HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: knapp@spot.Colorado.EDU (David Knapp)
Subject: Re: ROTATION OF THE MOON
Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 23:16:13 GMT

In article <sheppamj.722206879@sun.soe.clarkson.edu> sheppamj@sun.soe.clarkson.edu (Matthew Sheppard) writes:
>
>Question:
>	Why is the moon orbiting the earth at the same rate it rotates?  It
>can't be pure luck that the same side of the moon is always facing us.

It's not pure luck. In fact, this phenomenon, called 'tidal locking' is
almost the rule in the solar system. 

Tidal forces from the Earth and Sun cause a 'bulge' in the moon. On earth,
you can literally see the bulge effect in the tides. On the moon (and
on the earth too, actaually) the body *itself* is bulged out. As the 
moon rotates through this bulge, the flexing causes the moon to warm up
and dissipate the rotational energy.  After a while, the moon has
'despun' and no longer rotates through the bulge. That's how it is now.


>Perhaps someone already tried to send us a message and we just haven't
>read it yet.


I won't touch that one.
-- 
David Knapp                                      University of Colorado, Boulder
Perpetual Student                                   knapp@spot.colorado.edu
Newsgroups: sci.space
From: roberts@cmr.ncsl.nist.gov (John Roberts)
Subject: Scientific method
X-Added: Forwarded by Space Digest
Organization: National Institute of Standards and Technology formerly National Bureau of Standards
Original-Sender: isu@VACATION.VENARI.CS.CMU.EDU
Distribution: sci
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 06:40:44 GMT


-From: mccall@mksol.dseg.ti.com (fred j mccall 575-3539)
-Subject: Re: NASA Coverup
-Date: 18 Nov 92 21:38:47 GMT
-Organization: Texas Instruments Inc

->]No, what you have is necessary, but not sufficient.  It must also be
->]testable and make some predictions about the universe to be as viable as
->]relativity (General or Special). (This is true to first order.  I am
->]aware that there is some discussion in philosophy of science about
->]falsifiability, as well as other nits.)

-This is pretty much REQUIRED for a scientific 'theory' -- it must
-exhibit sufficient predictive power to be falsifiable.  In other
-words, it must predict things that we can go look at that we don't
-know the answers to yet, so that we can then go and see if the things
-that it predicts are true.

-Fred.McCall@dseg.ti.com - I don't speak for others and they don't speak for me.

For better or worse, that's what the "scientific method" is today, but it
was not always thus. Gregor Mendel, pioneer geneticist, used a somewhat
different method. I'm not sure exactly what he did, but I believe that in
essence, he developed his theory and ran his experiments more as "parallel
processes" than what would be considered acceptable today.

I've sometimes wondered whether there's a lesson to be learned in the 
alternative techniques used in the past. Others may be thinking along similar
lines - for instance, for instance, the Earth-impact model of the formation
of the moon has risen from obscurity to the "most favored model", with
(as far as I know) little or no new input of information - it's based on
mathematical models and old Apollo and Voyager data. (Eventually, of course, 
somebody will try to come up with new experiments to "test" the model, but I 
consider the fact that it seems to have effectively achieved the status of 
"theory" without the traditional requirement of further testing to be 
significant.)

Does anybody recall the details of the technique Mendel used?

John Roberts
roberts@cmr.ncsl.nist.gov

Newsgroups: sci.space
From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: Shuttle Replacement
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 20:56:25 GMT
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology

In article <By5IAH.21o.1@cs.cmu.edu> 0004244402@mcimail.com (Karl Dishaw) writes:
>Has the shuttle ever lifted more than 20 tons (vs. the rated capacity
>of 30 tons)? ...

That "rated capacity" is obsolete; the shuttle has never been capable of
lifting that much without violating one operating rule or another.  (Yes,
this means that the original specs were never met.)
-- 
MS-DOS is the OS/360 of the 1980s.      | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
              -Hal W. Hardenbergh (1985)|  henry@zoo.toronto.edu  utzoo!henry
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro,alt.sci.planetary
From: baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov (Ron Baalke)
Subject: Magellan Update - 11/20/92
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.3-4   
Keywords:  Magellan, JPL
Reply-To: baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1992 07:26:54 GMT

Forwarded from the Magellan Project

                     MAGELLAN STATUS REPORT
                       November 20, 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 spacecraft has completed 6136 orbits of Venus; 500 so
     far in Cycle 4, which will end on May 25, 1993.

