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Subject: SPACE Digest V13 #321

SPACE Digest                                     Volume 13 : Issue 321

Today's Topics:
         NASA Headline News for 03/25/91 (Forwarded)
             Toward 2001 - 25 Mar
            Re: Inter-probe communication
            Re: Japan Moon Probes article
             Re: I want to go to orbit...
       MAJOR SOLAR FLARE ALERT #2 - 25 MARCH - IMPACT EXPECTED

Administrivia:

    Submissions to the SPACE Digest/sci.space should be mailed to
  [e-mail].  Other mail, esp. [un]subscription requests,
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 25 Mar 91 20:46:16 GMT
From: [e-mail]  (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: NASA Headline News for 03/25/91 (Forwarded)


             Headline News
Internal Communications Branch (P-2) NASA Headquarters

  Monday, March 25, 1991    Audio Service: 202 / 755-1788

This is NASA Headline News for Monday, March 25, 1991

Kennedy Space Center activity in preparation for the launch of STS-37
is gearing up.  The hypergolic fuels were loaded aboard Atlantis
this weekend, and the first part of the ordnance installation was
completed.  The Gamma Ray Observatory is ready to undergo its last
major test prior to Atlantis' payload bay doors being closed.  The GRO
end-to-end communications test will get underway at noon and
will run through midnight.  This is a spacecraft-to-orbiter-to-NASA
center command and control system test and involves all the pertinent
NASA installations.

The flight readiness review for the STS-37 mission starts
tomorrow at KSC.  Also tomorrow, Atlantis' main engines will
undergo their flight readiness test.

Preparations are in work to move Discovery from the orbiter
processing facility to the vehicle assembly building this evening at
6:00 pm EST.  Stacking will commence as soon as the orbiter is inside
the VAB.  Should everything go smoothly, Discovery will roll out to
launch pad 39-A on April 1st.  The STS-39 payloads are at Pad A
and are awaiting Discovery.

Re-stacking of Columbia's STS-40 solid rocket booster segments
is underway with the left aft booster now stacked.  The Spacelab Life
Sciences habitable module was installed into Columbia over the
weekend and is being electrically connected to the orbiter today.

                   * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

NASA Administrator Richard Truly will address NASA
employees tomorrow at 11:00 am.  The Administrator's comments
will be shown live on NASA Select.

                   * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Ulysses continues on a smooth course through the ecliptic plane
this week with routine spacecraft operations and science observations
underway.   By April 14, the spacecraft will have completed half of its
journey to Jupiter.  Ulysses is now 267 million miles away from
Jupiter and just over 190 million miles from Earth.  Jet Propulsion
Laboratory mission controllers Friday performed a routine maneuver
to improve pointing of Ulysses' high-gain antenna.  The spacecraft
remains in good condition, with no recurrence of the wobble
previously caused by uneven solar heating of the axial boom.  Ulysses
is traveling at a heliocentric velocity of 55,800 miles per hour.



Here's the broadcast schedule for Public Affairs events on NASA Select
TV.  All times are Eastern.  NASA Select TV is carried on GE Satcom
F2R, transponder 13, C-Band, 72 degrees W Long., Audio 6.8,
Frequency 3960 MHz.

Monday, 3/25/91
     6:00 pm    Taped replay of STS-1 tenth anniversary press briefing
            from NASA Headquarters, with Shuttle Director Robert
            Crippen.  Following the briefing, taped highlights of
            the first shuttle mission will be transmitted.

Tuesday, 3/26/91
    11:00 am    NASA Administrator Richard Truly addresses
            employees, live from NASA Headquarters.

    12:00 pm    NASA Productions will be transmitted.

     6:00 pm    NASA Productions will be replayed.


All events and times may change without notice.  This report is filed
daily, Monday through Friday, by 12:00 pm, Eastern.  It is a service of
NASA Headquarters Office of Public Affairs.  Contact:  CREDMOND
on NASAmail or at 202/453-8425.

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

Date: 24 Mar 91 17:37:23 GMT
From: zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!unix.cis.pitt.edu!pitt!nss![e-mail]  (Bev Freed)
Subject: Toward 2001 - 25 Mar


                            ***********
                            TOWARD 2001
                            ***********
                       Week of 25 March 1991
                 A Weekly Feature of SPACE CALENDAR
                   + = Domestic (USA) Earth event
                   * = Domestic (USA) space event
                   o = International Earth event
                   # = International space event
--------------------------------------------------------------------
                        REPRINT INFORMATION
This information is reproduced by permission of the Space Age
Publishing Company.  All rights reserved.  Copyright March 25,
1991.  Reproduction in any form without written permission violates
federal statute with penalty of up to $50,000.  SPACE CALENDAR is
edited and published on the Big `Space' Island of Hawaii.
====================================================================
                          * * * * * * *
+ STS 37 Atlantis
Kennedy Space Center FL

