HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee)
Newsgroups: sci.space.news
Subject: Astronaut Sullivan to become Chief Scientist at NOAA [Release 92-131] (Forwarded)
Date: 14 Aug 92 22:01:52 GMT
Followup-To: sci.space
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
Apparently-To: sci-space-news@ames.arc.nasa.gov

Mark Hess
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.                              August 14, 1992
(Phone:  202/453-4164)

Barbara Schwartz
Johnson Space Center, Houston
(Phone:  713/483-5111)

RELEASE:  92-131

ASTRONAUT SULLIVAN TO BECOME CHIEF SCIENTIST AT NOAA

	Kathryn D. Sullivan, Ph.D., will be detailed to the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as Chief Scientist,
pending Senate confirmation to make this a permanent assignment.  She
will begin her new assignment Aug. 17.

	A veteran of three space flights, Sullivan became the first
spacewalking U.S. woman on her first mission, STS-41G, in Oct. 1984,
when she and fellow astronaut David Leestma conducted a 3-1/2-hour
extravehicular demonstration of the feasibility of refueling satellites
in space.  Also, the crew worked on a number of scientific Earth
observations experiments.

	In April 1990, Sullivan was a member of the STS-31 crew,
responsible for deploying the Hubble Space Telescope and conducting a
variety of middeck experiments including protein crystal growth,
polymer membrane processing and the effects of weightlessness and
magnetic fields on an ion arc.

	More recently, Sullivan was Payload Commander on STS-45 in March 
1992, the first Spacelab mission dedicated to NASA's Mission to Planet Earth 
to study the Earth's atmosphere.

	Sullivan's activities before joining NASA in 1978 were concentrated in 
academic study and research.  Her doctoral studies at Dalhousie University in 
Halifax, Nova Scotia, included participation in a variety of oceanographic 
expeditions, under the auspices of the U.S. Geological Survey, Woods Hole 
Oceanographic Institute in Mass. and the Bedford Institute in Dartmouth, 
Nova Scotia.  Her research included the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the 
Newfoundland Basin and fault zones off the Southern California Coast.

	As an oceanography officer in the U.S. Naval Reserve, Sullivan
currently holds the rank of lieutenant commander.  She also was an
Adjunct Professor of Geology at Rice University in Houston from 1985 to
1992.

	"My 14 years at NASA have been immensely rewarding, both 
professionally and personally.  I will take many cherished memories with me, 
particularly the superb people who make up the Shuttle team.  I know they 
can craft this country an exciting spacefaring future, and I will watch their 
exploits with great interest and pride," Sullivan said.

	"Kathy is the consummate space pioneer.  Her outstanding 
accomplishments as an astronaut and her work as a member of the National 
Commission on Space have paved the way for space exploration in the 21st 
century.  Although Kathy is moving on to another career, she leaves a legacy 
for all that follow.  We will miss her and wish her great success in her new 
position," Director of Flight Crew Operations Donald R. Puddy said.
From: baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov (Ron Baalke)
Newsgroups: sci.space.news
Subject: Magellan Update - 08/17/92
Keywords: Magellan, JPL
Date: 18 Aug 92 08:02:38 GMT
Reply-To: baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov
Followup-To: sci.space
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.3-4

Forwarded from the Magellan Project

                     MAGELLAN STATUS REPORT
                        August 17, 1992

1.  Magellan continues to operate normally, performing only
    starcals (star calibrations) and desats (desaturations
    of the reaction wheels).

2.  The spacecraft experienced another spurious shutoff of the
    TWTA (Traveling Wave Tube Amplifier) on Saturday, but the
    on-board fault protection quickly restored communications.

3.  The mission is now in the final week of this non-mapping
    mode.  When the M2234 command sequence starts on Friday,
    Transmitter B will be turned on and allowed to warm to the
    range of 50-60 degrees C.

4.  It is hoped that this will result in an operating mode
    which permits high-rate science data to be received on
    earth as was the case just after Superior Conjunction in
    June.
     ___    _____     ___
    /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|     Ron Baalke         | baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov
    | | | |  __ \ /| | | |     Jet Propulsion Lab |
 ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |__   M/S 525-3684 Telos | Optimists live longer
/___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /| Pasadena, CA 91109 | than pessimists.
|_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/                     |
From: baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov (Ron Baalke)
Newsgroups: sci.space.news
Subject: Magellan Update - 08/21/92
Keywords: Magellan, JPL
Date: 22 Aug 92 05:25:48 GMT
Reply-To: baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov
Followup-To: sci.space
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.3-4

Forwarded from the Magellan Project

                     MAGELLAN STATUS REPORT
                        August 21, 1992

1.  Magellan continues to operate normally, performing only
    starcals (star calibrations) and desats (desaturations
    of the reaction wheels).