3.   Tuesday, November 17, the project conducted a design
     review of an aerobraking experiment to be conducted at
     the end of Cycle 4.  Preliminary modeling of dynamic
     pressures, temperatures and attitude control indicate
     that circularizing the orbit on an aerobraking plan which
     proceeds aggressively for the first several weeks, and
     backs off in the later stages, appears to be very
     feasible.

4.   A Spacecraft Team Technical Interchange Meeting (TIM) was
     held on Thursday.  The spacecraft performance has been
     excellent since the last TIM although there have been 12
     TWTA (Traveling Wave Tube Ampilfier) SSOs (Spurious Shutoffs),
     including five on Tuesday, and there has been some increase
     in the slippage of the Solar Array Drive Mechanism since the
     end of the apoapsis occultation season.
     ___    _____     ___
    /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|     Ron Baalke         | baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov
    | | | |  __ \ /| | | |     Jet Propulsion Lab |
 ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |__   M/S 525-3684 Telos | Learn to recognize the
/___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /| Pasadena, CA 91109 | inconsequential, then 
|_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/                     | ignore it.
From: pgf@srl03.cacs.usl.edu ("Phil G. Fraering")
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: Saturn V for Freedom deployment
Date: 17 Nov 92 21:44:55 GMT
Article-I.D.: cs.BxvsA2.8G6.1
Distribution: sci
Organization: [via International Space University]
X-Added: Forwarded by Space Digest
Original-Sender: isu@VACATION.VENARI.CS.CMU.EDU


>The Saturn V booster consumed extreme amounts of liquid fuel.
>(NOT practical today...)

I love the glib way you say that as if it's actually true that
Saturn's usage of liquid fuel was a problem. I think it used
less than twice as much fuel as the shuttle currently uses to 
launch one sixth as much payload. 
--
> Doug Egan                                  "Old enough to know what's right-
> Lockheed Engineering and Sciences Co.       Young enough not to choose it.
> Houston, TX                                 Wise enough to win the world-
>***** InterNet:  egan@blkbox.com  *****     Fool enough to loose it." -Rush

-- 
Phil Fraering
In the country of the blind....
60 minutes doesn't run stories about people trying to ban hearing
From: palmer@cco.caltech.edu (David M. Palmer)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: ROTATION OF THE MOON
Date: 20 Nov 1992 23:21:33 GMT
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
Distribution: na
NNTP-Posting-Host: alumni.caltech.edu

jbh55289@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Josh 'K' Hopkins) writes:

>labmas@stein.u.washington.edu (Michael Andersson) writes:
>>>Do you know if that rate is constant?  Say around 63M years ago,
>>>around the time of the end of the dinosaurs, the day would have
>>>been 175 hrs longer!

>>No.  If the rotation is slowing, then days used to be shorter.

>Right, so the rate obviously isn't constant or the Earth would have been
>spinning at relativistic speeds shortly before our astraulopithic ancestors 
>appeared.  Since the rates depends on tides and gravitational fields it's very
>likely that there are exponential terms in the equation.  If I recall correctly,
>you have cubics in the formula for tidal forces, which results in a much
>different curve than trying to plot it linearly.

I have heard (potential Urban Legend warning)  that one of the ocean basins
(Pacific? Atlantic?) has a slosh frequency which is resonant with the
tides, which greatly increases the tidal drag.  In the past, the continents
were at different positions, so the oceans had different frequencies,
so the tidal drag was much less.


eno
-- 
		David Palmer		 palmer@alumni.caltech.edu
Newsgroups: sci.space
From: prb@access.digex.com (Pat)
Subject: Re: Mars Simulation in Antarctica
Organization: UDSI
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 16:50:46 GMT

In article <17547@mindlink.bc.ca> Bruce_Dunn@mindlink.bc.ca (Bruce Dunn) writes:
>        At one point I believe that the US was operating a small nuclear
>reactor as a source of power and heat in one of their Antarctic bases.  Does
>anyone know the details - this would be highly relevant to moon and or mars
>bases (which of course would have to however have alternate methods of
>rejecting heat).

