Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT/SPACEDIG/V15_3/V15NO339.TXT

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Date: Sat, 24 Oct 92 05:15:24
From: Space Digest maintainer <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: Space Digest V15 #339
To: Space Digest Readers
Precedence: bulk


Space Digest                Sat, 24 Oct 92       Volume 15 : Issue 339

Today's Topics:
                     Dan Quayle on Mars (2 msgs)
                         DCX Status? (2 msgs)
                           Dyson's Spheres
         Federal Spending (was: Space for white people only?)
                      Galileo Update - 10/23/92
      Ground facilities for DC-* (was Re: DCX Status?) (2 msgs)
                           HRMS/SETI Rumor?
                      Magellan Update - 10/23/92
                   Mars Observer Update - 10/23/92
                           Perot & Freedom
             Scott Joplin classic offensive to Canadians?
                             Space event
                           space resources
                    Specs needed for Galileo probe
                               Sundrive

    Welcome to the Space Digest!!  Please send your messages to
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 22 Oct 92 20:29:40 GMT
From: Bruce Watson <[e-mail]>
Subject: Dan Quayle on Mars
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]| [e-mail] (Adam R. Brody ) writes:
|[e-mail] (Craig Lake) writes:
|
|
||    Does anyone know the famous Dan Quayle life on Mars quote from a
||couple of years ago, or at least where I could look this up?

||                    Thanks
||                    Craig Lake
|
|Something to the effect of "Since there are canals on Mars, there
|was water.  If there is water, there is oxygen, and if there is
|oxygen, we can breathe!"

 "Mars is essentially in the same orbit.  Mars is somewhat the same
 distance from the Sun, which is very important.  We have seen pictures
 where there are canals, we believe, and water.  If there is water,
 there is oxygen.  If oxygen, that means we can breathe."
 -- J. Danforth Quayle, January 1990


--
Bruce Watson (wats@scicom)  Tumbra, Zorkovick; Sparkula zoom krackadomando.

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

Date: 23 Oct 92  08:46:50
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Dan Quayle on Mars
Newsgroups: sci.space

* QUAYLE QUOTE *
================
"Mars is essentially in the same orbit.  Mars is somewhat the same distance
from the Sun, which is very important.  We have seen pictures where there
are canals, we believe, and water.  If there is water, there is oxygen.
If oxygen, that means we can breathe."

J. Danforth Quayle, January 1990


--- Maximus 2.00

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

Date: Fri, 23 Oct 1992 15:31:40 GMT
From: Bruce Dunn <[e-mail]>
Subject: DCX Status?
Newsgroups: sci.space

In regard to fuel for the DC series of craft:

> Henry Spencer writes:
>
> Slush hydrogen helps hydrogen's density problems some, at the cost of
> adding a large assortment of technical hassles (for example, it's not at
> all simple to build a fuel gauge for a slush-hydrogen tank, because the
> depth does not tell the whole story).  I'm not really convinced that it
> will ever be worth the trouble.
>
> But then, I'll admit to some bias, because I belong to the faction that
> says that liquid hydrogen isn't really worth the trouble either...


Hmm....

        I am told by Allen that the DCY using hydrogen and oxygen is expected
to have a liftoff mass of approximately 500 metric tons, and a mass fraction
(fraction of total mass available for ascent propellant) of 0.91.  The
vehicle thus consists of 455 tons of hydrogen and oxygen, and 45 tons of
structural mass, propellant residuals, and landing propellant.  My
spreadsheet says that if you assume an Isp of 430 averaged over the ascent
(perhaps something like 375 at sea level and 450 in vacuum), the payload for
such a vehicle to low earth orbit will be about 11 tons.

        What would happen if you decided to use subcooled propane (density
about 0.8 at liquid oxygen temperature) and LOX as propellants?  In the DCY
design, the tank volume assuming an oxidizer to fuel mixture ratio of 5 is
about 1403 cubic meters (propellant bulk density 0.324).  Filling the same
tank volume with propane and LOX at a mixture ratio of 2.3 gives a loading of
1416 tons of propellant (propellant bulk density of 1.009).   Assuming an Isp
of 330 for propane/LOX, and assuming the same non-propellant mass (45 tons),
this vehicle will lift a payload of approximately 40 tons.

