Space Digest Thu, 12 Aug 93 Volume 17 : Issue 017 Today's Topics: DC-X funny space Henry Spencer in the Slow Zone (Re: Ghost Wheels & HenrySpancer_Zoo) Hypothetical Clintonisms (was: DC-X) Looking for Info on the RH32 Processor Looking for routines to read space science data man-made meteor storm? (3 msgs) Mars Observer's First Photo Misc DC-X Updates and request for action (2 msgs) Moon Rocks For Sale Omnibus Space Act Orbital Information SE Michigan Perseid report Starlite, Super Material? Survive Challenger disaster? Why the Shuttle will never be popular. Welcome to the Space Digest!! Please send your messages to "space@isu.isunet.edu", and (un)subscription requests of the form "Subscribe Space " to one of these addresses: listserv@uga (BITNET), rice::boyle (SPAN/NSInet), utadnx::utspan::rice::boyle (THENET), or space-REQUEST@isu.isunet.edu (Internet). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 12 Aug 1993 08:00:37 GMT From: Jim Kissel Subject: DC-X Newsgroups: sci.space fred j mccall 575-3539 (mccall@mksol.dseg.ti.com) wrote: : In Scott_Chisholm@um.cc.umich.edu (Scott Chisholm) writes: : > Jeez! I make a little comment and the grammar police come out to play. : >Sorry, I don't have a spell checker in my communications program. BTW, : >wouldn't your time be better spent getting that shuttle thing back in space : >instead of correcting bad spelling? I THOUGHT this was how my money was : >being spent at NASA. It shows. : God, *another* Freshman. Yes, junior Smilie ;-) supplied for the humor impaired. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jim Kissel Telephone +44 344 863 222 Siemens Nixdorf Information Systems 344 850 461 (Direct line) Systems Development Group Fax +44 344 850 452 Nixdorf House Domain jlk@sni.co.uk Oldbury, Bracknell, Berkshire UUCP ....{ukc,athen}!sni!jlk RG12 4FZ Great Britain Have you noticed that no one talks about Pavlov's cat? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: 11 Aug 93 20:37:03 EST From: Jim Dumoulin Subject: funny space Newsgroups: sci.space In article <1993Aug11.183014.7855@ringer.cs.utsa.edu>, sbooth@lonestar.utsa.edu (Simon E. Booth) writes: > In article <9AUG199315393038@zeus.tamu.edu> craigk@zeus.tamu.edu (Windows NT: from the people who brought you EDLIN.) writes: >> >> >>>TV for Tuesday, 16 April 1999, 8 pm, Ch. 9 LET FREEDOM WRING (Comedy/Drama) >>> >>> Frustrated and bored by the lack of a clear scientific goal, the eight, or >>> possibly four, astronauts on Space Station Freedom set up a mock TV game >>> show and take turns trying to guess the cost of various on-board >>> components. The monotony is broken by an order from OSHA requiring >>> that a wheel-chair ramp be constructed on the docking port, or NASA may >>> no longer accept Federal funds. > > I like this idea, but would NASA allow me to use my off-the-shelf wheelchair > in space or would they require some ultra-exotic space-proven version? :- You laugh but I work for NASA at the Kennedy Space Center in a lab that is 20ft x 40ft with a 2ft raised floor. We planned to do a room modification that added an additional door and OSHA required that any new construction to old rooms retrofit the facility to provide handicap access. The rules were 10ft of length for every foot of rise and a 5ft landing zone at the top and bottom, plus a 3ft clearance near any door. This would have required us to put in a 36ft x 8ft ramp and would have reduced our remaining room to a narrow closet 12ft wide by 40ft long. We ended up installing an expensive lift instead and all the requirements, hardware and electrical mods drove up the cost of our new door to over $20K dollars. This mod ate up all our facility money for the room and halted plans for asbestos abatement that would have made the room less of a hazard to lung cancer. -- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jim Dumoulin INTERNET: DUMOULIN@TITAN.KSC.NASA.GOV NASA / Payload Operations SPAN/HEPnet: KSCP00::DUMOULIN Kennedy Space Center Florida, USA 32899 "America needs SPACE to grow" ------------------------------ Date: 12 Aug 1993 00:13:15 GMT From: Tom Perrine Subject: Henry Spencer in the Slow Zone (Re: Ghost Wheels & HenrySpancer_Zoo) Newsgroups: sci.space In article pgf@srl03.cacs.usl.edu (Phil G. Fraering) writes: neufeld@helios.physics.utoronto.ca (Christopher Neufeld) writes: > Really? I was guessing that it was running in the Unthinking Depths. Has to be. We don't have a feed up into the Slow Zone. We do. But then, we consider anything less than a T-3 to be the "Slow Zone" :-) -- Tom E. Perrine (tep@SDSC.EDU) | Voice: +1 619 534-8328 San Diego Supercomputer Center | FAX: +1 619 534-5152 P. O. Box 85608 | Have you pinged your Cray today? San Diego CA 92186-9784 | ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 12 Aug 93 00:02:13 PST From: jhardin@splat.com (John Hardin at home) Subject: Hypothetical Clintonisms (was: DC-X) Scott Chisholm sez: } >As Bill Clinton promised on the campaign trail, "Every American } > >should have above average income, and my Administration is going } > >to see they get it." } } Statistically impossible. } Well of course it's impossible. After all, demonstrating the speaker's ignorance is the whole point of quoting something like that. What is much more important is whether or not he actually *made* such a gaffe. I have heard the same quote attributed to other politicians in earlier elections. I would really like to know if this really happened. [End-Of-Non-sci.space-Related-Digression] -- ---------------------------------------------------------------- John Hardin jhardin@splat.com 76076.22@compuserve.