THey probably ran SNAP-7 nuclear reactors down in the polar areas.
it was there small transportable power rac for science stations, etc....
i seem to recall they were used in the artic as well.
look in some historys of nuclear power to be sure.
Newsgroups: sci.space,alt.conspiracy
From: pyron@skndiv.dseg.ti.com (Dillon Pyron)
Subject: Re: NASA Coverup
Reply-To: pyron@skndiv.dseg.ti.com
Organization: TI/DSEG VAX Support
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 19:45:11 GMT


In article <GNB.92Nov12102535@baby.bby.com.au>, gnb@baby.bby.com.au (Gregory N. Bond) writes:
>>>>>> On Sat, 7 Nov 1992 23:42:20 GMT, jbh55289@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Josh 'K' Hopkins) said:
>
>Josh> Did you know that fully _half_ of all babies are born within one
>Josh> week of a full Moon!  No kidding.
>
>And what is worse, half of those babies born within a week of a full
>moon have below-average intelligence!
Ha!  What fools!  Did you not know that half of all children are born within
one week of the "new" (null) moon?  What running-dog lackeys of the
capitalictic imperialists! (sorry for old dogma, the new stuff hasn't arrived
yet and this stuff will expire soon if I don't use it :-)

Also remember that half the kids are born between high tide and low tide.
>
>Obviously, the radiation from the alien artifact that is holding the
>moon up is affecting them.  

Which artifact?  I thought that neither of them radiated.

Obnoxious debunking - It's not just a hobby, it's an avocation.
>--
>Gregory Bond <gnb@bby.com.au> Burdett Buckeridge & Young Ltd Melbourne Australia
>``There is Faith, Hope and Charity.  But greater than these is Banking.'' - 1492
>
>
>
--
Dillon Pyron                      | The opinions expressed are those of the
TI/DSEG Lewisville VAX Support    | sender unless otherwise stated.
(214)462-3556 (when I'm here)     |
(214)492-4656 (when I'm home)     |"Pacts with the devil are not legally
pyron@skndiv.dseg.ti.com          |binding!"
PADI DM-54909                     |-Friar Tuck   _Robin Hood:The Hooded Man_

Newsgroups: sci.space
From: prb@access.digex.com (Pat)
Subject: Re: Shuttle computers
Organization: UDSI
Distribution: sci
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 04:58:22 GMT

In article <BxsMA3.D2o.1@cs.cmu.edu> roberts@cmr.ncsl.nist.gov (John Roberts) writes:
>
>-From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer)
>-Subject: Re: What kind of computers are in the shuttle?
>-Date: 14 Nov 92 23:58:37 GMT
>
>-There are also some other little problems, like the fact that the orbiter
>-computers aren't independent systems -- those five main computers operate
>-in very close lockstep for fault tolerance.  This isn't just a tougher
>-version of a commercial computer system.
>
>Do you recall how tight the lockstep is? I don't believe I've seen anything
>written on that since before STS-1.
>
>John Roberts
>roberts@cmr.ncsl.nist.gov

I think it was 1/2 a clock.  i believe every instruction is run at the same
time on each processor and when a computation is ready they go to the master
for comparison and validation.  
one of the first shuttle flights was screwed up because IBM tested the
software ona ground test bed which had different cable lengths then the
shuttle and the propagation delay was putting the clock edges enough out that
they kept locking out the slave in each pair.  i think it was something
like this.  there are two control channels, each has a primary and backup
computer.  the backups kept going off-line and the mission got scrubbed.
i am sure henry knows the true details but thats how a guyt from IBM
explained it to me.
From: dietz@cs.rochester.edu (Paul Dietz)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: Saturn V for Freedom deployment
Date: 17 Nov 92 15:03:27 GMT
Article-I.D.: cs.1992Nov17.150327.3516
Organization: Computer Science Department University of Rochester

In article <dfegan.722009437@node_2204c> dfegan@lescsse.jsc.nasa.gov (Doug Egan) writes:


  >	The Saturn V booster consumed extreme amounts of liquid fuel.
  >    (NOT practical today...)
  >	I am also under the impression that the design documents were
  >    somehow lost...  (Maybe to favor the Shuttle program.) 
  >--
  > Doug Egan                               
  > Lockheed Engineering and Sciences Co.


Good grief.

All rockets use large amounts of fuel.  Liquid fuels are *cheap*.
Most of the propellant used by the S-V was LOX/RP-1, in the first
stage.  LOX is about $.05/lb, RP-1 somewhere around $.20/lb.  Even if
you use 100 pounds of propellant to put 1 pound of payload into orbit,
the cost is negligible compared to the cost of the S-V's hardware and
the labor involved in its launch.

