HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: higgins@fnalo.fnal.gov (Bill Higgins-- Beam Jockey)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: It wasn't Amsterdam. (was Re: V-2 anniversary)
Date: 13 Oct 92 10:25:57 GMT
Article-I.D.: fnalo.1992Oct13.162557.1
Organization: Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
NNTP-Posting-Host: fnalo.fnal.gov

In article <2560007@hpdmd48.boi.hp.com>, rrr@hpdmd48.boi.hp.com (Rudi Rynders) writes:
> ###/ hpdmd48:sci.space / techno@zelator.in-berlin.de (Frank Dahncke) / 10:37 am  Oct  4, 1992 /
> ###In <28165@scicom.AlphaCDC.COM> wats@scicom.AlphaCDC.COM (Bruce Watson) writes:
> ###>Trivia question: Which city was targeted and hit by the most number
> ###>of V-2s?
> ###
> ###Amsterdam, Holland.
> You can be sure that is was NOT Amsterdam. I witnessed many launchings of V-2's
> during 1944 and the first half of 1945 from around The Hague, and while some
> malfunctioning ones landed in The Hague, I can not remember any falling on
> Amsterdam. 

Antwerp.  Hey, it's easy to get those "A" cities in the Low Countries
mixed up, right?

"Read my lips, Hal:         Bill Higgins   
Open the Pod Bay doors!"    Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
                            Bitnet:     HIGGINS@FNALB.BITNET
                            SPAN/Hepnet: 43011::HIGGINS 
                            Internet:  HIGGINS@FNAL.FNAL.GOV 
Newsgroups: sci.space
From: cecil@physics.unc.edu (Gerald Cecil)
Subject: CIS Mars mission plans
Reply-To: cecil@physics.unc.edu
Organization: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 19:38:43 GMT

Could someone pls summarize current CIS robot plans for Mars exploration.
Are there any plans to reattempt the Phobos missions with revised spacecraft/
software?  Thanks.
---
Gerald Cecil cecil@wrath.physics.unc.edu  919-962-7169 
Physics & Astronomy, U of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3255 USA

Newsgroups: sci.space
From: mrw9e@kelvin.seas.Virginia.EDU (Michael Robert Williams)
Subject: Re: Drop nuc waste into sun
Summary: Solar Sails
Keywords: Solar Sails, Nuclear Waste, Solar Disposal
Organization: University of Virginia
Distribution: sci
Date: Sat, 10 Oct 1992 18:04:22 GMT

I'm amused at the incidence of this question; I've been a net follower
for years, and it keeps showing up like clockwork.

For my senior thesis in aerospace engineering I designed a solar sail
cargo vehicle to carry stuff to the Moon for a future manned base. It 
seems to me that the same technology could be used to drop nuclear
waste into the Sun (although I think there are better ways to get rid
of it).

The plan works like this: launch the vehicle into a fairly high deploy-
ment orbit ~1000 km or so (this is to reduce the effects of atmospheric
drag). Then unfurl the sail and spiral out on an Earth-escape trajectory,
which might take a while (~200 days with 50% of the vehicle weight devoted
to cargo). Then, when you have reached escape velocity, you turn the 
vehicle and let it 'tack,' using sunlight pressure to slow down. This 
will lower the aphelion. If you want to reuse the vehicle (no reason that
you couldn't) you wait untill aphelion is very close to the Sun's 
surface, then drop the cargo. Turn the vehicle so that radiation pressure
pushes it back into an Earth-rendezvous orbit, and voila! No more 
nuclear waste, and you have a reusable garbage truck. This way you
do not need the tremendous ammounts of propellant to get rid of the
waste, and you only have to build one guidance package.

Now, I admit this is all off the cuff; I haven't done the math, so
it may turn out that in order to dispose of the waste, it is neccessary
to bring the solar sail so close to the Sun that the sail melts, or so
close that it will not be able to climb back out before it melts, but
fiddling with the payload ratio should fix that. What do all of you
out in netland think?
 