Secondary payloads will include the Shuttle Amateur Radio
Experiment, the Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet experiment,
and a number of protein crystal growth packages to obtain high
quality crystals to facilitate structure analysis.
                          * * * * * * *
o Brazil Solar Panels
Porto Alegre

The Brazilian company Digicon will deliver 8 1-foot-square solar
panels to INPE by the end of 1991, making that country one of only
6 nations with solar cell capacity.
                          * * * * * * *
+ Spaceport Florida Authority
Tallahassee FL

The Florida legislature is considering taking the Authority out from
under the Dept of Commerce and establishing it as a separate entity;
state officials believe there is now "integrated political pull" on
behalf of the project.
                          * * * * * * *
# MOP-2 (Meteosat-5)
GeoStationary Orbit

On station at 0 degrees, the satellite will take images in three
spectral bands of visible and infrared light every 30 minutes. An
international team led by Aerospatiale is currently studying
improvements for the second generation Meteosat.
                          * * * * * * *
+ Space Suits
Huntsville AL

A single space suit for use on the Shuttle costs $10 million,
according to the Hamilton Standards division of United Technologies.
The suit weighs an average of 270 lb and comes in a number of
"modules" for ease of fitting.
                          * * * * * * *
o Weaver Girl Flights
Fuke Hainan

Three flights in late 1988 and two in early 1991 (another is
scheduled for May) suggest a growing infrastructure and increased
activity for China in low-latitude launches, possibly including
Cislunar space destinations.
                          * * * * * * *
+ Geostar Corp
Washington DC

Three to five high-tech firms will finance the company while
negotiating permanent ownership, a company spokesman said. Geostar
filed for bankruptcy protection on 27 February.
                          * * * * * * *
+ Spouses in Space
Johnson Space Center TX

NASA is making an exception to its rule excluding married couples
from flying on the same mission. Continuity of orbiter Endeavour's
first mission would suffer if either Mark Lee or Jan Davis were
replaced, NASA said.
                          * * * * * * *
o British / Soviet Space Plane Research
Moscow USSR

British and Soviet scientists are testing a model of an AN-225 cargo
plane with Hotol spaceplane attached in windtunnels at the
Aerohydrodymanics Institute of the Ministry for Aviation Industry.
                          * * * * * * *
o Arianespace SA
Evry, France

Next scheduled flight will be V 43 -- Canada's Anik-E1 scheduled for
April 1991. The company now holds orders to launch 34 satellites,
worth about FF15.3 billion (US$3 billion) and representing 4 years
of work.
                          * * * * * * *
+ Lunar Footnote (Statistic)

6,675 Days Since Moon last visited by humans.
                          * * * * * * *
o International Space Year 1992 (Quote)

      The most important policy objective of the ISY . . . is
  to instill a new Space Age frame of reference in the thoughts and
               actions of governments and individuals."
                  -- The late U S Senator Spark M Matsunaga, Hawaii
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CALIFORNIA OFFICE:  20431 Steven Creek Blvd, Cupertino CA 95054;
408-996-9210, fax [phone].
====================================================================


--- Opus-CBCS 1.14
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UUCP: ...!pitt!nss!freed
INTERNET: [e-mail]

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

Date: 26 Mar 91 10:01:23 GMT
From: theory.tn.cornell.edu![e-mail]  (Jeff Moersch)
Subject: Re: Inter-probe communication

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Henry Spencer) writes:

>at (astronomically speaking) extremely short range.  This tactic would
>be practical only if the two were already operating together, e.g. a Mars
>orbiter relaying communications to a Mars lander, and it probably would

Actually, this exact scenario is currently being planned for.  The Soviet
Mars '94 mission will be using the American Mars Observer orbiter to relay
information from the surface back to Earth.  The plan is to use the Mars
Observer Camera's large memory to store the data.

Jeff Moersch
[e-mail]

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

Date: 25 Mar 91 11:36:00 GMT
From: mcsun!unido!mpirbn![e-mail]  (Daniel Fischer)
Subject: Re: Japan Moon Probes article

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Edwin L Turner) writes:
>>The Times says the $100 million mission would make the
>>Japanese the third group to land a probe on the moon, after the
>>U.S. and the Soviet Union.  The story says the probes will be
>>ready in Spring, 1996.
>And you can safely bet that they will be, too.

There's little doubt indeed that the spacecraft itself will be ready in time,
as ISAS has demonstrated often before.

However, launching this mission (what's its current name, is it still the
Lunar Penetrator Mission?) requires having a new rocket, the M five - and
Japan's successes in launcher development are less impressive (see the
trouble with the H-II). Perhaps NASDA and ISAS can finally work out a deal
to concentrate on *one* good rocket instead of picking at each other...

