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Subject: SPACE Digest V12 #671

SPACE Digest                                     Volume 12 : Issue 671

Today's Topics:
        ASTRO status at 8/08:30 MET (the final report)
      Astro-1 Status for 12/08/90 [0100 CST] (Forwarded)
  Who killed Nuclear Rockets? (was Re: The Next Ten Years In Space)
               Re: The Space Plane X-30
      Astro-1 Status for 12/09/90 [2030 CST] (Forwarded)
               Magellan article
              Galileo Update - 12/03/90
             Re: Magellan article

Administrivia:

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

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

Date: 10 Dec 90 15:33:40 GMT
From: uvaarpa!murdoch![e-mail]  (Greg Hennessy)
Subject: ASTRO status at 8/08:30 MET (the final report)

The ASTRO mission is rapidly coming to an end. The last exposures are
being taken now, of Comet Levy. The weather is causing an early
return, which is a disappointment. The instruments are really working
well, and great data is being taken. Shift 16 had observations of
Z-Cam, the erseus cluster, M49, 3C273, M3, M32, M33, Markarian 335, Pi
Aqr, Kappa Cas, and C48D1557. Shift 17 observed Jupiter, NGC1316,
Omega Cen, U-Gem, NGC2146, M81, Betelgeuse, HD200775, HD7252, and
N49A+B.

Shift    Scheduled    Obtained    Percentage    Notes
6    345         54        17
7    418        163        38        Startracker patched
8    429        189        44
9    428        247        57
10     36          8         4        2nd DDU died
11    343        187        55
12    397        200        50
13    350        181        51
14    371        216        58
15    256        186        72
16    414        269        71
17    334        289        86

It is apparent that ASTRO kept on getting better as time went on. I
hope that there is another Astro mission. If people would write to
their congressman or to NASA, and tell them that they support the
ASTRO project (after all, the hardware is paid for), there can be a
second mission.

--
-Greg Hennessy, University of Virginia
 USPS Mail:     Astronomy Department, Charlottesville, VA 22903-2475 USA
 Internet:      [e-mail]
 UUCP:        ...!uunet!virginia!gsh7w

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

Date: 8 Dec 90 20:19:34 GMT
From: trident.arc.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: Astro-1 Status for 12/08/90 [0100 CST] (Forwarded)


      Astro 1 Mission Report #34
      01:00 a.m. CST, December 8, 1990
      6/00:10 MET
      Spacelab Mission Operations Control
      Marshall Space Flight Center


      As the sixth day of the Astro mission draws to a close, Assistant
      Mission Manager Stu Clifton smiled as he said:  "The atmosphere here
      is one of jubilation as significant science continues to be made
      from the mission data acquired thus far."

      All four Astro telescopes were very busy Friday night as each one
      successfully acquired a number of targets. Among those viewed by the
      three ultraviolet telescopes was Jupiter.  Later, the Hopkins
      Ultraviolet Telescope collected data on NGC 1535, an expanding
      planetary nebula.  And the Broad Band X-Ray Telescope science team
      was pleased with spectral data received from the retargeted
      Supernova 1987A.

      "On the tally sheet of the human spirit, Astro is already a
      resounding success," said Dr. Chris Anderson, co-investigator of the
      University of Wisconsin's Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo Polarimeter
      Experiment, Friday afternoon.  Anderson was speaking of the ability
      of the Columbia crew and ground teams to overcome the technical
      difficulties encountered during the mission.

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

Date: 9 Dec 90 19:34:59 GMT
From: rochester!sol![e-mail]  (Brian Yamauchi)
Subject: Who killed Nuclear Rockets? (was Re: The Next Ten Years In Space)

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Mark Robert Thorson) writes:

   As we near the end of another year, let us celebrate the vision of the
   pioneers of our space program.  The following quotations come from
   THE NEXT TEN YEARS IN SPACE 1959-1969, Staff Report of the Select
   Committee on Astronautics and Space Exploration (U.S. Government
   Printing Office, 1959).

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

   [Brig. Gen. Boushey, USAF]

   the advantages of
   nuclear rocket propulsion are so great that I believe this type rocket
   engine will also receive priority emphasis and will be developed
   within the 8- to 10-year time period.

   [Arthur C. Clarke]

   In the decade 1960-70 I think we may expect the following with a
   very high degree of assurance, almost amounting to certainty:

   Flight tests of nuclear propulsion devices.

   [Dr. Walter R. Dornberger, Bell Aircraft]

   In the powerplant field, the following _will_ be achieved:

   3.  The successful development of nuclear powerplants for the upper
   stages.  This powerplant will be used for manuvering in space.