In Real Life:Mike Williams     | Perpetual Grad Student
e-mail      :mrw9e@virginia.edu|   - It's not just a job, it's an indenture
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The probability of something happening is inversely proportional
to its desirability
From: Michael.Corbin@p0.f428.n104.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Michael Corbin)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Roswell
Date: 11 Oct 92 19:13:01 GMT
Organization: FidoNet node 1:104/428.0 - <ParaNet(sm) , Arvada CO

The recent exchange about Roswell was interesting.  Below is a reprint of an article which appeared in a "science" magazine about the crash recovery investigation being conducted by a retired Air Force Intelligence officer. Although there is *no* hard evidence that the vehicle recovered was an extraterrestrial spacecraft, the testimony collected by Randle and Schmitt does provide some compelling circumstance that it was very foreign.

This is only the tip of the iceberg on information that R&S have collected. If you want more, let me know.

This  article was taken from Air&Space magazine  October/November
1992.
Reprinted without permission.  Prepared by Michael Keithly.


In  a response to a letter of authenticity of the Roswell  events
Kevin Randle replied.

The events that took place near Roswell, New Mexico in July  1947
are  well  documented.  The question is no  longer  if  something
happened, but what happened, and why it is still being hidden  45
years later.  Colonel (later Brigadier General) Thomas J.  Dubose
was  the chief of staff of the Eighth Air Force, the parent  unit
of  the  509th  Bomb  Group, at Roswell in  July  1947.   He  has
repeatedly, on audio and video tape, that the balloon explanation
was  designed to "get the reporters of Ramey's  back"  (Brigadier
Roger  Ramey,  Commanding Officer of the Eighth Air  Force).   In
other words, one of the officers who was there has said that  the
balloon explanation was nothing more than a cover story.

There  is also Brigadier General Arthur Exon, who was  later  the
base  commander  at  Wright-Patterson but who  was  a  lieutenant
colonel at Wright Field in 1947.  On audio tape, he has said that
many  of the people at Wright field believe the debris  recovered
near  Roswell  was extraterrestrial.  He also described  his  own
flight  over the crash site, telling us he saw the gouge  created
when the craft crashed, as well as the tire marks of the military
vehicles that had driven over the field.

Here  are  two sources who seem to confirm much  of  the  Roswell
tale.   Both  talk of aspects of the case about  which  they  can
provide first hand testimony.  There is much more about this that
must be explored.  I believe the debris was extraterrestrial, but
in any event, it is clear that something more than a balloon  was
recovered near Roswell.

Kevin D. Randle
Co-Author UFO Crash at Roswell.
Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

END OF ARTICLE

--  
Michael Corbin - via ParaNet node 1:104/422
UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name
INTERNET: Michael.Corbin@p0.f428.n104.z1.FIDONET.ORG
Newsgroups: sci.space
From: fcrary@ucsu.Colorado.EDU (Frank Crary)
Subject: Re: South Africa tests Satellite launch vehicle
Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 17:15:45 GMT

In article <1992Oct13.094624.203094@uctvax.uct.ac.za> glngar01@uctvax.uct.ac.za writes:
> The test took place at the Rooi Els test range of Somchem, a subsidiary
> company of Denel (formerly Armscor).
> The burn lasted 58 seconds and produced enough thrust to put a 800kg+ satellite
> in a polar orbit at a height of 400-800km.

Supprising: I'd have expected some technological heritage from the
Isreali Jerico rocket, but this doesn't seem to be the case.

> (Incidentally, which other nations/groups of nations have viable satellite
> programs??)

United States, Commonwealth of Independent States (or at least Russia,
Ukraine and Kazakstan), People's Republic of China, Japan, European
Space Agency, India, Isreal, (Iraq used to be close.)

