Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT/SPACEDIG/V12_1/V12_139.TXT

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Date: Sat, 28 Jul 1990 01:44:26 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: SPACE Digest V12 #139

SPACE Digest                                     Volume 12 : Issue 139

Today's Topics:
       Re: Free Space Station - spacious but needs work
           Payload Summary for 07/27/90 (Forwarded)
              Galileo Update - 07/27/90
       University Job Announcement for General Posting
             Re: Weather Control
               Re: Polar Orbits
      Re: MIR cosmonauts do 3.5 hour space walk to fix MIR hatch
               Re: solid rockets, ozone
         NASA Headline News for 07/27/90 (Forwarded)

Administrivia:

    Submissions to the SPACE Digest/sci.space should be mailed to
  [e-mail].  Other mail, esp. [un]subscription notices,
  should be sent to [e-mail], or, if urgent, to
             [e-mail]

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

Date: 27 Jul 90 14:00:44 GMT
From: sun.udel.edu![e-mail]  (Andrew Salamon)
Subject: Re: Free Space Station - spacious but needs work

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Russ Cage) writes:
>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Nick Janow) writes:
>Does anyone know of a suitable blanket material to use for protection
>against micro-[meteoroids|space junk] and to keep the SOFI from

How about a thin mylar blanket that is about .5 meters greater in
diameter than the ET with the space in between filled with some kind of
hardning foam?  That should stop most of the very small junk.



Andrew
[e-mail]

(I'm a biologist so I wouldn`t take anything I say on this subject too
seriously if I were you.)

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

Date: 27 Jul 90 23:02:33 GMT
From: trident.arc.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: Payload Summary for 07/27/90 (Forwarded)


                            STS-35 PAYLOAD STATUS REPORT
                         FRIDAY, JULY 27, 1990 -- 4:00 P.M.

          Patricia E. Phillips
          NASA Public Affairs/KSC
          407/867-2468

          ASTRO-1/STS-35

               Overnight,  technicians will begin  refilling  and  freezing
          solid  argon  dewars  that  keep  the  Broad Band X-Ray Telescope
          (BBXRT) cooled.  This operation,  which also uses liquid  helium,
          provides  up  to  16  days  of  protection  for  the temperature-
          sensitive telescope.
               The frozen argon servicing will be performed in the  Orbiter
          Processing Facility.  By performing a frozen, rather than liquid,
          dewar fill,  the payload will be configured  to  support  orbiter
          operations  during rollover to the VAB,  Columbia's mate with the
          solid rocket boosters and external tank,  and subsequent  rollout
          to  Launch Pad 39A.  The liquid process provides up to 12 days of
          cooling,  and therefore does not provide contingency time for the
          multiple  orbiter  operations  during  the  transition  from  the
          horizontal in the OPF to vertical  launch  configuration  at  the
          pad.
               This  procedure  will  be the fourth frozen argon servicing.
          The work will spread over two shifts,  beginning just after  mid-
          night.  Two  l80-liter  tanks  of argon and one 500-liter tank of
          helium will be used.
               Today,  the payload team is preparing for the servicing  and
          payload bay closeouts. Protective drapes that covered the payload
          while  Columbia was being worked on in the OPF are being removed.
          Payload monitoring and health checks are being performed, as well
          as a walkdown to verify the readiness of the payload for the move
          to the pad.
               Other items scheduled before payload  bay  door  closure  on
          Sunday  include  installation  of  the BBXRT battery box and pre-
          rollout closeouts on the BBXRT Vacuum Maintenance  System  (VMS).
          This  pump  is  used  to  maintain  a vacuum within the cryogenic
          coolers and is turned on at L-15 hours in the launch countdown.
               The Astro-1 payload  is  healthy,  with  no  major  problems
          reported.  The  STS-35 mission is now scheduled for early Septem-
          ber.

