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Subject: Space Access Update #22  10/03/93
Date: 4 Oct 93 07:19:48 GMT
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                     Space Access Update #22  10/03/93
                  Copyright 1993 by Space Access Society.

Space Access Update is Space Access Society's semi-weekly publication.
Space Access Society's goal is to promote affordable access to space for all,
period.  We believe in concentrating our limited resources at whatever point
looks like yielding maximum progress toward this goal.

For the moment, our main focus is on supporting BMDO's "SSRT" (Single Stage
Rocket Technology) program, DC-X and its planned-but-not-yet-funded followon,
SX-2.  Space Access Update is thus for the moment largely about the
technology and politics of DC-X and SX-2.

We anticipate a change of focus in a couple of months, if all goes well.
Once SX-2 startup funding is (with your help!) assured, we plan to begin
working on establishment of a healthy second X-rocket development track at
NASA, and on getting development of suitable engines started for the fully
reusable orbital ships that should come after SX-2 and NASA's X-rocket.

With luck and hard work, we should see one or more fully reusable SSTO
testbeds flying to orbit toward the end of this decade, with production
prototypes entering test a couple of years after that.  Join us and help us
make this happen.

                         Henry Vanderbilt, Editor, Space Access Update

[For more info on Space Access Society, write us at 4855 E Warner Rd #24-150,
Phoenix AZ 85044, or email [e-mail].]

[Editors note -- For those of you seeing this for the first time who need a
bit more context, look for the subsequent post titled "DC-X Background".]

______________________________________________________________________________


DC-X September 30th Flight Causes Rise In "Grecian Formula" Stock

It turns out that last Thursday's third flight of DC-X was a bit less routine
than originally reported.  Chances are the flight crew got some new gray hairs
during the first few seconds off the pad, before the flight control system
compensated for an engine problem and flew the rest of the mission profile
correctly.

The test began around 10:28 am local time, with everything apparently normal
though engine startup, right up until throttle-up for takeoff.

For some reason as yet unknown, DC-X's engines didn't throttle up as rapidly
as expected, with thrust ramp-up delayed several seconds.  As a result, DC-X
spent considerably longer than planned hanging right over the pad area until
engine thrust built up.  Once that happened, the flight control system ran
thrust up to 95% to catch up with the programmed flight profile.

The rest of the flight went as planned, the main features being a 180 degree
around-axis roll of the vehicle using main engine gimballing for control, and
a peak altitude of 1200 feet.  DC-X landed within two feet of the target
position and within one second of the target flight duration.

We hear the lag in engine response is being looked at, but we don't have any
information yet as to the cause.  We're told though that the launch stand did
take some damage from rocket blast during the extra hang-time over the pad.
This may or may not affect the schedule for the next pair of flights, the
turnaround test pencilled in for October 13th and 16th.  We'll probably have
more about this a week from now.

Pure speculation department:  This was the 16th firing of DC-X's RL-10-A5
engines -- two test-stand runs before installation, nine test-stand runs
installed in DC-X, two DC-X static pad firings, and now three DC-X flight
tests.  The RL-10-A5 is a new RL-10 variant, and one of its new features is
the provision of wide-range throttling (30%-100%).  It's possible that some
portion of the redesigned throttle machinery will turn out to need maintenance
after fifteen firings, perhaps maintenance as simple as disassembly and
regreasing of some mechanical throttle component.

Whatever Thursday's problem turns out to have been, the way to bet is that
it was something hard to predict but easy to fix.  Finding such is what flight
test is for.

It's not clear yet, by the way, whether the throttle-up lag was the same for
all four of DC-X's engines, or whether the lag varied by engine.  In the
latter case particularly, the successful recovery and completion of the test
was a triumph for DC-X's designers, and especially for the people who wrote
the flight control software.