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 11 Aug 1993 12:22:00 From: Axel Ohmstede Subject: Looking for Info on the RH32 Processor Newsgroups: sci.space One place to start looking is in recent issues of Popular Science Magazine. A recent article gave numerous chips being developed by different companies and different joint ventures. That might give you a lead. Think of it, a 200mHz chip for a PC. Hope this is of help. Axel Ohmstede Director of Research Arlington, TX Chamber of Commerce * Origin: *AmeriComm*, 214/373-7314. Dallas'Info Source. (1:124/6507) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 12 Aug 93 00:59:50 BST From: Ata Etemadi Subject: Looking for routines to read space science data Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.data.formats G'Day I've written routines in C to read AMPTE-UKS field and plasma (FTR) data, Ulysses magnetometer data, and EISCAT velocity and line-of-sight data which I am willing to swap (ok I mean you can have them anyways :) with routines in C or F77 to read other space science data formats. By a routine I mean you pass it the file pointer (or channel) and you get one record or block's worth of data. I am particularly interested in: WDCA and any other format for ground magnetometer data Spacecraft data from any of the instruments on GOES, IMP-J, DMSP, DE, AMPTE-IRM, AMPTE-CCE, etc.. Radar and ionosond data eg Sonderstrom, SABER, etc.. A sample of the data would be nice too, just enough to test out my routines, but I will contact the PI or CoI if you don't have any. Your help would be greatly appreciated. If you don't want to be bothered in case there are problems just say so with the Email. I promise you I'll reference you and I'll take all the blame if anything goes wrong. adios amigos Ata <(|)>. -- | Mail Dr Ata Etemadi, Blackett Laboratory, | | Space and Atmospheric Physics Group, | | Imperial College of Science, Technology, and Medicine, | | Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2BZ, ENGLAND | | Internet/Arpanet/Earn/Bitnet atae@spva.ph.ic.ac.uk or ata@c.mssl.ucl.ac.uk | | Span SPVA::atae or MSSLC:atae | | UUCP/Usenet atae%spva.ph.ic@nsfnet-relay.ac.uk | ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 12 Aug 93 00:08:49 GMT From: David Fuzzy Wells Subject: man-made meteor storm? Newsgroups: sci.space Westford Needles....they're still up there (or at least a nice-sized portion are still up there). Fuzzy. ============================================================================== _ __/| | Lt. David "Fuzzy" Wells |"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice. \'o.O' | HQ AFSPACECOM/CNA | =(___)= | Space Debris Guru | "You must be," said the Cat, "or you U ...ack!| wdwells@esprit.uccs.edu | wouldn't have come here." ============================================================================== ------------------------------ Date: 12 Aug 93 00:09:04 GMT From: Bruce Watson Subject: man-made meteor storm? Newsgroups: sci.space In article <1993Aug11.142540.18674@aio.jsc.nasa.gov: lawrence@gadget.jsc.nasa.gov (John F. Lawrence) writes: : :More spectacular ones are much larger and sometimes survive :re-entry. I also remember coming across the story of lady that :was hit by one in the 1920s while she was sleeping in her :apartment. It crashed through the roof and a couple of floors of :the building before it hit her. She suffered a broken hip. Whoa. 1950's. In Alabama. -- Bruce Watson (wats@scicom.alphacdc.com) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 12 Aug 1993 08:45:03 GMT From: Innocent Bystander Subject: man-made meteor storm? Newsgroups: sci.space If you really want a "man-made" meteor shower, here's what I would do. Take a good sized rocket, say delta or Titan, and fill the payload shroud with iron filings. Shoot it straight up so that it doesn't go into orbit, but rather has a parabolic up and down flight with a high point of, say, 100,000 miles. This number can be varied to produce the shower at the desired location. At some point on the way up, you would dump the iron filings so that they would scatter over a large area. The booster itself you would probably want to either move to come down on an ocean area or blow up into little pieces to avoid something hitting someone on the head. Why iron filings. Ever used a grinder and watched the sparks fly? Same idea. On re-entry the filings will hit the Oxygen in the atomsphere and glow much brighter than say sand (SiO2) would. /~~~(-: James T. Green :-)~~~~(-: jgreen@oboe.calpoly.edu :-)~~~\ | "You knew the job was dangerous when you took it!" | | | ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 