                                               Frank Crary
                                               CU Boulder
From: wats@scicom.AlphaCDC.COM (Bruce Watson)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: Sputnik I - 35th anniversary
Date: 7 Oct 92 17:29:50 GMT
Organization: Alpha Science Computer Network, Denver, Co.

In article <164@newave.newave.mn.org| john@newave.newave.mn.org (John A. Weeks III) writes:
|In <28242@scicom.AlphaCDC.COM> wats@scicom.AlphaCDC.COM (Bruce Watson):
|> Today the earth has approximately 7000 moons.
|
|How many of these moons have stable orbits?  In this case, I define stable
|to mean that they will stay in orbit for 100+ years without expending any
|fuel.  (I have a hard time considering something like Sputnik or Echo I to
|be a "moon".)
|

Anything above 1000 km will stay up for 100+ years. I'm betting that
before then everything up there not working will be removed. I see
the Vanguard I payload being displayed at the Smithsonian.

-- 
Bruce Watson (wats@scicom)  Tumbra, Zorkovick; Sparkula zoom krackadomando.
From: roberts@CMR.NCSL.NIST.GOV (John Roberts)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: SETI functional grammar
Date: 14 Oct 92 04:45:10 GMT
Organization: National Institute of Standards and Technology
	formerly National Bureau of Standards


-From: jbh55289@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Josh 'K' Hopkins)
-Subject: Re: SETI functional grammer
-Date: 13 Oct 92 20:40:01 GMT
-Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana

-I ran across a thought experiment once where the prototype teleporting machine
-ends up on an alien planet and won't come back.  How do you tell the aliens
-to press the right (manual override) button and not the left (self destruct)
-button?  I couldn't figure a way out.

There's a way, but it involves some subtleties of nuclear physics - I don't
remember the details. You may have to assume the aliens are made of normal
matter rather than antimatter, but given that your machine didn't turn into
gamma rays, that's probably a pretty good assumption.

John Roberts
roberts@cmr.ncsl.nist.gov
From: roberts@CMR.NCSL.NIST.GOV (John Roberts)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: Population here and elsewhere? (2)
Date: 8 Oct 92 01:00:45 GMT
Organization: National Institute of Standards and Technology
	formerly National Bureau of Standards


-From: gary@ke4zv.uucp (Gary Coffman)
-Subject: Re: Population here and elsewhere?
-Date: 7 Oct 92 08:25:43 GMT
-Organization: Gannett Technologies Group

-I've pointed out that if the entire world population produced garbage
-at the rate of NYC dwellers, it would take 10,000 years to cover the
-state of Nevada with it to a depth of 100 feet, 

Yes, solid waste isn't as much of a problem as some people think it is.
Air and water pollution (and I suppose topsoil depletion) are of much
more immediate interest. For instance, human-caused acid rain appears
to be a genuine problem over significant parts of the east coast of
North America. (And for that specific problem, at least, the 
"environmentalists" appear to be hurting more than helping.)

While I don't think NASA should blow its entire budget on Earth observation,
some level of it seems to be worthwhile, for instance in determining whether
a runaway greenhouse effect is possible, by actual observation rather than
political debate.

John Roberts
roberts@cmr.ncsl.nist.gov

Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro
From: phfrom@nyx.uni-konstanz.de (Hartmut Frommert)
Subject: Re: SETI positive?
Organization: Dept. of Physics, University of Constance
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 14:01:02 GMT

:-))
sichase@csa2.lbl.gov (SCOTT I CHASE) writes:

