fixed price contracts should be clear to anyone familiar with the A-12. Many of the Avenger's problems stemmed from the fact that the Navy didn't want to give up its "good deal." >>I don't think ALS is trying to push technological envalopes. > >That's not what NASA says. The main thrust (pardon the pun) of ALS is to reduce the cost and increase the reliability of ELV's. ALS is not being designed to push the performance envelopes but the cost and reliability envelopes instead. If you consider that pushing the technological envelopes (which it is), then your statement is correct. But I doubt that is what the original poster meant. >>Why not just make a new one? > >Because it would cost more, take longer, and not work as well. I'm sorry >you don't find those good reasons. This is by no means certain. In fact, my engineering sense tells me just the opposite. -- Michael Kent mvk@itsgw.rpi.edu McDonnell Douglas Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute St. Louis, Missouri Troy, New York Apple II Forever! ------------------------------ Date: 23 Apr 91 15:32:26 GMT From: pasteur!agate!bionet!uwm.edu!cs.utexas.edu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!helios.physics.utoronto.ca!ists!nereid!white@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (H. Peter White) Subject: Galileo's main antenna. Once on its way to Jupiter at least, Galileo will be having its main antenna (assuming that they do get it all the way open) pointing roughly into the sun. Now I would have thought that having such a large, thin metal surface always in sunlight, with the other side always away from the sun, would cause it to become charged, due to things like the photo-electric effect, and the fact that its treavelling thru a variable solar magnetic field. Has anyone looked at this, or is it not a big problem for the operation of the probe? H. Peter White white@nereid.sal.ists.ca ------------------------------ Date: 23 Apr 91 02:30:30 GMT From: skipper!shafer@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Mary Shafer) Subject: Watching the Space Shuttle Land If the Shuttle launches at 0405 PDT tomorrow, 23 Apr, it will land at 1130 PDT 1 May. If it launches later, add on accordingly. There are two ways to see the Shuttle landing at Edwards AFB, listed in order of restrictiveness of access and availability. 1. The East Shore area on the lakebed. Take Hwy 14 to Avenue F and follow the signs. This area is opened about 2 days before the scheduled touchdown. The viewing area is an unimproved area so don't expect many amenities. I think that there are sanitary facilities and that food and drinks can be purchased. It's suggested that you bring food and water Nothing is required for access to this area. (I've never been to this area, so I can't speak from personal knowledge.) If any viewing is allowed this site will be open. The only times they don't open it is for the DoD's classified missions. 2. The hillside viewing area. This is on the hillside, just above Ames-Dryden, and requires a special pass. This pass is good for one vehicle, with any number of passengers. You can't enter the Ames-Dryden complex but you can walk down the hill to the cafeteria and the giftshop, etc. More amenities, including radio transmissions from the Shuttle and JSC. Some of us believe that this area has the BEST view of the landing. I believe that the Hillside, like the East Shore, is open for all unclassified missions. These passes can be obtained by writing, as detailed below. Ames-Dryden employees can also obtain them. To obtain a hillside pass, write to: NASA Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility Attn: Ms. Cei Kratz Public Affairs Office P.O. Box 273 Edwards, CA 92523-5000 Do this early, because there is a limited amount of space. If you get these and then discover that you can't attend, please try to pass them on to someone else who can use them. Incidently, there is _no_ charge for any of these. Come see the Shuttle land--it's great. Wear warm clothes! If the Shuttle lands in the morning, it will be cool to downright cold. Forget the myth that the desert is always hot, it may be in the low 60s even in the summer at sunrise. It's frequently freezing in the winter. If it's much warmer, it's because the wind is blowing. Hillside Guests will be sitting up on metal bleachers. The portions of their anatomy in contact with the bleachers (feet and seat) may get _real_ cold. 1130 shouldn't be too bad, but if you get here early, be prepared. -- Mary Shafer shafer@skipper.dfrf.nasa.gov ames!skipper.dfrf.nasa.gov!shafer NASA Ames Dryden Flight Research Facility, Edwards, CA Of course I don't speak for NASA "Turn to kill, not to engage." CDR Willie Driscoll ------------------------------ Date: 24 Apr 91 04:11:50 GMT From: wuarchive!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!mvk@decwrl.dec.com (Michael V. Kent) Subject: Re: Saturn V blueprints In article <91111.141514GILLA@QUCDN.QueensU.CA> GILLA@QUCDN.QueensU.CA (Arnold G. Gill) writes: >In article , mvk@aix01.aix.rpi.edu (Michael V. Kent) says: >> >>Rebuilding the Saturn V will give you an old, expensive, unreliable system. >>Better to take what we've learned and start anew. > > Old -- of course. Expensive -- unknown until it is actually built. >Unreliable -- perhaps I am being forgetful here, but were there not exactly 0 >Saturn V failures, no launch delays? Compare that to the shuttle, where >launch delays are the rule. Old and simple does not necessarily mean bad and >unsafe. But new gadgets are what powers the industrial feeding trough. Read the rest of my post. We can be pretty sure the Saturn V will be expen- sive because it is so old. It will not be easy or cheap to re-engineer the Saturn V. Let me repeat: parts are no longer available, venders have gone bankrupt, tools have been destroyed, machinists have retired, and replacement parts will be out of spec. Expensive and time-consuming engineering will need to be done to rebuild it. -- Michael Kent mvk@itsgw.rpi.edu McDonnell Douglas Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute St. Louis, Missouri Troy, New York Apple II Forever! ------------------------------ Date: 24 Apr 91 04:48:04 GMT From: prism!ccoprmd@gatech.edu (Matthew DeLuca) Subject: Re: Government vs. Commercial R&D In article <245@rins.ryukoku.ac.jp> will@rins.ryukoku.ac.jp (will) writes: > I don't entirly agree with the Anti-trust thing, I mean if America > can allow murders to run rabid, crazies to mass murder 10+ people > and put them back on the street, allow police officers to beat up > people for enjoyment. I think congress can overlook a simple little > thing like Anti-trust. Besides with half of America on drugs I really > don't think anyone is going to notice. At least this is what is printed > in the Japanese news, that an average Japanese will read. Sounds like the Japanese aren't nearly as smart as people seem to give them credit for. This is the same media that claims the Japanese people are from Mars, right? Sounds like the seeds of Japanese decline are starting to sprout... -- Matthew DeLuca Georgia Institute of Technology "I'd hire the Dorsai, if I knew their Office of Information Technology P.O. box." - Zebadiah Carter, Internet: ccoprmd@prism.gatech.edu _The Number of the Beast_ ------------------------------ End of SPACE Digest V13 #449 *******************