2.  The M2234 command sequence was uplinked to the spacecraft
    yesterday and began execution at 7:06 AM PDT.  During this
    sequence, Transmitter B will be turned on and the "hot
    stable" mode of operation tested in preparation for the
    M2247 sequence when we plan to fill one of the few
    remaining gaps in surface image coverage.

3.  Magellan has completed 743 days at Venus, orbiting the
    planet 5465 times and mapping over 97% of the surface.
     ___    _____     ___
    /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|     Ron Baalke         | baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov
    | | | |  __ \ /| | | |     Jet Propulsion Lab |
 ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |__   M/S 525-3684 Telos | Optimists live longer
/___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /| Pasadena, CA 91109 | than pessimists.
|_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/                     |
From: jtk@s1.gov (Jordin Kare)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Quick request:  launches scheduled 9/3 - 9/12?
Date: 18 Aug 92 20:51:22 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: LLNL

Anyone have a schedule handy of Kennedy Space Center launches?
I was curious if anything is due to go up between 9/3 and 9/12
when I'll be in Florida.  Thanks.

	Jordin Kare jtk@s1.gov

-- 

	Jordin Kare	jtk@s1.gov	510-426-0363
From: btarbox@sw.stratus.com (Brian Tarbox)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: superstrings & supralight (was SPS feasibility and other space development)
Date: 20 Aug 92 14:37:10 GMT
Distribution: sci
Organization: Stratus Computer, Inc.

Can someone explain (simply, please), what superstrings are?
From: Eric_S_Klien@cup.portal.com
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: beanstalk in Nevada
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 92 18:58:25 PDT
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Distribution: world
  <16btouINNqhh@early-bird.think.com> <16c3puINNqhh@early-bird.think.com>

"I would suggest you drop the word orbit. There is no possible orbit  
that can put a satellite continuously over Nevada. None. Period.
 
The only possibilities are solar sails and maglev devices that sit at  
least several thousand miles up. They would not be in free fall, they  
would be using an energy source to counter the acceleration due to  
Earth's gravity at that altitude."
 
O.K.  How much energy would it take to keep a casino hovering over
Nevada at a height of 200 miles?  Would there be any unusual stresses
on the tether because the casino is hovering over Nevada?
 
                                                           Eric Klien.
From: wiml@milton.u.washington.edu (William Lewis)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: BuckyStalks (was Re: Beanstalks in Nevada Sky)
Date: 22 Aug 92 03:02:34 GMT
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle

In article <1700@aviary.Stars.Reston.Unisys.COM> munck@stars.reston.unisys.com writes:
>Suppose we came up with a (Buckytube-based) material strong enough to
>make an Earth beanstalk, and it could be manufactured in mega-kilo lots
>for pennies per kilo.  How could we use it to get into space?  Is there
>any small-scale, bootstrapping approach that avoids involvement with
>Big Dump Organizations like NASA and the US Govt.?

  The big problem with synchronous tethers (besides the sheer amount
of material) is probably building them. This is essentially a
22,000-MILE high version of the "Indian rope trick"; the only
proposals I've ever seen have been vague mumblings about capturing
an appropriately-composed asteroid or comet-piece into geosynchronous
orbit and manufacturing the tether there, lowering it as it's built
(simultaneously moving the rock-and-factory's orbit outwards, of
course).  This is definitely not a bootstrappable activity; you have
to get a whole industry into orbit before you get *any* return
in the form of a usable tether.


>OK, suppose we had that material AND Cold Fusion producing kilowatts
>per cc. ...

  Well, why didn't you SAY so?!? We could build the tether around a
temporary Lofstrom loop. Or, we could build the tether on the ground,
laid out flat (we'll rent the Equator) and put it in orbit via repulsion
against the Earth's magnetic field. =8) =8) =8)

---
Seriously, since I'm posting this anyway, does anyone know of any
cleverer (or at least easier) ways to get a beanstalk built than
the extrude-it-from-Geosynch approach? Specifically, anything that would
let us keep the factory on the ground?