>Calm down.  There is no positive signal.  It's just that NASA's big SETI 
             ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^                             ^^^^
>project is scheduled to start on Oct. 12.  
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Isn't that a contradiction ? :-))
--
 Hartmut Frommert                 <phfrom@nyx.uni-konstanz.de>
 Dept of Physics, Univ of Constance, P.O.Box 55 60, D-W-7750 Konstanz, Germany
                                           -- Eat whale killers, not whales --
Newsgroups: sci.space
From: steinly@topaz.ucsc.edu (Steinn Sigurdsson)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: Don't forget  Other Guy(was Re: Von Braun -- Hero, Villain, or Both?)
Date: 8 Oct 92 01:11:39 GMT
	<1992Oct5.183016.1@fnalf.fnal.gov> <1992Oct6.195549.1733@kopachuk.uucp>
Organization: Lick Observatory/UCO
NNTP-Posting-Host: topaz.ucsc.edu
In-reply-to: dcb@kopachuk.uucp's message of Tue, 6 Oct 1992 19:55:49 GMT

In article <1992Oct6.195549.1733@kopachuk.uucp> dcb@kopachuk.uucp (David Breneman) writes:


   If it hadn't been for inter-department politics in the US government,
   the Soviets would have had the *second* satelite, but the US was (as
   stated policy) in no hurry, and the Soviets wanted to be first at all

Actually I like the rather devious argument I first heard recently 
 - probably on the net ;-) - that the US was quite happy to be second
as they wanted the Soviets to establish precedent on limits to
airspace, at the time it was not clear if air space restrictions
extended up to orbit, would have been most inconvenient if pushed by
somebody like the Soviets.

But then again I doubt anyone had much of a coherent policy taking
such factors into account...

|  Steinn Sigurdsson	|I saw two shooting stars last night		|
|  Lick Observatory	|I wished on them but they were only satellites	|
| steinly@lick.ucsc.edu |Is it wrong to wish on space hardware?		|
| "standard disclaimer"	|I wish, I wish, I wish you'd care - B.B. 1983	|
Newsgroups: sci.space
From: se_taylo@rcvie.co.at (Ian Taylor)
Subject: DCX Status?
Organization: Alcatel Austria - Elin Research Center, Vienna
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 14:59:57 GMT

Allen Sherzer's countdown signature is telling us that the first DCX
flight is only six months from now, anyone know the current project status?

+-- I -------- fax +43 1 391452 --------------------- voice +43 1 391621 169 --+| T a y l o r  Alcatel-ELIN Research, 1-7 Ruthnergasse, Vienna A-1210 Austria  |+-- n ---- ian@rcvie.co.at --- PSI%023226191002::SE_TAYLOR --- 20731::ian -----+

                                    TBD
From: gawne@stsci.edu
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: UFO EVIDENCE VS. Carl Sagan
Date: 8 Oct 92 15:54:14 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Space Telescope Science Institute

In article <9210071249.AA27930@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>, nicho@VNET.IBM.COM writes:
> In <rabjab.12.718419379@golem.ucsd.edu> Jeff Bytof writes:
>>(I am of course referring to Dr. Sagan's hobby interests - "ethical
>                               ============
>   Has Carl Sagan actually got a doctorate in anything ???  Last I heard
> (long time ago , true) he was just plain ol' C. Sagan



A glance at American Men and Women of Science shows Carl Sagan with:

AB - 1954, BS - 1955, MS - 1956, PhD - 1960 (Astron,Astrophys)

all granted by the University of Chicago.

It's hard to get tenure at Cornell these days without one of those
PhD things, ya' know?

-Bill Gawne,  Space Telescope Science Institute
From: ewright@convex.com (Edward V. Wright)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: Bootstrap hardware for LunaBase
Date: 13 Oct 92 21:21:49 GMT
Article-I.D.: convex.ewright.719011309
Organization: Engineering, CONVEX Computer Corp., Richardson, Tx., USA
X-Disclaimer: This message was written by a user at CONVEX Computer
              Corp. The opinions expressed are those of the user and
              not necessarily those of CONVEX.

In <1992Oct10.014257.7624@techbook.com> szabo@techbook.com (Nick Szabo) writes:

>You are also still completely missing the point that lower
>launch costs benefit every kind of space project, and do
>not change the comparison of lunar mining vs. alternatives.