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

Date: 27 Jul 90 22:54:04 GMT
From: elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jato!mars.jpl.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Ron Baalke)
Subject: Galileo Update - 07/27/90


                     GALILEO MISSION STATUS
                          July 27, 1990

     The Galileo spacecraft is presently 80.6 million miles from
Earth, and more than 117 million miles from the Sun.  Its speed
in solar orbit is 50,536 mph, and the round-trip communication
time with Earth is 14 minutes 27 seconds.

     The spacecraft health and performance continue to be
excellent.  The spacecraft's activity level is quiet since the
successful completion of the fifth Trajectory Correction Maneuver
ten days ago.  Because of the still-increasing distance from the
Sun and the associated reduced angular speed, Sun-pointing
maneuvers, once performed every few days, now need to be done
only about once a month.

     The flight team is now planning the remaining maneuvers and
cruise sequences, together with the Earth science activities for
the early December Earth gravity-assist flyby.
      ___    _____     ___
     /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|
     | | | |  __ \ /| | | |      Ron Baalke         | [e-mail]
  ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |___   Jet Propulsion Lab | [e-mail]
 /___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /|  M/S 301-355        |
 |_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/   Pasadena, CA 91109 |

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

Date: Fri, 27 Jul 90 19:12:30 EDT
From: [e-mail] (Larry Bolef, Arizona State University)
To: "[e-mail]"@EAST.DNET.NASA.GOV
Subject: University Job Announcement for General Posting

Scientific/mathematical programmer needed for NASA-funded
research program at Arizona State University. Our group uses
digital images from NASA planetary and earth-orbiting spacecraft
to  describe and map planetary surfaces. We simulate conditions
on planetary surfaces by using wind tunnels, desert field
studies and theoretical models. Purpose: to understand the
origin and evolution of the planets.

Programmer will work with the Group to analyze the equations and
algorithms needed to solve research problems, using numerical
modelling, image processing, digital mapping, and other
techniques. Programmer will then implement algorithms by locating
relevant existing programs, modifying existing programs and
writing new programs.

Qualifications:

Required (minimum): Two years computer programming experience,
BA/BS degree in mathematics, computer science or other science,
and standard mathematics course sequence through linear/matrix
algebra.

Desired: Experience in programming for numerical modeling,
digital signal processing, digital image processing, or digital
mapping. Experience programming in FORTRAN and C.

This is a full-time position on a year-to-year contract. Salary
Range: $25 - $35 K. Generous benefits include 22 days/year paid
vacation. Respond (no phone calls, please) with resume and three
potential references to:

Larry Bolef, HIIPS System Engineer ASUIPF::BOLEF (SPAN)
Department of Geology              [e-mail] (Internet)
Arizona State University           1561058 ASU UT (Telex)
Tempe, AZ 85287-1404               [phone] (FAX)

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

Date: 27 Jul 90 19:49:09 GMT
From: talos![e-mail]  (Kyle Jones)
Subject: Re: Weather Control

Ralph Reid writes:
 > Does a particular change really have to be wide spread to have wide
 > spread effects? [...]

Steve Emmerson writes:
 > The problem is that one's predictive ability diminishes as the size of
 > the artificial interference decreases or the time over which it acts
 > increases.  Thus, the likelyhood of getting it right is enhanced by
 > large, strong effects.

... which leads us back to asteroid strikes again.  I must say
that this idea appeals to the misanthropic part of me that thinks
that if we're going to poison and defoliate the planet, then we
ought to get on with it, and stop wasting time.

So.  Are there any asteroids massive enough to create to do I
have in mind, but small enough to be manuevered with existing
technology?  (If there are any big asteroids due to strike the
Earth within the next 40 years or so, never mind, I can wait.)

kyle jones   <[e-mail]>   ...!uunet!talos!kjones

What happens if a big asteroid hits Earth?  Judging from
realistic simulations involving a sledge hammer and a common
laboratory frog, we can assume it will be pretty bad.
    -- Dave Barry

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

Date: 26 Jul 90 16:46:32 GMT
From: convex![e-mail]  (Dave Dodson)
Subject: Re: Polar Orbits

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Dieter Kreuer) writes:
>Launch into polar orbit requires the compensation of the revolution of
>Earth from west towards east, so why launch from Kourou or other sites
>close to the equator? High latitudes like Iceland, Canada, or Alaska,
>seem much better to me. [omission] However, any place is better than
>equatorial or tropical regions, ain't it?