[Editor's note - Surviving engine glitches at takeoff is one of the tougher
requirements in designing a rocket SSTO, and is the main reason operational
vertical-takeoff SSTO's will likely have a minimum of six to eight engines, to
reduce the impact of unplanned thrust variations.  DC-X with only four engines
is marginal in this regard -- not enough engines for thrust variations to
average out much at all.  DC-X's recovery from Thursday's shaky takeoff speaks
well for her designers and for the VTOL wingless reusable rocket concept.]


SAS Now Has DC-X Flight Tapes

We finally got hold of official first and second DC-X flight videotapes, plus a
BMDO "Delta Clipper" promo piece and amateur video from the second flight and
from various DC-X talks.  Drop a note to Space Access Society, 4855 E Warner
Rd #24-150, Phoenix 85044, or to [e-mail], for details.  If you've
already asked for info, we do have your name and will get back to you with no
further action on your part.  We've been holding off until we had all the
expected material before making any promises.  Orders will be filled in the
order received.


Pro-Space Demo In LA November 6th

David Anderman called this evening and mentioned he's trying to get as big a
pro-space demonstration as possible going in Los Angeles, Saturday November
6th, 11 am, outside the Westwood Federal Building (corner of Sepulveda and
Wilshire) in Century City.  He has a bunch of SoCal pro-space organizations
supporting him and a bunch of proposed space missions to be demonstrated for.

SAS recommends that if you do decide to go, dress comfortable-but-neat, bring
an easy-to-carry sign that can be read and grasped in a one-second TV shot
("Space = Growth - But You Can't Get There From Here" and "Space - Affordable
Access NOW!" come to mind) and be utterly shameless about getting your signs
out in front of any TV cameras that do show up.  The ideal would be to present
a sharp focus on the most pressing space problem, lack of affordable access.

Practically speaking, the message is likely to be a bit more diffuse, but
demos can be a good excuse to get out in the autumn air and meet new people.
Speaking from early '70's experience, simple rhythmic chants ("We want to GO!
We want to GO!  We want to GO!", "Space NOW!  Space NOW!  Space NOW!" and
suchlike) are a great way to pass the time, and they'll make you far more
impressive on the evening news than would be a bunch of sheepish-looking
people standing around holding incomprehensible signs.  If you do go, think of
it as a thinking-person's pep rally, and cut loose a bit.


Current Status Of SX-2 ("SSRT Followon") Funding

It's been a busy week on Capitol Hill, with significant developments in both
House and Senate in the effort to fund a DC-X followon.

[Editor's note - think of Congressional "Authorizations" as a shopping list for
the coming year, and "Appropriations" as going through the list, writing down
how much of each Authorized item to actually buy.]

 -- House Of Representatives

The news in the House is overall good.  The House Defense Authorization is
finally approved, so the House-Senate Defense Authorization conference should
be going forward next week.  We still don't have a final list of conferees,
but there's no reason to believe our list of HASC and SASC (House and Senate
Armed Services Committee) leaders won't be pretty close to the mark.  The
House Defense Authorization still contains the most favorable language on SSRT
we've gotten so far, authorizing $79.88 million for it in FY '94.

In a bit of a surprise, the House Defense Appropriations bill was also passed
this week.  Apparently it went through so quickly because Representative
Murtha (House Appropriations Committee, Defense subcommittee chairman) worked
with the House leadership to ram it through with minimum changes from his HAC
Defense version.

The bad news is that this means the stealth SSTO-killer language (see SAU #21)
is still in the accompanying report.  The good news, and this is very good
news, is that when Representative Walker attempted to fix the SSTO language in
a "colloquy" on the House floor, Representative Murtha asked him to hold off,
promising Walker that he, Murtha, would fix the SSTO language in the House-
Senate Defense Appropriations conference.  Murtha by all reports keeps his
promises.

 -- The Senate

Meanwhile, over in the Senate, things aren't going so well.  Senator Inouye's
Senate Appropriations Committee, Defense subcommittee (SAC Defense) "marked up"
last Thursday, and reports are they zeroed out the $30 million combined NASP-
SSTO-Spacelifter line item from the Senate Defense Authorization.