Yes, provided you are absolutely pigheaded about ignoring
other costs.

The cost of building a black-box that costs $100,000 per
pound to fabricate does not go down when launch costs do.

When launch costs drop enough, it becomes more cost-effective
to use ten black boxes, each weighing ten times as much, but
costing less than $1000 per pound to fabricate. 

And instead of throwing away expensive hardware everytime
it breaks down, it's more cost-effective to send the Maytag
man up there to fix up.

And when you've got a lot of equipment up there, meaning a
lot of equipment breaking down, it becomes more cost-effective
to keep the repairman there full time.
From: jbh55289@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Josh 'K' Hopkins)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: Controversy over V-2 anniversary
Date: 13 Oct 92 20:26:18 GMT
Article-I.D.: news.Bw2u3v.7pD
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana

phfrom@nyx.uni-konstanz.de (Hartmut Frommert) writes:

>prb@access.digex.com (Pat) writes:

>>THe difference is that the designers didn't want it used.
>>the chicago people were petitioning truman,  oppenheimer was drummed
>>out for being weak on the h-bomb.  that is ethics.  they built the bomb
>>for germany,  they didn't want it used on japan.  for dropping the bomb

>As I stated in a semi-recent posting, there is some evidence that some of
>the Peenemuende engineers, at least Wernher von Braun, did also NOT want
>their A-4 experimental rocket to be used as mass produced V-2 weapon. As
>I read long ago in a 60s book, they made some 65,000 modifications to delay
>mass production.

I've seen numbers like this too, but it's not clear to me whether they made
so many modifications because they wanted to or because, never having built a
ballistic missile, it took a few tries to get things right.  
>--
> Hartmut Frommert                 <phfrom@nyx.uni-konstanz.de>
> Dept of Physics, Univ of Constance, P.O.Box 55 60, D-W-7750 Konstanz, Germany
>                                           -- Eat whale killers, not whales --
-- 
Josh Hopkins                                          jbh55289@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu
	 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
Newsgroups: sci.space
From: seal@leonardo.Jpl.Nasa.Gov (David Seal)
Subject: Re: Math programs with arbitrary precision for the Mac?
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1992 17:48:02 GMT

seal@leonardo.Jpl.Nasa.Gov (David Seal) writes:

>Having been duly inspired by an episode of northern exposure i tried
>fiddling with ramanujan's and borwein and borwein's formulas for 
>computing pi on my mac.  however, the floating point accuracy
>for MATLAB (which i was using) isn't settable and i can't get past
>the sixteenth decimal place or so.  other mac programs or ways of computing
>pi?  thanks.

so sorry.  my %$@#(*^) nn software has been confusing me.  should have been
to sci.math.

ds
--
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
David Seal                 |  Jet Propulsion Laboratory  |     sunset: 7:54pm
seal@leonardo.Jpl.Nasa.Gov |       Mission Design        |   temp: 82 degrees
From: stanb@hpnmdla.sr.hp.com (Stan Bischof)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: Dyson sphere
Date: 15 Oct 92 16:02:58 GMT
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Santa Rosa, CA

In sci.space, asnd@msr.triumf.ca (Donald Arseneau) writes:

>But the light bounces around to the other side and will still get absorbed 
>eventually.  If the sphere is 80% reflective, there will be 4 x 2 = 8
>times the pressure as for a black sphere.

Hmm. I'm a little late in this discussion, so please excuse me if I am
not interpreting your statement incorrectly, but huh, what?

Are you looking at the difference in kinetic energy transfer (i.e light
pressure) between a perfectly absorbing surface (inelastic collision) and
a reflecting surface (elastic collision)?

If so then would you care to explain how the difference can ever be
more than a factor of 2, since a perfectly elastic collision imparts
exactly twice the energy as a perfectly inelastic collision? 
(unless you are using flubber, of course!)

i.e how does %80 reflective become   4x2=8 times the pressure?
    Shouldn't this be more like 1.8 times the pressure?