11 Aug 1993 23:12:38 GMT From: "Richard A. Schumacher" Subject: Mars Observer's First Photo Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro,alt.sci.planetary Just in case anyone has missed the point: First crack at the data is the chief perk that attracts talented scientists to work on these missions. It's certainly not the money. If the data were to be released to everyone immediately, this perk would be lost and the principal investigators would have little incentive. Taken to the extreme, we would then have probes sending back nothing more than pretty pictures, because there'd be no one here to analyze and interpret them in any systematic way. This would not be a good return on the taxpayer's investment, even as pure amusement: Lucas/Spielberg movies would be much cheaper and have better effects. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 11 Aug 1993 23:37:23 GMT From: "Richard A. Schumacher" Subject: Misc DC-X Updates and request for action Newsgroups: sci.space,talk.politics.space In <1993Aug11.004712.6949@iti.org> aws@iti.org (Allen W. Sherzer) writes: >I have some new information on the DC-X flight, but first this word from >our sponsor: Do you live in Flordia? Do you want to help make the SSRT >followon a reality? Well, here is your chance! >There is an urgent need to get phone calls and letters to Senator Bob >Graham (D-FL). He is on the Armed Services Committee and he seems to be >somebody who can help get the SX-2 funded. Please write and ask him to >write Senator Nunn and ask for acceptance of the House position >on SSRT in the Senate/House conference on the DoD Authorization Bill. >His address is: >Senator Bob Graham >SD-241 >Washington DC 20510 >Phone: (202) 224-3041 >Fax: (202) 224-6843 >Some points to make in the letter/phone call: >1. Florida is the number two state for contracts on this program (especailly >Honeywell and Pratt & Whitney). >2. The followon will also mean jobs in the state. >3. Spaceport Florida will benefit from low cost access to space and will >be an excellent place DC launches. >Please write and call soon if you live in Florida. This guy is in a real >position to influence things if he wants. Is there any reason that NON-Florida residents shouldn't call Sen. Graham? Senators should take a less parochial view of things than Representatives, and besides, his office may not ask whence you are calling. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 12 Aug 1993 01:29:18 GMT From: "Allen W. Sherzer" Subject: Misc DC-X Updates and request for action Newsgroups: sci.space,talk.politics.space In article schumach@convex.com (Richard A. Schumacher) writes: >>Please write and call soon if you live in Florida. This guy is in a real >>position to influence things if he wants. >Is there any reason that NON-Florida residents shouldn't call Sen. Graham? Graham is being targeted for Florida people only. If you want to call somebody, call Nunn, Murtha, and (I do mean and) Dellums. Those are the pople we need to hit nationwide. Ask Murtha to fund SSRT at the levels authorized by the House and ask Nunn and Dellums to authorize SSRT at the level authorized by the House. Allen -- +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Allen W. Sherzer | Mortiki: "What do we do after we do it?" | | aws@iti.org | Man with no name: "Ya live with it." | +----------------------10 DAYS TO FIRST FLIGHT OF DCX-----------------------+ ------------------------------ Date: 12 Aug 1993 02:30:19 -0400 From: Pat Subject: Moon Rocks For Sale Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro,alt.sci.planetary,sci.geo.geology Hey, some of these are American dust, not Russian rocks, and I am sure certain members of this group will tell you that American Dust is far more valuable then Russian Rocks. -- I don't care if it's true. If it sounds good, I will publish it. Frank Bates Publisher Frank Magazine. ------------------------------ Date: 11 Aug 93 13:43:00 From: David.Anderman@ofa123.fidonet.org Subject: Omnibus Space Act Newsgroups: sci.space Omnibus Commercial Space Act Introduced ******************************************************************* HR2731, the Omnibus Space Commercialization Act of 1993 has been introduced in the Congress. This bill aims to promote space development by creating tax incentives for space businesses, and to open up exploration of the Moon and planets to private companies by authorizing NASA to purchase space science data from the private sector. The Act also allows for issuance of spaceport bonds, and the purchase of solar flare data from private vendors. HR2731 contains major elements of the Lunar Resources Data Purchase Act (the "Return to the Moon" bill). Things to do: 1) Request a copy of HR2731, the Omnibus Space Commercialization Act of 1993 from your Congressperson. The address for your congressperson is: U.S. House of Representatives,Washington, DC 20515. 