The earth's rotational speed at the equator is about 460 meters/sec.  If
orbital speed for low earth orbit is about 7.7 km/sec, the Pythagorean theorem
shows that the booster must provide 7.714 km/sec in a direction about 3.4
degrees west of true north or south to cancel the equatorial motion.  The
extra 14 meters/sec are not very significant in the grand scheme of things.

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

Dave Dodson                                     [e-mail]
Convex Computer Corporation      Richardson, Texas      [phone]

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

Date: 27 Jul 90 19:00:21 GMT
From: mojo![e-mail]  (Doug Mohney)
Subject: Re: MIR cosmonauts do 3.5 hour space walk to fix MIR hatch

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] writes:
>
>    Last night on Radio Moscow (12040 Mhz or 11780 Mhz in Detroit area) it
>was announced the MIR cosmonauts repaired the faulty hatch and did additional
>repairs to the exterior insulation blankets that cover the Soyuz TM-9 docked
>at the MIR space complex.
>
>    Congratulations once again to the Soviet Cosmonauts Anatoly Solyov and
>Alexander Balandin,  for their bravery and expert work during yesterday's three
>and one half hours in open space,  a task for which they were not specifically
>trained and which was unplanned during the space mission!

Are you with the Glavscosmos cheerleading squad? Not to be snide, but our
astronauts have "winged it" before in shuttle missions and during Skylab.

>    Can you even believe NASA is even thinking about, let alone planning
>to build a space station which will require 3,800 hours per year to maintain?

This is a more reasonable point, but space station "Fred" is going back to the
drawing board again (and will probably end up as space station "Fre" at this
rate...).

MAYBE it's time to dump Freedom all together and start looking at reclaiming
the backup Skylab sitting at the Air & Space museum ;-)

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

Date: Fri, 27 Jul 90 16:23:35 EDT
From: John Roberts <[e-mail]>
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed are those of the sender
    and do not reflect NIST policy or agreement.
Subject: Re: solid rockets, ozone


>From: usc!cs.utexas.edu!ut-emx![e-mail]  (Srinivas Bettadpur)
>Subject: Space Shuttle and the Ozone layer

>       I was reading this rather interesting article in the third world
>business magazine SOUTH (issue of June 1990, pg 105).  This article
>reports a study by two Soviet scientists V. Burdakov and V. Filin
>on the effects of space shuttle flights on the depletion of the ozone
>layer.  Some salient numbers from that article are :

>  U.S. Space Shuttle :
>            Solid propellant fuels; Before reaching an altitude of 50
>km, one flight emits 187 tonnes of Chlorine
>                       7 tonnes of Nitrogen
>                     177 tonnes of Aluminium Oxide aerosols
>    estimated destruction of 10 million tonnes of ozone, requiring
>a total of 300 flights to completely destroy the ozone layer.

I don't know whether these numbers are accurate, but it wouldn't surprise me
too much. The thing to keep in mind is that ozone is continually renewed and
distributed over the globe, so it's not a fixed resource. The average chlorine
atom is expected to act as a catalyst to break down a certain number of ozone
molecules before it gets trapped in a larger molecule and eventually returned
to the lower atmosphere. (This is simplifying things somewhat.) Thus the 10
million tonnes would be the total amount broken down by the products from the
rocket exhaust during their stay in the upper atmosphere. Chlorofluorocarbons
are of concern not just because they release chlorine, but also because the
release is very slow, so a high concentration of such gases can theoretically
depress ozone levels for many years.