        The propane/LOX vehicle will of course have a somewhat heavier dry
mass.  The engines must have approximately 3 times the thrust for takeoff,
and the tanks, although they won't be any larger, must be designed to hold 3
times the mass of propellant under acceleration.  Interestingly however, the
turbo-pumps for the engines will be no bigger than on the LOX/hydrogen
vehicle, as the same volume of propellant must be pumped over the same time
period.  Provided that the extra structural mass entailed in the LOX/propane
vehicle doesn't exceed 40 tons minus 11 tons, the LOX/propane vehicle is
competitive with the LOX/hydrogen vehicle.

        Some small structural advantages are actually gained by using propane
at LOX temperatures as fuel.  Fuel and oxidizer tanks don't need to be
insulated from each other.  All propellants other than propane and hydrogen
must be thermally insulated from the LOX tank to keep them from freezing -
even methane freezes at LOX temperature.  Hydrogen presents the opposite
problem - insulation is needed to keep the LOX from freezing.

--
Bruce Dunn    Vancouver, Canada   [e-mail]

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

Date: Fri, 23 Oct 1992 15:27:32 GMT
From: Mary Shafer <[e-mail]>
Subject: DCX Status?
Newsgroups: sci.space

On Fri, 23 Oct 1992 05:45:46 GMT, [e-mail] (Henry Spencer) said:

HS> In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Mary Shafer) writes:
>...DC-Y is unlikely to ever happen, having been cancelled...

HS> It's hard to say it was "cancelled" when it was never really begun in the
HS> first place...  DC-Y's current status is essentially the same one it has
HS> had for some time:  nobody has yet provided significant funding for it,
HS> and the backers of DC-X (SDIO) are unlikely to do so.  There may be enough
HS> support for DC-Y to find it a home elsewhere, if DC-X works.

You're quite correct.  It would have been more accurate had I said
something like "SDIO having abandoned it at this time".  It's my
understanding that SDIO has reprogrammed all the funding for DC-Y
development into DC-X support.

--
Mary Shafer  DoD #0362 KotFR NASA Dryden Flight Research Facility, Edwards, CA
[e-mail]                    Of course I don't speak for NASA
 "There's no kill like a guns kill." LCDR "Hoser" Satrapa, gunnery instructor
                       "A kill is a kill."  Anonymous

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

Date: 23 Oct 92 18:24:23 GMT
From: Brandon C Long <[e-mail]>
Subject: Dyson's Spheres
Newsgroups: sci.space

[e-mail] (Greg Schmidt) writes:

>Actually, I think we probably have the technology required to build it right
>now.  The problems are:
>1) we don't have nearly enough raw materials (even if we broke up all the
>   planets, moons, and asteroids in the entire solar system)
>2) we don't have the monetary resources to pull it off
>3) why bother when Earth is large enough right now, and Venus and Mars will
>   provide more than enough space for many years to come
>4) we don't have the technology required to circumvent the above problem of
>   dispersing the unused energy - this could be solved by building a ring
>   instead of a sphere (as in Niven's Ringworld)

We have the necessary technology to create a sphere around the sun and
also create gravity on the inside surface of that sphere?  There must of
been a few advances in gravimetrics since I was last in school.

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

Date: Fri, 23 Oct 92 15:49:19 GMT
From: Doug Mohney <[e-mail]>
Subject: Federal Spending (was: Space for white people only?)
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]>, "UTADNX::UTDSSA::GREER"@utspan.span.nasa.gov writes:

Kicks off a bunch of numbers which makes me wanna put on a Libertarian Cap...

>NASA's budget for 1992 is more like $16e9 out of a total budget of
>$1500e9, or $1.5e12(!).  The NASA budget works out to about $160/year
>for each household in the US, but your contribution will vary with
>your tax rate.  This is about $13/month, enough for two people to
>dine out or go to a movie once a month, or rent one or two videos
>every weekend.
>
>In fact, Americans spend about $375/month per household on all forms of
>entertainment, including movies, sports, TV, magazines, books, etc.
>
>The total of all government spending, including federal, state and local
>governments in the US comes to about $1700/month per household.
>
>The median income in the US is about $3000/month per household.