   [George L. Haller, General Electric]

   A type of rocket now being considered for space vehicles is a high-
   temperature nuclear reactor through which is passed a low molecular
   weight propellant such as hydrogen or ammonia that is heated by
   the fission process and is then exhausted through a rocket nozzle to
   produce thrust.  Since the nuclear rocket would not have to carry a
   high molecular weight oxidizer, it could theoretically have a specific
   impulse at least double that of the best chemical rocket.
       The nuclear heat transfer rocket might prove useful for putting
   large payloads in orbit (on the order of 25,000 pounds or more) and
   for space missions to the Moon, Mars, or Venus.

   [George H. Stoner, (General Manager, Dyna-Soar) Boeing]

   The nuclear rocket will allow us to reduce the bulk of these lunar
   and satellite booster systems by a factor of 8 or 10, at least.  . . .  Can
   we design a manned nuclear rocket for use in the atmosphere where
   radiation scattering is a hazard, and avoid the weight penalties of
   standard shielding techniques?
       A possible solution might involve the use of nuclear ferry vehicles
   to transport large payloads to the satellite space station.  A different
   type of nuclear rocket with a relatively light shadow shield could
   then be used in space to transport men to the Moon and back.  In
   any case, our space efforts will be rather limited in the next 10 years
   unless the rapid development of the nuclear rocket receives
   increased emphasis.
       With strong support, the nuclear rocket could be available for
   operational use by 1968, though unexpected problems in the testing
   and development of flight hardware could lead to delay.

So it's 1990, 31 years after the projections, and over 20 years after
the expected completion date, and the question is :

Given that nuclear rockets were to be such a benefit for space
exploration, what killed them?

    1) Technical problems
    2) Funding politics
    3) Small-minded bureaucrats
    4) Technophobic environmentalists
    5) Naderite Safety Nazis

What ever happened to NERVA?  What was the connection between this
project and the projects mentioned in the quotes above?

If we had spent the money to develop the space shuttle on nuclear
propulsion instead, could we have developed a practical nuclear
orbital booster or lunar/planetary transfer vehicle?  (Yes, I realize
this is speculation, but how about an educated guess?)
--
_______________________________________________________________________________

Brian Yamauchi                University of Rochester
[e-mail]        Computer Science Department
_______________________________________________________________________________

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

Date: 10 Dec 90 18:50:33 GMT
From: agate!bionet!uwm.edu!caen!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!dali.cs.montana.edu!masscomp!ocpt!tsdiag![e-mail]  (Dave Tiller N2KAU)
Subject: Re: The Space Plane X-30

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] ("86FTSCCQ") writes:
-X-31 MAKES FIRST SUCCESSFUL FLIGHT
-     The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)/U. S. Navy X-31A
-Enhanced Fighter Maneuverability demonstrator aircraft today successfully
-completed its first flight.
-     The X-31 took off from runway 07 at Rockwell International's Palmdale,
-Calif., facility at 12:36 p.m. (PDT).  During the 38-minute flight, the X-31
-accelerated to a speed of   approximately 340 mils per hour
                       ^^^^^^^^
Heavens, this is slow!  Are you sure this isn't a nanotech fighter?  :-)
--
David E. Tiller         [e-mail]  | Concurrent Computer Corp.
FAX:  [phone]      Ph: [phone] (w) | 2 Crescent Place, M/S 117
UUCP: ucbvax!rutgers!petsd!tsdiag!davet        | Oceanport NJ, 07757
ICBM: 40 16' 52" N      73 59' 00" W           | N2KAU @ NN2Z

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

Date: 10 Dec 90 20:00:21 GMT
From: trident.arc.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: Astro-1 Status for 12/09/90 [2030 CST] (Forwarded)


         Astro-1 Shift Summary Report #24
         8:30 p.m. CST, Dec. 9, 1990
         7/19:40 MET
         Spacelab Mission Operations Control
         Marshall Space Flight Center,
         Huntsville, AL


         "Things are functioning rather routinely and everybody's
         starting to loosen up," said Astro-1 Mission Scientist Dr.
         Ted Gull towards the end of this period (noon to 8 p.m. CST
         Sunday). His remark captured the mood at this point in the
         mission.

         Gull's comment did not imply any slacking off or slowdown in
         the scientific effort, however.  The pace of activities
         continued to be intense as crewmembers aboard Columbia along
         with ground-based members of the payload and orbiter support
         teams attempted to complete as many astronomical observations
         as possible before the end of the mission.

         The four specialized telescopes and their pointing systems
         continued to operate with virtually no anomalies today, so
         that most observations began only a few minutes into the
         "window" of observing time.  One of the few technical
         glitches during this period came when team members for the
         Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT), working in the science
         operations area of Spacelab Mission Operations
         Control-Huntsville, saw that their instrument's experiment
         computer, the UIT Dedicated Experiment Processor, had
         "crashed."  Some quick ground commanding brought the
         processor back on-line, and since it occurred between
         observations, the glitch did not cause any loss of data.