2) After you have reviewed the bill, please ask your congressperson to co-sponsor HR2731. For more information, please contact your local chapter of the National Space Society, or send E-mail via Internet to David.Anderman@ofa123.fidonet.org. This message courtesy of San Diego L5 (619/295-3690) and OASIS (310/364-2290), southern California chapters of the National Space Society. --- Maximus 2.01wb ------------------------------ Date: 12 Aug 93 00:02:30 GMT From: Bruce Watson Subject: Orbital Information Newsgroups: sci.space In article Subject: SE Michigan Perseid report Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro,alt.sci.planetary,sci.geo.geology I saw roughly 25 meteors between 21:30 and 23:45 EDT Aug 11 (0130 to 0345 UT Aug 12), when thick fog interrupted viewing. Conditions were generally hazy but not too badly so. Most meteors left a glowing trail; one was very bright (magnitude about -5 or so). Activity was sporadic, with three or four in a minute (sometimes two consecutively) followed by lulls of up to 30 min. Radiant point appeared to be Cassiopeia, but many meteors extended well south and/or west of the zenith. Overall a good Perseid show, considering that it was before midnight. Returned to viewing briefly from 1:30 to 2:00 EDT Aug 12. Saw two meteors in that time; neither left a visible trail. ------ Dale Atems Wayne State University, Detroit, MI Department of Physics and Astronomy atems@igor.physics.wayne.edu ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 12 Aug 1993 02:14:19 GMT From: Henry Spencer Subject: Starlite, Super Material? Newsgroups: sci.space In article <1993Aug11.052043.15885@ke4zv.uucp> gary@ke4zv.UUCP (Gary Coffman) writes: >Your education is severely lacking. The Dean drive is a reactionless >drive system based on swinging weights and timed application of braking >impulses. It demonstrates that a device can fool a spring scale into >indicating an object weighs less than it does. What it isn't is a real >propulsion system. Actually, there is still some small mystery surrounding the Dean Drive. Dean was a very secretive man, and apparently there is reason to believe that what was in his patent wasn't what he demonstrated. It is *almost* certain that what he had was a gadget that could fool a scale but did not produce actual thrust, but the Dean Drive was never put to the definitive pendulum test (put your gadget in a sealed box hung by a string from the ceiling, thrusting sideways, and see if it produces a consistent sideways deflection). -- "Every time I inspect the mechanism | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology closely, more pieces fall off." | henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 12 Aug 1993 02:24:25 GMT From: Henry Spencer Subject: Survive Challenger disaster? Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.space.shuttle In article cdacosta@cs.uct.ac.za (Carlos da Costa) writes: >I was wondering if any new survival methods were added to the Shuttle fleet, >following the Challenger disaster... Yes. The crews now have partial-pressure suits, oxygen, and parachutes, and the orbiters are fitted with a telescoping pole to take someone bailing out of the side hatch down clear of the wing. This gear is primarily intended to cope with a different situation -- orbiter in stable gliding flight at low altitude but unable to reach a usable runway -- but there is a slim chance that a crew could now survive a Challenger-type accident. (The tricky part would be getting out of the damaged cabin quickly.) >"it is LIKELY that at least one crew member was alive at the moment >of impact with the water, [though] it is very unlikely that anyone aboard >remained conscious for more than 15 seconds following the explosion....due to >hypoxia." The medical/forensic report from Joe Kerwin's team said that it was likely that all of them survived to water impact. The breakup of the orbiter wasn't violent enough to kill them. The water impact was... and it smashed the cabin so badly that Kerwin's team was unable to determine for certain whether the cabin had held pressure after the breakup. (Reading between the lines, I'd say they thought it didn't but could find no firm evidence.) *If* it didn't hold pressure, they'd have lost consciousness fairly quickly. -- "Every time I inspect the mechanism | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology closely, more pieces fall off." | henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry ------------------------------ Date: 12 Aug 1993 02:42:32 -0400 From: Pat Subject: Why the Shuttle will never be popular. Newsgroups: sci.space In article robs@eskimo.com (Rob Schultz) writes: |: You know, I hate to be a wet rag, but these analogies are pretty much |: meaningless. The space shuttle is not a winnebago or a dump truck or a |: Lamborgini (or Lamborghini? It's not in my dictionary). | |Ok, how about this. The space shuttle started as a small pickup and midway |through had folks try to turn it into a Lamborgini. |-- |Rob Schultz | | There is no such thing as over-kill... AClose. Actually, the STS is a winnebago, designed and built by Lamborgini. pat -- I don't care if it's true. If it sounds good, I will publish it. Frank Bates Publisher Frank Magazine. ------------------------------ End of Space Digest Volume 17 : Issue 017 ------------------------------