Which adds up to $13/month for NASA and another xx/month for program AAA,
another yy/month for program BBB....etc...until you get up til real money

Lies, damned, statistics. Oh yah, and computer modeling, but that's another
story.

>Most people don't know beans about numbers, especially very large ones.
>Putting these kinds of numbers on a monthly payment per household basis
>and relating them to spending on other things helps to bring these numbers
>into perspective.

Also helps to massage the fact you're clipping money out of somebody's pocket.
Regardless.

> Relating spending to entertainment is especially
>pertinent, since the anti-science-spending argument is usually based on
>the notion that such spending is frivolous and expendable.

Nope. It means you're trying to justify pulling money in the form of taxes out
of someone's pocket. If a consumer decides to spend money on entertainment,
that's his/her decision.

>  It is much
>more difficult for someone to continue this line once they realize how
>much they spend on true frivolity.

Not so frivilious when you start adding up everyone else's "small, little"
programs in the Big Picture.

Me, I'd rather give NASA $80/year, and have the other $80 to spend on more
entertainment....but, of course, Big Daddy Goverment knows best.

                 Play in the intelluctual sandbox of Usenet

  -- >                  [e-mail]                        < --

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

Date: Sat, 24 Oct 1992 00:14:16 GMT
From: Ron Baalke <[e-mail]>
Subject: Galileo Update - 10/23/92
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro,alt.sci.planetary

Forwarded from Neal Ausman, Galileo Mission Director

                                  GALILEO
                      MISSION DIRECTOR STATUS REPORT
                               POST-LAUNCH
                          October 16 - 22, 1992

SPACECRAFT

1.  On October 16, as part of the Dual Drive Actuator (DDA) No. 4 pulse
activities, real-time commands were sent to open the Star Scanner (SS)
shutter and to reacquire celestial reference.  Additionally, commands were
sent to place the spacecraft in scan Type 6 for the collection of precise
wobble data.  The wobble data confirmed earlier sun gate and doppler
indications that there was no change in the HGA (High Gain Antenna) rib
configuration (no ribs released).  Also, real-time commands were sent to
reconfigure the System Fault Protection (SFP) AACS-INIT (Attitude and
Articulation Control Subsystem) pointing slot from the sun to the Earth
after the DDA pulse No. 4 activities.  This change will allow the spacecraft
to lock up on the star set in the Earth slot if an AACS Power on Reset (POR)
occurs and maintain its current attitude.

     Additionally, commands were sent to turn off the Radioisotope
Thermoelectric Generator (RTG) boom heaters and disable their respective
temperature control monitors in order to maintain an appropriate
Retro-Propulsion Module (RPM) power profile.  Also the System Fault Protection
(SFP) parameters for RPM thermal safing were modified to reflect this change
to the spacecraft configuration.

2.  During the period of October 16 through October 18, a navigation cycle was
performed.  This navigation cycle provided near-continuous acquisition of
two-way doppler and ranging data during four consecutive passes of the
spacecraft over DSS-63 (Madrid 70 meter antenna), DSS-14 (Goldstone 70 meter
antenna), DSS-43 (Canberra 70 meter antenna), and then back to DSS-63.  This
data will help improve orbit determination in support of the TCM-16
(Trajectory Correction Maneuver #16) scheduled for November 13.

3.  On October 19, a NO-OP command was sent to reset the command loss timer
to 264 hours, its planned value for this mission phase.

4.  On October 22, real-time commands were sent to perform Extreme Ultraviolet
Spectrometer (EUV) Memory Readouts (MROs).  Preliminary analysis indicates
the data was received properly.

5.  The AC/DC bus imbalance measurements exhibited some change. The AC
measurement has ranged from 16DN to 18DN and now reads 16 DN (3.7 volts).
The DC measurement has ranged from 129 DN (15.1 volts) to 155 DN (18.3 volts)
and now reads 136 DN (16.0 volts).  These measurement variations are
consistent with the model developed by the AC/DC special anomaly team.