That combined line item wasn't perfect, but it was far better than no line
item at all for purposes of negotiating an acceptable compromise in the House-
Senate Defense Appropriations conference due a week or two from now.  The full
Senate Appropriations Committee is due to meet Monday to mark up the Senate
Defense Appropriation.  This is our last chance before the conference to get
SSRT reinserted in the Senate version of this funding bill.


SAS Action Recommendations

We recommend calls or faxes ASAP to Senator Robert Byrd, chairman of the
full Senate Appropriations Committee, to Senator Daniel Inouye, chairman of
the SAC Defense subcommittee, and to any SAC members from your state.

Ask them to fund BMDO's Single Stage Rocket Technology (SSRT) program at the
House Defense Authorization level of $79.88 million.

 -- full Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC) list --
 ("Senator XYZ", office#, "Washington DC 20510" will get mail to them.)
 (* = voted for the Domenici Amendment favoring full funding for SSRT.)
 (note - Phil Gramm of Texas did not vote either way on the amendment.)

  SENATOR              STATE   FAX       PHONE      Office#
  -----------------------------------------------------------
 *Bond, Christopher     R  MO  224-7491  224-5721   SR293
  Bumpers, Dale         D  AR  224-6435  224-4843   SD229
 *Burns, Conrad         R  MT  224-8594  224-2644   SD183
  Byrd, Robert          D  WV  224-4025  224-3954   SH311
 *Cochran, Thad         R  MS  224-9450  224-5054   SR326
 *D'Amato, Alfonse      R  NY  224-5871  224-6542   SH520
  DeConcini, Dennis     D  AZ  224-2302  224-4521   SH328
 *Domenici, Pete        R  NM  224-7371  224-6621   SD434
 *Feinstein, Dianne     D  CA  228-3954  224-3841   SH331
 *Gorton, Slade         R  WA  224-9393  224-3441   SH730
  Gramm, Phil           R  TX  228-2856  224-2934   SR370
  Harkin, Tom           D  IA  224-9369  224-3254   SH351
  Hatfield, Mark        R  OR  224-0276  224-3753   SH711
  Hollings, Ernest      D  SC  224-3573  224-6121   SR125
  Inouye, Daniel        D  HI  224-6747  224-3934   SH722
 *Johnston, J.Bennett   D  LA  224-2952  224-5824   SH136
  Kerrey, Robert        D  NE  224-7645  224-6551   SH316
  Kohl, Herbert         D  WI  224-9787  224-5653   SH330
  Lautenberg, Frank     D  NJ  224-9707  224-4744   SH506
  Leahy, Patrick        D  VT  224-3595  224-4242   SR433
 *Mack, Connie          R  FL  224-9365  224-5274   SH517
 *McConnell, Mitch      R  KY  224-2499  224-2541   SR120
  Mikulski, Barbara     D  MD  224-8858  224-4654   SH320
  Murray, Patty         D  WA  224-0238  224-2621   SDB34
  Nickles, Don          R  OK  224-6008  224-5754   SH713
  Reid, Harry           D  NV  224-7327  224-3542   SH324
  Sasser, Jim           D  TN  224-8062  224-3344   SR363
  Specter, Arlen        R  PA  224-1893  224-4254   SH303
 *Stevens, Ted          R  AK  224-2354  224-3004   SH522


Meanwhile, the House-Senate Defense Authorization conference should get
underway this week.  We have a tentative list of conferees (SASC & HASC
committee and subcommittee heads and RRM's) attached.  Call, write, or fax:

 - Senator Sam Nunn, SASC chairman.
 - Senator Strom Thurmond, SASC Ranking Republican
 - Any Senator on the list from your state.

 - Representative Ron Dellums, HASC chairman.
 - Any Representative on the list whose district is very near - you never know
 how the next redistricting might go, and neither do they.