Stan Bischof
HPSR
From: pascal@CAM.ORG (Pascal Gosselin)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Need info: Fault-Tolerant Spacecraft systems (VLSI-related)
Keywords: fault VLSI spacecraft
Date: 7 Oct 92 22:02:26 GMT
Organization: Communications Accessibles Montreal, Quebec Canada

As a requirement for a VLSI architecture I'm taking this semester, I'd
like to write a paper on the types of fault-tolerant architectures
required on Spacecraft.

I am interested in both the hardware and software aspects of these systems
with emphasis on VLSI's role in all of this (i.e. impact of harsh
environments on system reliability, effects of radiation, etc...). 

I have been discouraged somewhat by my teacher, as he thinks most
of the documentation on the subject is probably classified.

Replies by email.

Thanks.

-Pascal
-- 
+--------------------------+-------------------------------------------------+
    Pascal Gosselin        |     Communications Accessibles Montreal  
    pascal@CAM.ORG         |  A non-profit corporation.  Newsfeeds & More.   
  Apple Support Specialist |  For info: info@CAM.ORG or Voice (514) 923-2102 
Newsgroups: sci.space
From: derbyc@tplrd.tpl.oz.au (Derby Chang)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: Controversy over V-2 anniversary
Date: 9 Oct 92 05:34:48 GMT
Distribution: sci.space
Organization: Telectronics Pacing Systems

In article <BvGMvq.Ew4.1@cs.cmu.edu> amon@elegabalus.cs.qub.ac.uk writes:

>And of course, the Luftwaffe attacked London and other cities  
>(including Belfast). A little known fact is that the RAF bombed a  
>German city first. It was a ploy of Churchill to get the erratic  
>Hitler to fly off the handle and do something stupid. Up until that  
>time Goering was focusing the Lufwaffe on reducing the RAF bases and  
>aircraft manufacturing. After the British attack Hitler went berserk  
>and ordered the retaliation against London which put the Luftwaffe  
>into nice predicatable air corridors where the RAF had a chance to  
>decimate them. A gamble that won. It also had the effect of  
>stiffening some upper lips in London. Churchill was as ruthless as  
>they came. He counted on causing the bombing of his own people, but  
>England probably would not have survived without him. However, none   
>of this justified the leveling of German cities after the tide began  
>to turn.  
>

I mentioned this in sci.military some time ago, but might repeat it.  Shirer
in `The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich' says that what happened was the
Luftwaffe intended to bomb some fuel depots on the outskirts of London,
went off-course accidentally, and ended up unloading in the middle of London.   
In retaliation, the RAF bombed Berlin for the first time in the war.  In
his fury, Hitler ordered the switch from tactical bombing of RAF bases,
sector stations and alike, to strategic bombing of major cities.  It is a
fine point I admit, but it gives the RAF a justification for deliberately
bombing civilians.

I don't know if this is another example of 'victors writing history' but it
sounds creditable.


+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|  Derby Chang			|"Cathy, I said, I have no sympathy,     |
|  Telectronics Pacing Systems	| Look up `masochism' in the dictionary" |
|  Syndey, Australia            |					 |
|  (Tel): 0011-61-2-413-6940    |               Flanagan & Richardson    |
|  derbyc@tplrd.tpl.OZ.AU	|		                         |
|                               |                                        |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
From: m0102@tnc.UUCP (FRANK NEY)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: Math progs with arbitrary precicion, for UNIX...
Date: 15 Oct 92 19:33:32 GMT
Reply-To: m0102@tnc.UUCP (FRANK NEY)
Organization: The Next Challenge, Fairfax, Va.


Where can I get a DOS or OS/2 version of Mathematica?  Keep in mind
that I do not have FTP.
-- 
The Next Challenge - Public Access Unix in Northern Va. - Washington D.C.
703-803-0391 To log in for trial and account info.