6.  The Spacecraft status as of October 22, 1992, is as follows:

       a)  System Power Margin -  76 watts
       b)  Spin Configuration - Dual-Spin
       c)  Spin Rate/Sensor - 3.15 rpm/Star Scanner
       d)  Spacecraft Attitude is approximately 2 degree
           off-sun (lagging) and 21 degrees off-earth (lagging)
       e)  Downlink telemetry rate/antenna-1200 bps (coded)/LGA-1
       f)  General Thermal Control - all temperatures within
           acceptable range
       g)  RPM Tank Pressures - all within acceptable range
       h)  Orbiter Science- UVS, EUV, DDS, MAG, EPD, and HIC are
           powered on
       i)  Probe/RRH - powered off, temperatures within
           acceptable range
       j)  CMD Loss Timer Setting - 264 hours
           Time To Initiation - 262 hours


UPLINK GENERATION/COMMAND REVIEW AND APPROVAL:

1.  The EE-11 (Earth-Earth 11) Final Profile Design package was approved by
the Project on October 22, 1992.  This sequence covers spacecraft activities
from December 7 to December 28, 1992 including Earth 2 closest approach on
December 8.

GDS (Ground Data Systems):

1.  A Probe Mission Readiness Test/Ground Data System Test was conducted
Sunday, October 18 with the DSN (Deep Space Network) SPC 60 (Signal
Processing Center in Madrid, Spain).  Probe data were routed through the DSN
station processors to the Galileo MTS (MCCC Telemetry Subsystem) where it was
processed, displayed and routed to the Probe Flight Operations Equipment
(PFOE) in real-time.  A compressed Probe tape was created for non-realtime
processing on the PFOE.  Post test analysis of both the real-time data and
the compressed Probe tape is continuing.

2.  The October System Engineers Monthly Report (SEMR) review was conducted
Thursday, October 22.  A review of current Project and Institutional (MOSO &
DSN) system status was conducted.  Pre-Earth 2 delivery schedules, Earth 2
readiness, past months accomplishments  and potential problem areas were
discussed.   No significant schedule changes or problems were reported.

TRAJECTORY

     As of noon Thursday, October 22, 1992, the Galileo Spacecraft trajectory
status was as follows:

    Distance from Earth         26,135,200 miles (.28 AU)
    Distance from Sun           116,851,200 miles (1.26 AU)
    Heliocentric Speed           65,300 miles per hour
    Distance from Jupiter        604,042,600 miles
    Round Trip Light Time        4 minutes, 38 seconds

SPECIAL TOPIC

1.  As of October 22, 1992, a total of 8357 real-time commands have been
transmitted to Galileo since Launch.  Of these, 3386  were initiated in the
sequence design process and 4971 initiated in the real-time command process.
In the past week, 33 real time commands were transmitted: 19 were initiated
in the sequence design process and 14 initiated in the real time command
process.  In addition, 5911 mini-sequence commands have been transmitted
since March 1991; 3753 were pre-planned and 2158 were not.  In the past week,
no mini-sequence commands were transmitted.  Major command activities this
week included commands to open the star scanner shutter and reacquire
celestial reference, select scan Type 6, update system fault protection
parameters, turn off RTG boom heaters and disable their temperature control
monitors, reset the command loss timer, and perform cruise science memory
readouts.
     ___    _____     ___
    /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|     Ron Baalke         | [e-mail]
    | | | |  __ \ /| | | |     Jet Propulsion Lab |
 ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |__   M/S 525-3684 Telos | If God had wanted us to
/___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /| Pasadena, CA 91109 | have elections, he would
|_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/                     | have given us candidates.