-- 
email: wiml@u.washington.edu             |  Home:  Seattle, Washington   |
     (William Lewis)                     |  47 41' 15" N   122 42' 58" W | 
NeXTmail: wiml@ingalls.cs.washington.edu `-------------------------------'
        --*-- Member, Coalition to Preserve Semantic Vacuity --*--
Newsgroups: sci.space,talk.politics.space
From: richard@csi.on.ca (Richard Martin)
Subject: Re: Whither a Lunar Base (was: Energiya's role in Space Station assem)
Keywords: lunar base
Organization: Carp Systems International, Kanata, ON
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 13:46:10 GMT

In article <1992Aug15.170734.10951@aio.jsc.nasa.gov> kjenks@gothamcity.jsc.nasa.gov writes:
>P.S.  Richard, I note that you're posting from Canada.  When is YOUR
>country going to start a lunar base?
I *did* say WE.  One should note that Freedom is an international
space station.  Canada has a population of about 27 million.  As far
as resources go, Canada doesn't really _need_ to go to the moon in
the near future.  As to when we're going to start our base?
Canada contributed the Canadarm to the Space shuttle, and SPAR
is presently developing the inchworm manoeuvring device for Fred.
We also make unfolding antennae which don't unfold, but that's
another story... =)
To conclude my silly little ramble:  Canada contributes as Canada
can (alliteration!).  I think that any moon base will have to be
international, for financial, logistical, and political reasons.
Richard.
-- 
Richard Martin               	richard@csi.on.ca
Sorry, no NeXTmail. <sniff> :(
"Don't Panic Yet!  Things are about to get much worse!"
Newsgroups: sci.space
From: schmasey@leland.Stanford.EDU (Casey Carlton O'Hara)
Subject: Re: Deep-sea Diving on Europa
Organization: DSG, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 92 03:10:01 GMT

In article <1992Aug16.084155.13980@cco.caltech.edu> jafoust@cco.caltech.edu (Jeffrey Alan Foust) writes:
>In article <1992Aug16.015343.28998@leland.Stanford.EDU> schmasey@leland.Stanford.EDU (Casey Carlton O'Hara) writes:
>>
>>The formula for hydrostatic pressure (the pressure exerted by a fluid
>>due to the weight of the fluid above it) is something like:
>>	p(h) = p(a) + d*g*h
>>where p(h) is pressure at depth h, p(a) is atmospheric pressure, d is
>>depth below surface, and g is acceleration due to gravity.  
>
>It looks like you've got some terms confused: you have both d and h 
>representing depth below the surface, but no term for the density of the
>fluid.  

Whoops. Sure enough, I screwed up in my variables.  There's no way to
type a rho out on this computer, so I decided to use "d" for density,
when I originally had it as depth.  Then I changed depth to "h" for
height, thus confusing the hell out of myself, and probably several others.  

Sorry!



-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   __________/  bonz R godz!  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Casey O'Hara			  (_|____|___\__________
schmasey@leland.stanford.edu             _|_|___________)
Disclaimer:  All opinions expressed here are yours.   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: judson@watnxt2.ucr.edu (Michael Judson)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Early Warning of missiles and meteors
Date: 14 Aug 92 22:33:04 GMT

A friend and I were having a discussion as to whether or not the early
warning system used in detecting missiles can actually detect meteors
that pass through the Earth's atmosphere.
This was brought up because of the tidal waves that occurred in Florida
which meteorologists theorized may have been a meteor.  My friend asked
why didn't early warning pcik it up, and I argued that early warning
could not pick it up.  If it could, then why did the meteorologist have
to theorize about the meteor and instead not have solid proof from SAC?

--
I was contemplating Socrates' immortal words: "I drank what?"

judson@watserv.ucr.edu
From: hathaway@stsci.edu
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: Home made rockets
Date: 20 Aug 92 23:52:42 GMT
Distribution: world,local
Organization: Space Telescope Science Institute

Both isu@VACATION.VENARI.CS.CMU.EDU and tomk@netcom.com question the 
figure "138,490 Americans killed or wounded over the last 10 years 
by gun-wielding children under six years of age" quoted in my recent 
post. 

My source for this was a newspaper article claiming the U.S. General 
Accounting Office as its source.  I have not and did not confirm 
this figure with the GAO.  I simply quoted the statement (notice the "'s).
It seemed high to me too.  (ANY number for this seems too high! :-).) 
(BTW, the article concerned the State of Maryland's attempt to require 
gun owners to keep their guns out of the hands of children.) 