	Paul F. Dietz
	dietz@cs.rochester.edu
Newsgroups: sci.space
From: games@max.u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: Clinton's address (was Re: Feynmann's legacy)
Organization: 
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 19:28:36 GMT

In article <1ee80gINNap@gap.caltech.edu>, jafoust@cco.caltech.edu (Jeffrey Alan Foust) writes:
> In article <1992Nov17.133235.1@stsci.edu> hathaway@stsci.edu writes:
>>
>>For such a together dude, why doesn't Clinton (and Gore) have an e-mail 
>>address and access to the NET???  They'll Never know what's going on 
>>unless they be on-line.  They should at least be FAQed in. 
>>
> The Clinton/Gore campaign did have an account on CompuServe (I don't remember
> the account number).  I had heard some talk after the election that they
> would keep the account, but I haven't heard a final decision yet.
> 
> -- 
Well, I tried to mail to that account, and got the message returned saying
that the mailbox was full.  It seems that even though the store is there,
noone is minding it.

			John.

Newsgroups: sci.space
From: pgolden@nhgs.vak12ed.edu (Patrick S. Golden)
Subject: Free Middle/High School Broadcasts
Organization: Virginia's Public Education Network (Hampton)
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 92 22:35:18 GMT

REACHING FOR THE STARS

A free, nationwide distance-learning program designed to  
encourage young minority and female middle and high-school  
students to pursue careers in science and engineering

2:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. (ET)

December 16, 1992
February 10, 1993
March 17, 1993
April 7, 1993
May 12, 1993

Program Description:            	
Each of the 30-minute programs in the five-part interactive series  
will profile a different recipient of a Virginia Space Grant 
scholarship or  fellowship.  These  young minority and female 
researchers will describe what  motivated them to  pursue careers 
in the sciences and engineering, what their lives are  like at the  
college or university where they study, and what their career  
aspirations are.   Each researcher will also teach a basic science 
lesson and briefly  discuss the  relationship of that science lesson to 
their university research  project.  Viewers  will have the 
opportunity to ask questions of the young researchers  via 
telephone  during an interactive segment of the program.  Pre- and 
post- broadcast material  will be mailed to those registering for the 
series. 

Target Audience:  Middle school and high school students and  
other interested viewers

Program Objectives:

The series is designed to provide viewers with:

- An awareness of the career possibilities and rewards that exist for  
students --   particularly minorities and women -- in engineering 
and the  sciences.

- A knowledge of the scholastic paths students must travel to  
become engineers  and scientists.

- An understanding of the nature of five young minority and  
female researchers'  college experiences and what viewers will 
encounter if they attend  college and  major in the sciences.

- Knowledge of five basic science lessons and how those lessons are  
related to  more sophisticated research.

Reaching for the Stars is a cooperative educational project of the  
Virginia Space  Grant Consortium, Old Dominion University and 
the National  Aeronautics  and Space Administration.

For Registration Information:	
Old Dominion University's Academic Television Services at  (800)  
548-4807

VIRGINIA SPACE GRANT CONSORTIUM
2713-D Magruder Blvd.
Hampton, VA  23666
(804) 865-0726
E-mail: pgolden@nhgs.vak12ed.edu
-- 
|-------------------------------|
|++Patrick Golden++             | 
|Virginia Space Grant Consortium|
|pgolden@nhgs.vak12ed.edu       | 
From: edb@hpgrla.gr.hp.com (Ed Beshore)
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 16:04:59 GMT
Subject: Re: FREE-ENERGY TECHNOLOGY For Spacecraft
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Greeley, CO
Newsgroups: sci.space

There are a couple of fascinating things about Mr. McElwaine's postings.

1. I love the way such zealots use capitalization in their texts. Somehow
   their stuff always reads like a bottle of Dr. Brauner's concentrated soap.
   (If you don't know what I'm talking about, ask for it sometime at a
   health food/natural products store -- you'll know what I'm talking about
   right away.)

2. Another thing that is interesting is everyone else's reactions to him.  Instead
   of considering him an amusing three sigma kind of character, people use much
   more net capacity trying to figure out how to silence him or flaming his
   posts.  I propose someone post a small chunk of code to filter an author
   from a notes file.  If you don't want to read someones posts, then you
   can let your coomputer do the clipping.

   Otherwise, consider him a colorful amusement...