This would be a matter of considerable concern if the solid booster launch
rate were much higher than it is now. For instance, launching 100 shuttles
per day would probably be a bad idea. With the current rate, I don't think
there's much reason for worry.

If the volume of traffic into space ever gets as great as many space
enthusiasts hope for, protection of the atmosphere will have to be a major
issue. Even ground-based mass accelerators would have to be evaluated
because they heat the atmosphere and ablate material into it. Similarly,
laser launchers heat the air, and may change its chemical composition.
Heating and ablation are also of concern for reentry vehicles.

Many people would prefer that the shuttle have liquid-fueled boosters, for
other reasons. If you can talk somebody into funding development, good luck.
In the meantime, there's not much justification to halt use of the current
boosters.
             John Roberts
             [e-mail]

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

Date: 27 Jul 90 18:06:36 GMT
From: trident.arc.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: NASA Headline News for 07/27/90 (Forwarded)

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, July 27, 1990              Audio Service:  202/755-1788
----------------------------------------------------------------
This is NASA Headline News for Friday, July 27........


Weather forecasters at Kennedy Space Center are monitoring a
tropical storm which could affect the rollback schedule of the
Space Shuttle Atlantis.  The best schedule would be to roll
Atlantis back and bring Columbia out without disturbing Discovery
and its Ulysses solar probe payload.

The current plan is to roll Atlantis back on August 6 to the
Vehicle Assembly Building and roll Columbia out of High Bay #3 to
launch pad 39A.  The next scheduled launch is the Space Shuttle
Columbia in September.
                            ********

The Hubble Space Telescope Optical Systems Board of Investigation
met for the second time July 25 and 26.  Members of the board
interviewed current and former employees involved in the design,
manufacturing and testing of the HST Optical Telescope Assembly
at Hughes Danbury Optical Systems in Danbury, Conn.  Current
attention is being focused on the test equipment used on the
primary and secondary mirrors.

The board has defined measurements to be made of this
equipment.  Due to the fact that the equipment is just as it was
during the period of manufacture, the board is optimistic that
definitive results will be obtained that will identify the source
of the aberration.  The next meeting is scheduled for August 15
and 16.
                            ********

Officials at the Consolidated Space Test Center in Sunnyvale,
Calif. have begun the process of activating the CRRES
experiments.  They will continue this process along with the
check out procedures of the Combined Release and Radiation
Effects Satellite for the next 30 days.  Scientists are looking
forward to the first chemical release between Sept. 7-11 over the
South Pacific near American Samoa.

                            ********

The world's biggest air show is underway in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
The 38th Annual Experimental Aircraft Association International
Fly-In Convention and Exhibition will include a new exhibit
called "NASA: Technology for America's Future."  The exhibit will
showcase technologies being developed for future flight vehicles
for flight and for space science and exploration.  The 7-day
convention concludes August 2.






---------------------------------------------------------------
Here's the broadcast schedule for Public Affairs events on NASA
Select TV.  All times are Eastern Daylight.


Friday, July 27......

               1:00 P.M.   Exobiology briefing at Ames
                           Research Center tape replay from
                           Wednesday, July 25.

Tuesday, July 31.....

              12:00 P.M.   NASA Video Productions.

               6:00 P.M.   NASA Video Productions replay.

Thursday, August 2...

              11:30 A.M.   NASA Update will be transmitted.

--------------------------------------------------------------
All events and times may change without notice.  This report is
filed daily, Monday through Friday at 12:00 P.M., EDT.  This is
a service of the Internal Communications Branch, NASA HQ.
Contact:  JSTANHOPE or CREDMOND on NASAmail or at 202/453-8425.
--------------------------------------------------------------
NASA Select TV:  Satcom F2R, Transponder 13, C-Band, 72 Degrees
West Longitude, Audio 6.8, Frequency 3960 MHz.  JSNEWS7-27
---------------------------------------------------------------

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

End of SPACE Digest V12 #139
*******************