         Continuing their efforts to further streamline operations,
         crewmembers on Columbia and their ground-support teams used
         this shift to try a new combination of procedures for
         resuming automatic target acquisition and tracking.  Since
         loss of the second of two Spacelab data display units or
         computer terminals earlier in the mission, acquisition and
         tracking have been done by an alternate procedure known as
         contingency target acquisition.  The automatic acquisition,
         or "IDOP," was successful for beginning and maintaining
         observation on the star Pi Aquarii shortly after 3 p.m.  That
         accomplishment allowed mission planners to consider using the
         automated procedure more routinely during the remainder of
         the mission -- a change which would ease the
         telescope-pointing task for the Shuttle crew.
         Routine operations of the three ultraviolet instruments and
         the separately mounted X-ray telescope resulted in a steady
         accumulation of data today.  During most of the observational
         opportunities. in this period, the ultraviolet telescopes
         pointed at one object, while the Broad Band X-ray Telescope
         was pointed at a nearby target.  The result was a total
         approaching 20 successful data-takes for the 8-hour period.

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

Date: 11 Dec 90 04:19:03 GMT
From: elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jato!mars.jpl.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Ron Baalke)
Subject: Magellan article

The Washington Post
Venus Appears Volcanically Active
By Kathy Sawyer

"The Magellan robot explorer has sent back data showing that
the face of Venus is not an ancient death mask, like those of
Mars and Mercury, but has been remodeled piecemeal by
volcanic flows, scientists reported today."

The Sawyer piece quotes JPL/Magellan chief scientist Steve
Saunders "Venus is not dead. ...It did not shut down 400
million years ago."

Only Earth and two planetary moons, Jupiter's Io and
Neptune's Triton are known to exhibit any form of
volcanism, according to the Post.

The first scientific papers resulting from Magellan's initial
data were presented at the fall meeting of the American
Geophysical Union in San Francisco.

Included in the Post report was evidence of volcanism
reported at the meeting.  This included unexpected smooth
areas on the Venus surface, vast expanses without craters.
Rapid volcanic resurfacing could hold the answer to the
riddle that craters are not being found in the process of being
resurfaced.

The Post reported that Venus' rate of resurface, 0.1 cubic
mile per year, is far outpaced by Earth which has an output
of 7.7 cubic miles a year.  Said Southern Methodist
University's Roger Phillips, "Maybe only 10 percent of the
planet is active at any one time."

Other evidence gathered included some volcanoes with
craters nearby and some without; a wide variety in the
thickness of the molten rock flowing on Venus; indicating possibility of Venus quakes, the story revealed.

Said Brown University's James Head, "it's Christmas every
day," referring to the evidence after years of waiting for
planetary scientists, according to the Post.

      ___    _____     ___
     /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|
     | | | |  __ \ /| | | |      Ron Baalke         | [e-mail]
  ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |___   Jet Propulsion Lab | [e-mail]
 /___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /|  M/S 301-355        |
 |_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/   Pasadena, CA 91109 |

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

Date: 11 Dec 90 04:02:43 GMT
From: usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jato!mars.jpl.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Ron Baalke)
Subject: Galileo Update - 12/03/90


                            GALILEO STATUS REPORT
                               December 3, 1990

     Things are going well with the Galileo spacecraft.  The relay radio
hardware oscillators were successfully powered on November 30 in preparation
for the planned Probe checkout on December 4.  In addition to the powering of
the relay radio hardware oscillators on November 30, several other Galileo
heater electrical loads were successfully configured.  Today, the Command Loss
Timer will be reset from 4 days to 3 days, its planned value for this mission
phase.  Tomorrow, the Probe checkout, system functional test, will be
performed.
      ___    _____     ___
     /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|
     | | | |  __ \ /| | | |      Ron Baalke         | [e-mail]
  ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |___   Jet Propulsion Lab | [e-mail]
 /___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /|  M/S 301-355        |
 |_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/   Pasadena, CA 91109 |

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

Date: 11 Dec 90 16:29:14 GMT
From: cs.utexas.edu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utzoo![e-mail]  (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: Magellan article

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Michael Begley) writes:
>I would have thought that the surface would not show craters simply due to
>erasion from weather.  Wouldn't thousands of years of winds tend to smooth
>and fill the smaller craters?  Would a denser atmosphere than Earth result
>in faster erosion?  Is the principal cause of erosion on Earth attributed
>to water and rain only?

Our geography prof sprung that one on us as a puzzler:  "In temperate areas,
the major cause of erosion is water.  What's the major cause of erosion in
the desert?"  The answer:  "water".  Wind erosion is almost insignificant
by comparison, here.
--
"The average pointer, statistically,    |Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
points somewhere in X." -Hugh Redelmeier| [e-mail]   utzoo!henry

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

End of SPACE Digest V12 #671
*******************