Ask them to support the House Defense Authorization language on BMDO's Single
Stage Rocket Technology (SSRT) program in the Defense Authorization conference.

On the Senate side, pay particular attention to giving at least one good
reason to support SSRT to the Senators who voted against the Domenici SSRT
Amendment.  Thank the Senators who voted for that amendment, and ask the ones
who didn't (politely) why not.


 -- Likely Conferees from the Senate Armed Services Committee --
 ("Senator XYZ", office#, "Washington DC 20510" will get mail to them.)
 (* = voted for the Domenici Amendment favoring full funding for SSRT.)

  Name                               office#         phone        fax  (AC 202)
  Sam Nunn (D-GA)   SASC Chair       SD-303          224-3521     224-0072
  James Exon (D-NE) "Nuke" Chair     SH-528          224-4224     224-5213
  John McCain (R-AZ)                 SR-111          224-2235     224-8938
 *Richard C. Shelby (D-AL)           SH-509          224-5744     224-3416
  William S. Cohen (R-ME)            SH-322          224-2523     224-2693
  Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA)           SR-315          224-4543     224-2417
  Carl Levin (D-MI)                  SR-459          224-6221     224-1388
  Dan Coats (R-IN)                   SR-404          224-5623     224-1966
 *Trent Lott (R-MS)                  SR-487          224-6253     224-2262
 *Bob Smith (R-NH)                   SD-332          224-2841     224-1353
 *Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)               SH-110          224-5521     224-1810
 *John Glenn (D-OH)                  SH-503          224-3353     224-7983
  Strom Thurmond (R-SC)              SR-217          224-5972     224-1300
  John Warner (R-VA)                 SR-225          224-2023     224-6295


 -- Likely Conferees from the House Armed Services Committee --
 (all phone #'s in 202 area code, all addresses are Washington DC 20515,
 in either the Cannon, Longworth, or Rayburn House Office Buildings.
 Rep. Dellums' address, for instance, would be written as:

 Representative Dellums
 2136 Rayburn HOB
 Washington DC 20515 )
                                   phone     fax       address
 Ron Dellums, D 9 CA HASC Chair    225-2661  225-9817  2136 RHOB
 Floyd Spence, R 2 SC HASC RRM     225-2452  225-2455  2405 RHOB
 Patricia Schroeder, D 1 CO        225-4431  225-5842  2208 RHOB
 Earl Hutto, D 1 FL                225-4136  225-5785  2435 RHOB
 Dave McCurdy, D 4 OK              225-6165  225-9746  2344 RHOB
 Bob Stump, R 3 AZ                 225-4576  225-6328   211 CHOB
 Duncan Hunter, R 52 CA            225-5672  225-0235   133 CHOB
 John R Kasich, R 12 OH            225-5355  ?         1131 LHOB
 James V Hansen, R 1 UT            225-0453  225-5857  2466 RHOB
 Ike Skelton, D MO                 225-2876  225-2695  ?
 Jon Kyl, R AZ                     225-3361  225-1143  ?
 Norman Sisiky, D VA               225-6365  226-1170  ?


This should all be wrapped up one way or another before October is over.
It's hard to say what our chances are right now, but pushing hard over the
next couple of weeks will definitely improve the odds.  Once more unto the
breach, dear friends...

[Note from the editor: If you've never contacted your elected representatives
in Washington before, now is a good time to start.  It's painless, it can
actually be pretty effective, and if you don't believe developing the means of
affordable space access is a good cause, chances are you wouldn't be reading
this, eh?  For some tips on making effective contact, see the Politics section
of the subsequent "DC-X Background" posting. -HV]


 Henry Vanderbilt              "Reach low orbit and you're halfway to anywhere
 Executive Director,                    in the Solar System."
 Space Access Society                              - Robert A. Heinlein
 [e-mail]                         "You can't get there from here."
 602 431-9283 voice/fax                                 - Anonymous

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