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

Date: 25 Mar 91 18:31:32 GMT
From: news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utzoo![e-mail]  (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: I want to go to orbit...

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Mark SOKOLOWSKI) writes:
>    What are the steps in order to build a reliable space-shuttle like
>spaceship in order to send myself to orbit for the summer holidays?

First you need to locate a source of dilithium crystals.  You're not going
to get off the ground without them.
--
"[Some people] positively *wish* to     | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
believe ill of the modern world."-R.Peto|  [e-mail]  utzoo!henry

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

Date: Mon, 25 Mar 91 17:03:33 MST
From: [e-mail] (CARY OLER)
Subject: MAJOR SOLAR FLARE ALERT #2 - 25 MARCH - IMPACT EXPECTED
X-St-Vmsmail-To: st%"[e-mail]"

                        --  MAJOR SOLAR FLARE ALERT  --

                                MARCH 25, 1991
                                   Alert #2

                              Flare Event Summary
                   **  MODERATE TO HIGH IMPACTS POSSIBLE  **


                                    --------



MAJOR ENERGETIC EVENT SUMMARY

     Region 6555 is remaining very energetic.  It spawned a powerful
class X5.3/3B flare today, the second X-class flare in 24 hours.  This
event began at 08:02 UT, peaked at 08:12 UT and ended at 08:31 UT.  The
integrated X-ray flux from this flare was moderately high (0.292).  The
event was possibly associated with a Type II sweep.  This is fairly
difficult to determine right now, since a continuum emission has been
observed for the last several days and is interfering with attempts to
monitor sweep frequency events.  The flare was certainly powerful enough to
be associated with both Type II and IV sweeps, but no confirmation has been
received on the possibility of sweeps from this flare.

     Protons may just now be beginning to arrive from this flare.  Protons
should have been observed several hours ago.  If this current slight
enhancement becomes more pronounced over the next few hours, they will most
likely be attributed to the class X5.3/3B flare.  PCA absorption also seems
to be experiencing a very slight increase.  If protons were ejected from
this flare, terrestrial impacts will be higher.  It is still a bit
premature to say whether or not the proton levels are increasing due to
this last flare.

     Region 6555 still retains its complexity and size.  Major flaring is
expected to continue from this region over the next 24 to 48 hours.  There
is a high risk for renewed proton and PCA activity if flaring continues.


POTENTIAL TERRESTRIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT

     There is a high probability that some sort of impact will be observed
from this last flare.  Currently, it appears as though the flare may
generate a minor to major geomagnetic storm.  If an impact does
materialize, the associated interplanetary shock should arrive around
12:00 UT on 26 March.  It may arrive a few hours earlier or a few hours
later, but the predicted time is presently near about 12:00 UT on 26 March.
If protons become enhanced from this latest event, the probability for
terrestrial impacts will be higher.  We won't really know whether or not
the current proton increase is a legitimate enhancement until about 00:00 UT
on 26 March.  In any event, any protons that arrive now are well overdue.

     Geomagnetic activity could reach an A-index of 50 on 26/27 March if
the flare impact materializes.  Most likely, the impact will be less
intense than the one we have just witnessed (from the X9.4 major flare of
22 March).  We are predicting middle latitude magnetic K-indices of 5 and 6
for late on 26 March and 27 March, if this disturbance materializes.  This
translates to a moderate to high intensity minor geomagnetic storm with
periods of major storming (probably only brief isolated periods).

     Auroral activity is expected to be high to very high over high
latitudes on 26 and 27 March.  Middle latitudes will probably witness
moderate to high auroral activity if this disturbance materializes.  There
is a small possibility for renewed low-latitude auroral activity.  However,
this probability is lower than it was for the last storm.  Most likely, low
latitudes will not be able to witness any auroral activity with this
expected impact.  But keep in mind that predicting this sort of activity is
very difficult to do with high accuracy, so there is a remote possibility
that storming could produce some low latitude auroral activity.  But at
the present time, this doesn't appear to be an optimistic expectation.

     HF propagation conditions won't fully recover from the present
magnetic storm activity when the predicted shock arrives on 26 March.
However, most likely, propagation won't be as badly disrupted as with the
last major storm.

     Region 6555 is expected to continue to spawn major flares.  These flares
could be proton flares.  Hence, polar latitudes and high latitudes should
be aware of the increased risk for PCA activity.  Satellite proton levels
at geosynchronous altitudes was holding at around 240 pfu at greater than
10 MeV at 20:00 UT on 25 March.  This may not last long if an enhancement
arrives from the X5.3 flare.

     Currently, the PCA event is expected to last another 24 to 48 hours,
depending on whether protons become enhanced or not.  The proton event
itself will likely last several more days at least, barring any further
increases in proton levels.


**  End of Alert  **

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

End of SPACE Digest V13 #321
*******************