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

Date: 23 Oct 92 13:06:40 GMT
From: Dave Jones <[e-mail]>
Subject: Ground facilities for DC-* (was Re: DCX Status?)
Newsgroups: sci.space

Bill Higgins-- Beam Jockey ([e-mail]) wrote:
> In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Henry Spencer) writes:
> > One thing that didn't end up being mentioned in my
> > technical-aspects paper is that SSTO would *not* need to use government
> > launch ranges, after initial testing.  It needs no particularly elaborate
> > ground facilities.
>
> Proximity to fancy clean rooms, etc. for preparing payloads?
>
> (I know, when the Revolution Comes, launch costs will be so low that
> we can afford to slap together payloads in some undergraduate lab in
> the University of Toronto's Zoology Building, and launch 'em from the
> parking lot.)
>
This from a particle physicist.  Last year I helped build a particle
detector in a "clean room" that was just an area in a slightly
delapidated outbuilding (yes, at the back of a parking lot) curtained
off with heavy plastic sheet and supplied with copious amounts of
filtered, conditioned air.  I forget what the official cleanliness index
was but it was good enough for building detectors.  I suspect space
payloads could be put together under similar conditions.


--
||)) There is no truth to the rumor that:)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))|
||)) Lotus are suing Apple for copying the look and feel of their lawsuits )|
||))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))|
||Dave Jones ([e-mail]) | Eastman Kodak Co. Rochester, NY   |

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

Date: Fri, 23 Oct 1992 19:45:47 GMT
From: Donald Lindsay <[e-mail]>
Subject: Ground facilities for DC-* (was Re: DCX Status?)
Newsgroups: sci.space

[e-mail] (Bill Higgins-- Beam Jockey) writes:
>Proximity to fancy clean rooms, etc. for preparing payloads?
>
>(I know, when the Revolution Comes, launch costs will be so low that
>we can afford to slap together payloads in some undergraduate lab in
>the University of Toronto's Zoology Building, and launch 'em from the
>parking lot.)

I believe that Oscar (?), the original ham-radio satellite, contained
some Radio Shack parts, and was at least partly built in somebody's
basement.

That would have been 15-20 years ago.

Haven't there been Russian satellites that maintained an internal
atmosphere, at some weight penalty, so that the onboard equipment
would be more reliable/ require less design effort ?
--
Don        D.C.Lindsay     Carnegie Mellon Computer Science

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

Date: Fri, 23 Oct 92 15:38:53 GMT
From: Doug Mohney <[e-mail]>
Subject: HRMS/SETI Rumor?
Newsgroups: sci.space

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

>Even if it were true -- and apparently this time it's not -- false alarms
>are common in SETI efforts.  If a signal can't immediately be identified
>with a known source, I believe the standard procedure is to ask observers
>at another site to confirm it.  Almost invariably they see no signs of it,
>which means it is virtually certain to be interference (probably man-made)
>local to the first observing site.

This all reminds me of the Pepsi commercial where the two workers are sitting
on top of/around the radio telescope...


                 Play in the intelluctual sandbox of Usenet

  -- >                  [e-mail]                        < --

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

Date: 24 Oct 92 02:39:21 GMT
From: Ron Baalke <[e-mail]>
Subject: Magellan Update - 10/23/92
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro,alt.sci.planetary

Forwarded from the Magellan Project

                     MAGELLAN STATUS REPORT
                        October 23, 1992

1.   Magellan continues to operate normally, performing a
     starcal (star calibration) and desat (desaturation of
     the reaction wheels) on each orbit and transmitting a
     carrier plus 40 bps X-band signal.

2.   The craft has completed 5930 orbits of Venus.  295 orbits
     have been completed in Cycle 4.  Since the science
     requirement is to collect gravity data on at least one
     out of every four orbits, we have about 75 orbits of
     gravity.  This represents about 17.6% of the coverage we
     expect to get during Cycle 4 (or 63 degrees of longitude
     out of the 360 degrees).

3.   The G2297 command sequence was uplinked to the spacecraft
     late yesterday.  In  addition to the normal operations,
     this sequence includes a calibration of the Attitude
     Reference Unit and scale factor check of the gyros to be
     performed this weekend.

4.   Magellan is now passing through the shadow of Venus
     during the apoapsis portion of each orbit.  Since it
     travels slower while more distant from Venus, it spends
     nearly an hour of each orbit in the shadow.