If anyone can show these numbers are wrong, I will certainly accept 
the correct figure, but suspicion isn't verification.  I'll believe 
this one until I hear better. 

The suggestion by tomk@netcom.com to distinguish between 'killed' 
and 'wounded' does not seem relevant.  The point is bullets entered 
these (disputed number of) bodies.  I've also heard the argument 
comparing automobile deaths to gun deaths before and I don't see 
any connection.  In any case, children don't drive.   
Again, I am not trying to take away anyone's firearms. 
So, so sensitive...  What is it with the insecurity already????   
Get a streetlight if you're scared.   (!!!Very smiley!!!)  

isu@VACATION.VENARI.CS.CMU.EDU also suggested this discussion doesn't 
belong here and that is fine with me.  I'll be happy with no 
further followups in this newsgroup. 
Newsgroups: sci.space
From: jbh55289@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Josh 'K' Hopkins)
Subject: Re: Private space ventures
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 1992 01:17:04 GMT

games@max.u.washington.edu writes:

[on the subject of getting Perot to invest in space - I've changed the order
 of a few statements for clarity]

>If I can convince Mr Perot that it is in his best interest to solve the drought
>problem in africa, then he will do so, If I can convince him that it is in
>his best interest to start a space program, then he will do so.  

Believe it or not, personal gain isn't the only things some people base their
decisions on.  Whatever other problems Perot may have, he did strike me as 
someone who did things because he thought they were "right," at least once in a 
while.  However, space doesn't tend to lend itself to this kind of motivation,
because it takes such a large amount of money and because there just aren't that
many things you can do that give people a warm fuzzy feeling.

>Why pick on Perot.  Why not Bill Gates.  Well, the fact is that Gates (for
>example) doesn't spend his money on non computer related investments. Period.

	Actually, according to the internal IBM equivalent of netnews, Gates has
started investing in movies in the last few months.

>In fact, there are others that might even be better candidates, like the
>prince of that little island who has 29B and is the worlds richest man.

	He's a sultan, the place is Brunei and it doesn't actually cover the
whole island, but you still get extra credit.

>Why don't we pick on him?

	I think we're missing the point.  What space needs more than a rich 
investor is a temporarily poor one.  When we have the space equivalent of a
Bill Gates or Ross Perot, who starts of small but makes a big fortune fairly
quickly in a new field, then we'll have the space revolution we're looking for.
Other people would jump on the bandwagon, competition develops and boom - you
get your 486DX 33 booster for less than the price of a present day Apple II 
launch vehicle.
	Unfortunately, analogies only go so far.  If space is an analogous 
field, we don't have a young Bill Gates that I can see.

-- 
	Josh Hopkins       j-hopkins@uiuc.edu, or jbh55289@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu

		"A goal is a dream taken seriously."	-Uncle Walt.   
Newsgroups: sci.space
From: 18084TM@msu.edu (Tom)
Subject: He-3 and tethers
X-Added: Forwarded by Space Digest
Organization: [via International Space University]
Original-Sender: isu@VACATION.VENARI.CS.CMU.EDU
Distribution: sci
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1992 02:05:51 GMT


>   Extracting He-3 from lunar soil is cheap and simple - heat it up a
>little, using solar mirrors.   The cost of storing He-3 in its refined
>state is more expensive than handling lunar soil, so it might be cheaper to
>launch lunar soil to Earth, rather than the He-3, despite the fact that the
>mass of the soil is much higher, the cost of transporting it is very low.

If we were to launch lunar soil to Earth, for processing, we would have a
handy and cheap solution to center-of-mass changes in a tether, as the
raw rock could be rationed out to match the mass of the lifted payload.

ps- This is for Bill Higgins:  Do you have multiple E-mail accounts, or
do you randomly change your sig. file all the time?

-Tommy Mac                     .  "                  +
.------------------------  +                      *       +
|   Tom McWilliams; scrub       ,     .                        "        +
|  astronomy undergrad, at     *       +;.     .  '             There is
| Michigan State University   '                      .    "   no Gosh!
|   18084tm@ibm.cl.msu.edu                        '      ,   *
|       (517) 355-2178       ;  +  '                                 *
'-----------------------
Newsgroups: sci.space
From: zowie@daedalus.stanford.edu (Craig "Powderkeg" DeForest)
Subject: Re: Private space ventures
Organization: Stanford Center for Space Science and Astrophysics
Date: 16 Aug 92 11:41:08

dcutter@oregon.uoregon.edu (dann cutter) writes:
   Could anybody out there please tell me the current status of the private
   space industry world wide. What comapnies exist... what they have done...
   thanks

The only semi-serious private space venture I know of, was Bob Truax's.  Truax
is the fellow who built Evil Knievel's steam rocket to jump the Snake River
canyon.  