--------------------------------------------------------------
Edward Beshore                     
Hewlett Packard Company            Voice:       (303) 350-4826
700 71st Avenue                    FAX:         (303) 350-4675
Greeley Colorado, 80634            email: edb@hpgrla.gr.hp.com
--------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: sci.space
From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: Laser Divergence
Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1992 01:56:21 GMT
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology

I wrote
>>A carbon dioxide laser in a physics lab has a 1/4 inch beam when it leaves
>>the laser and a one inch or two inch spotlight on the far wall.
>
>Run it through the right optics -- basically, a telescope -- and divergence
>will be much slower.  You can't get rid of all of it, because of diffraction,
>but your laser's unassisted output is definitely not "diffraction-limited"
>quality...

Doug McDonald pointed out (in mail) that I'm being sloppy about terminology
here.  More precisely, "your laser's unassisted output isn't a properly-
focussed diffraction-limited beam".  It may just need focussing, whence the
suggestion of adding optics.

He also pointed out something I missed:  if this is a 10.6um laser, then
depending on how long your lab is and what "one inch or two inch" means
exactly, it might be close to focussed diffraction-limited performance
after all.  10.6um is a rather long wavelength, and diffraction gets worse
as wavelength grows.
-- 
MS-DOS is the OS/360 of the 1980s.      | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
              -Hal W. Hardenbergh (1985)|  henry@zoo.toronto.edu  utzoo!henry
Newsgroups: sci.space
From: ewright@convex.com (Edward V. Wright)
Subject: Re: SSTO viability
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 22:36:32 GMT
Distribution: sci
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 <BxznD4.84I.1@cs.cmu.edu> roberts@cmr.ncsl.nist.gov (John Roberts) writes:

>What *I'd* like to know is why geese feel it necessary to honk frequently
>as they fly along, and what perhaps 50% of them know about Canada, that
>they refuse to go there even in the summer! :-)

Since you say geese are like bicycle riders, I'd guess they honk for the
same reasons as most cyclists I've seen.  To warn some hapless pedestrian
that he's about to be run down from behind.  :-)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: Aurora
From: bbbehr@sunspot.noao.edu (Bradford B. Behr)
Date: 18 Nov 92 16:26:59 GMT
Distribution: sci
Organization: National Solar Observatory/SP, Sunspot NM, USA

In article <Bxwt3F.BuA.1@cs.cmu.edu> flb@flb.optiplan.fi ("F.Baube x554") writes:
>	Can anyone summarize the rumors and speculation
>about the "Aurora" black project ?  Perhaps some comments 
>about the technologies that are involved, and what that 
>would mean for the development of SSTO, DC-X, HL-20. etc. ?

As I understand it, Aurora is (are?) an entirely atmospheric vehicle,
a replacement for the retired SR-71 recon aircraft (aka Blackbird).
"Sightings" of the Aurora craft have been reported for a couple of
years now, and a recent posting on rec.aviation.military mentions
something looking not unlike the old XB-70 Valkyrie bomber prototypes,
with retractable canard foreplanes. There have also been reports of
some sort of fast "pulsejet" aircraft, which leaves a contrail looking
like a string of hotdogs as it "putt-putts" its way across the sky. I
recall reading some Aviation Week speculation about craft that are
propelled by fuel burning on the _outside_ of the fuselage, utilizing
hypersonic flow over a specially-shaped exterior to do the necessary
compression to make an external ramjet, and tying this in to the
Aurora sightings. There was also some thinking (guessing) that at
least one of the couple of different designs referred to as "Aurora"
might be unmanned (a super-souped-up RPV drone, in essence), since
that would dispense with all the hardware needed to keep a pilot
breathing.

As far as connections to SSTO and HL-20, it seems that Aurora is in an
entirely different flight regime (aero vs rocket), and that
technologies really wouldn't cross over, except for maybe
heat-resistant exteriors. There might be some NASP technology in the
Aurora project, but as the Aurora is a long-range recon aircraft, it
probably only uses ramjet technology (albeit vastly advanced) and not
any sort of hydrogen burning scramjet action that would be needed to
get to orbit. (Just speculation on my part.)

I'm no DoD aeroengineer, just an aircraft buff, so if anybody's got
any further info on Aurora, or corrections to my synopsis, do post!

Brad

-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
  Bradford B. Behr                   bbbehr@sunspot.sunspot.noao.edu
     Sacramento Peak National Solar Observatory, Sunspot NM 88349
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: sci.space