5.   Dr. Steve Saunders, Jerry Clark, Phil Allin, Greg
     Michaels, Mona Jasnow, and Neil Nickle are among the
     Magellan team members attending the 1992 Geological
     Society of America Convention in Cincinnati from October
     25 through 28.  The theme of the meeting is "From
     Columbus to Magellan," and an exhibit of the Magellan
     results at Venus will be set up and staffed by the team.
     ___    _____     ___
    /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|     Ron Baalke         | [e-mail]
    | | | |  __ \ /| | | |     Jet Propulsion Lab |
 ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |__   M/S 525-3684 Telos | If God had wanted us to
/___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /| Pasadena, CA 91109 | have elections, he would
|_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/                     | have given us candidates.

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

Date: 24 Oct 92 02:46:30 GMT
From: Ron Baalke <[e-mail]>
Subject: Mars Observer Update - 10/23/92
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro,alt.sci.planetary

Forwarded from the Mars Observer Project

                       MARS OBSERVER STATUS REPORT
                           October 23, 1992
                             11:00 AM PDT
                           Launch +28 Days

Flight sequence C3 execution continues.  The C3 A load, which began
execution at 9:00 AM, PDT on October 13, will complete at 1:00 PM PDT,
Saturday, October 24.  C3 A performed Payload Data System,
Magnetometer/Electron Reflectometer, Gamma Ray Spectrometer, Mars
Observer Camera, Mars Balloon Relay, Thermal Emission Spectrometer, and
Mars Observer Laser Altimeter instrument checkouts to determine payload
health after launch.  C3 A also opened Pressure Modulator Infrared
Radiometer aperture and radiator cover doors, and performed a Radio
Science Ultra Stable Oscillator test.

The time allocated to C3 load B will not be utilized.  C3 B provided a
contingency window to be used in the event TCM-1 (Trajectory Correction
Manuever #1) was not performed as planned.  The time allocated was
1:00 PM PDT, October 24 through 1:00 PM PST, October 26.

The flight sequence C3 C load will be uplinked to the spacecraft Sunday,
October 25.  C3 C execution is at 1:00 PM, PST, October 26 and clocks out
for the remainder of the C3 timeline (November 17).  C3 C lasts 21 days
and 20 hours and includes Mars Observer Camera Bakeout, Radio Science
Ultra Stable Oscillator testing, and Gamma Ray Spectrometer inner cruise
calibrations.

The Spacecraft Team reports that all Mars Observer subsystems continue
to perform well.
     ___    _____     ___
    /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|     Ron Baalke         | [e-mail]
    | | | |  __ \ /| | | |     Jet Propulsion Lab |
 ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |__   M/S 525-3684 Telos | If God had wanted us to
/___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /| Pasadena, CA 91109 | have elections, he would
|_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/                     | have given us candidates.

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

Date: 23 Oct 92 20:18:58 GMT
From: Jr Childers <[e-mail]>
Subject: Perot & Freedom
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:
>Someone asked recently about federal outlays, probably not in
>this thread.  These figures are from the Financial Management Service,
>Treasury Dept., General Accounting Office:
>
>1992 US Budget Receipts & Outlays
>Total receipts    1,073.6 (billions)
>Total expenses  1,407.1

[list deleted]

>This leaves 218.8 billion to divide among other activities.
>Currently NASA gets about 14 billion (6%).  As Ross points out
                                      ^^^^
Is this their number?

      NASA's Budget             14 billion
     ---------------- X 100% = --------------- X 100% = 1% != 6%
      Total Expenses            1,407 billion

Now I know why we never ballance our budget.  :-(

John Childers
UNCCharlotte
[e-mail]

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

Date: 23 Oct 92 12:37:27 GMT
From: John Roberts <[e-mail]>
Subject: Scott Joplin classic offensive to Canadians?
Newsgroups: sci.space

-From: [e-mail] (Henry Spencer)
-Subject: Re: TheSouth rose (was Re: Weather satellites & preventing property damage)
-Date: 21 Oct 92 21:07:52 GMT

-In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:
->Obviously, they didn't have THAT much of an impact. If they did, the Marines
->would have gotten the Maple leaf right side up...