He used to be based in Saratoga, CA -- right here near Stanford.  Had a few
rocket engines, plans for a `volksrocket'.  Was selling suborbital rides
into space for $100,000 apiece -- but didn't get enough takers (I don't think
he actually collected his $10^5 from anyone) and couldn't afford to launch
the prototype.  I can't recall whether it ever got finished or not.

The idea was to have sea launch and recovery to make it cheap, and to adapt
existing parts rather than build custom ones to build the craft.   A few
years ago, the Air Force bought the prototype from him for a cool 3/4 of a 
million dollars -- enough to buy a house in Palo Alto!  

You can read a bit about Truax in `Great Mambo Chicken and the Transhuman
Condition' by Ed Regis, at a bookstore near you.

Are there any other people around who've come as close to success (defined
as a private launch) as even Truax did?

[It bugs me that there are people like H Ross Perot, who themselves
have enough cash to finance their own space programs, but that none, so 
far, has underwritten one.]
--
Craig DeForest:  zowie@banneker.stanford.edu  *or*  craig@reed.bitnet

"So, if you guys make a living looking at the SUN, why do you spend so much
        time at the SYNCHROTRON, working UNDERGROUND at NIGHT?"
From: EDW@cup.portal.com (Edward D Wright)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Nasa small business programs
Date: Sat, 15 Aug 92 10:12:03 PDT
Organization: The Portal System (TM)

I need some information.  Does anyone know where I can get information
on the various Nasa small business incentive programs?  Even the names
of the programs would help.

Any information will be appreciated and I will summarize what I learn to
the net

As always
Ed Wright
From: 3001crad@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu (Charles Frank Radley)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: Mini Energiya(?) & MIR replacement
Date: 17 Aug 92 15:55:43 GMT



How does Energia-M compare with Proton in cost and
lifting capability ?
Newsgroups: sci.space
From: vulch@cix.compulink.co.uk (Anthony Frost)
Subject: Re: Parsecs?
Reply-To: vulch@cix.compulink.co.uk
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1992 21:54:13 +0000


 
  >> Hmmm...  at the distance of one parsec, one astronomical
  >> unit subtends an angle of one arc second. 
 
  > Coincidence.  Remember, one AU is the distance from the
  > Earth to the Sun... 
 
  > look ma, i can nitpick too! :) 
 
Just thinking... At a distance of one parsec, wouldn't two astronomical
units subtend an angle of one arcsecond? An AU being the average radius of
the earths orbit, and the parallax being measured across the diameter?
 
        Anthony
 
Must make a sig one of these days...

Newsgroups: sci.space
From: aws@iti.org (Allen W. Sherzer)
Subject: Re: With telepresence, who needs people in Earth orbit?
Organization: Evil Geniuses for a Better Tomorrow
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 1992 12:55:01 GMT


If and when we ever get it, come back and ask us again. For myself,
I will juge it to be here when you allow a surgeon to do a heart bypass
on you by teleoperation with a 1/10 second delay. If you live, we can
talk about it.

  Allen

-- 
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Allen W. Sherzer | "If they can put a man on the Moon, why can't they     |
|  aws@iti.org     |  put a man on the Moon?"                               |
+----------------------245 DAYS TO FIRST FLIGHT OF DCX----------------------+
From: ken@sugra.uucp (Kenneth Ng)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: Global Positioning System (GPS)
Keywords: GPS navigation
Date: 18 Aug 92 00:36:54 GMT
Organization: Private Computer, Totowa NJ

In article <rabjab.6.0@golem.ucsd.edu:, rabjab@golem.ucsd.edu (Jeff Bytof) writes:
: I am in need of technical reports describing the Global Positioning
: System (GPS).  Are they obtainable from NASA or DOD?

Try the Institute of Navigation in Washington DC.  Ask for their reprints
on GPS.  For the government, contact the Air Force base in Los Angeles.  Also
look into Radio Electronics, Hardware Hacker, within the past year.

-- 
Kenneth Ng
Please reply to kdn5669@hertz.njit.edu for now.
Apple and AT&T lawsuits: Just say NO!