-No, no, Doug, you misunderstand.  An upside-down flag is a distress signal...
-and rumor hath it that some of you rebel types (I speak, of course, of your
-rebellion against legitimate royal authority, not of any internal tiffs
-you've had more recently) are getting a wee bit distressed about the
-possibility that your soi-disant "World Series" might actually be won by
-a foreign team... :-)

And now the Canadians are *deliberately* flying the US flag upside down.
Before this escalates to Canadian-flag toilet paper, I suggest that the
Canadian astronaut on the Shuttle pose for the TV camera *upside down*
relative to the camera, holding a Canadian flag, and point out that in
space, rightside-up and upside-down have no meaning.

The video downlink on NASA Select has been showing the robot arm with
the word "Canada" plainly visible and rightside up (wrt the camera) for
several minutes now. Coincidence? :-)

Come to think of it, if I go to Canada right now and look at the maple
trees, which way are the leaves going to be pointed? Maybe the Canadian
flag should have the leaf pointed up in the summer, pointed down in the
fall, completely missing during the winter, and very small in the early
spring. :-)

John Roberts
[e-mail]

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

Date: 23 Oct 92  08:47:48
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Space event
Newsgroups: sci.space

       -Campaign for Space- Rally for Congressman George Brown

On Saturday, October 31, at 10 am, space activists will stage
a rally in support of the re-election campaign of Congressman
George Brown (D-Colton). The rally will be held at 495 W. Valley Pkwy
in Colton in San Bernardino county.

Congressman George Brown is the current Chair of the House Committee
on Space and Science, and one of the nation's most powerful voices
in support of the space program. He is a life-long supporter of
space development, and was an early and important co-sponsor of
the Launch Services Purchase Act.

During the campaign, he has responded to a questionnaire submitted
by NSS members, with detailed answers on his views on the future of
the space program. His opponent in the race did not respond to the
questionnaire. The questionnaire and Congressman's Brown's responses
are available upon request.

All space activists in southern California are asked to show their
support for space development by attending the October 31 rally, which
is free of charge, and open to the general public.

For more information, please contact David Anderman at 714/524-1674.


--- Maximus 2.00

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

Date: 23 Oct 92 18:02:10 GMT
From: Richard Schroeppel <[e-mail]>
Subject: space resources
Newsgroups: sci.space

Bill Higgins writes ...
>   Use your imagination more.  Conditions on Mars may have led to
    differentiation in radically different ways than on Earth.  Or maybe
    not.  Probably we won't know enough about "Martian economic geology"
    to say much for a long time to come.  In our lifetimes the major
    Martian resources will be easy-to-grab stuff like the atmosphere,
    icecap, permafrost, and compounds abundant in the soil.

Your reasoning also makes an excellent case for Phobos.  Some local
estimates here are a 100+ meter regolith depth.  (They may have said
"a few hundred meters"; my memory is a bit hazy.)  Phobos has an
advantage, in that it recaptures much/most? of the impact debris that
gets splattered off.  Your magnetic iron collector might be a real winner.

Rich Schroeppel  [e-mail]

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

Date: Fri, 23 Oct 1992 19:14:35 GMT
From: Josh 'K' Hopkins <[e-mail]>
Subject: Specs needed for Galileo probe
Newsgroups: sci.space

I'm trying to find some detailed info on the Galileo atmospheric probe, like
masses, dimensions, mission profile, etc.  I have a great description of the
instruments and what they're for, but no info on what holds them together.
Can anybody point me towards a good source?

--
Josh Hopkins                                          [e-mail]
     The views expresed above do not necessarily reflect those of
ISDS, UIUC, NSS, IBM FSC, NCSA, NMSU, AIAA or the American Association for the
                      Advancement of Acronymphomaniacs

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

Date: 23 Oct 92 15:46:07 GMT
From: "Edward V. Wright" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Sundrive
Newsgroups: sci.space

In <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Jim Bowery) writes:

>No.  But reaction mass from the star should be used instead of photons.

Ouch. I don't think you'd want to do such a thing with a star that
had people living around it.  (And if people weren't living around
it, why bother moving it?)

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End of Space Digest Volume 15 : Issue 339
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