HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: willner@cfa.harvard.edu (Steve Willner)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: Calendar and Zodiak
Keywords: Zodiak
Date: 28 Jul 92 14:31:29 GMT
Organization: Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA,  USA


In article <1992Jul27.183247.14412@eos.arc.nasa.gov>,
brody@eos.arc.nasa.gov (Adam R. Brody ) writes: 
>   In another
> 2000 years, will spring star in February, or do we account for precession
> somehow in the calendar?

The short answer is that the calendar year is based on what is called
the "tropical year," i.e. the time from equinox to equinox.  So by
definition the equinox will always occur around March 21.

Something must be changing, of course.  What happens is that the
position of the equinox moves with respect to the background stars.
(The word "equinox" is used interchangeably for the position of the
Sun when it crosses the equator and for the time when this event
takes place.)  Around 2000 years ago, the equinox was on the boundary
between Aries and Pisces; the equinox is still sometimes called "the
first point of Aries."  Since then, the equinox has moved almost
entirely through Pisces and is about to cross into Aquarius.
(Perhaps you have heard the phrase "Age of Aquarius;" how many people
can tell you what it means?)  The date depends on how you define your
constellation boundaries (or "sign" boundaries, which are different),
but I seem to remember one calculation giving a few years after 2000.

The start of spring is actually a different question.  The
traditional start was on the "quarter day" in early February, but in
modern times the start has moved to the equinox.  The earlier
definition made June 21 "mid-summer day" (thus the title of one of
Shakespeare's plays), not the beginning of summer as now.

By the way, "zodiac" does not have a 'k' in it.  And you might have
gotten an even better answer to your question on sci.astro.
-- 
Steve Willner            Phone 617-495-7123         Bitnet:   willner@cfa
Cambridge, MA 02138 USA                 Internet: willner@cfa.harvard.edu
  member, League for Programming Freedom; contact league@prep.ai.mit.edu
Newsgroups: sci.space
From: baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov (Ron Baalke)
Subject: Re: Galileo Antenna. What's left to try?
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.3-4   
Reply-To: baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Date: Sat, 25 Jul 1992 05:24:10 GMT

In article <1992Jul24.203149.20786@watson.ibm.com>, dwl@watson.ibm.com (David W. Levine) writes...
>What's the time frame for the "Pulse Hammering?" I know it's after
>the second Earth flyby, but how soon after? 

The exact day hasn't been determined yet, but it will be in either December or
January.  The Earth flyby in on December 8.

     ___    _____     ___
    /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|     Ron Baalke         | baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov
    | | | |  __ \ /| | | |     Jet Propulsion Lab |
 ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |__   M/S 525-3684 Telos | Most of the things you 
/___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /| Pasadena, CA 91109 | worry about will never
|_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/                     | happen.

Newsgroups: sci.space
From: tholen@galileo.ifa.hawaii.edu (Dave Tholen)
Subject: Re: Calendar and Zodiak
Organization: Institute for Astronomy, Hawaii
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1992 03:55:15 GMT

Adam R. Brody writes:

> I was just reading that the Earth precesses at a period of 26000 yrs.
> This means that over the past 2000 years, we have precessed about
> 30 degrees or one month.  If the vernal equinox was in March back then,
> how do we account for the missing (or extra) month in our calendar?
> To reiterate, the vernal equinox is occurring 2000/26000 sooner than when
> it occurred 2000 years ago in a solar system coordinate system.  In another
> 2000 years, will spring star in February, or do we account for precession
> somehow in the calendar?

The vernal equinox was in Aries back then, now in Pisces.  The vernal
equinox changes constellations, but it doesn't change months, because
we have cleverly chosen the length of the calendar year to be the tropical
year, not the sidereal year.  The length of the tropical year includes
the effects of precession.  Of course, back then the true length of the
tropical year wasn't known accurately, hence the calendar reform that
replaced the Julian calendar with the Gregorian calendar, otherwise the
vernal equinox would have drifted out of March.  It's a fascinating
story, much too long to go into too much detail here.
From: gwh@soda.berkeley.edu (George William Herbert)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: Delta
Date: 27 Jul 1992 09:42:42 GMT
Organization: Dis-
NNTP-Posting-Host: soda.berkeley.edu
Summary: HL Delta doesn't use 63 boosters 8-)

In article <9207261355.AA18061@cmr.ncsl.nist.gov> roberts@CMR.NCSL.NIST.GOV (John Roberts) writes:
>[...]
>There have been proposals for a heavylift Delta, which as I gather is 
>essentially a whole batch of Delta rockets (complete with boosters)
>strapped together. 
>[...]

	The HL Delta design doesn't use solid boosters on all the
"core" vehicles... the one I saw had 24 Castors, four per on the
six outer Delta vehicles.  The problem that you pointed out [deleted from
included text] with staging solid boosters from the "inside" of the
cluster is avoided by not putting any inside 8-)
	The HL Delta is a neat vehicle concept... it does as reported
here have a safety margin in excess of 2.0 in all of the new hardware,
because the designer didn't want to spend $5 billion dollars and five
years to qualify it.  He was figuring an order of magnitude
less expensive and eighteen months.  Probably optimistically,
but nonethelessvery reasonable. 8-)  I had a chance to talk to 
him for a while ... he knew it could be done quick and dirty and wanted
to do it that way, dammit. 8-)  [name escapes me entirely, and I may
not have written it down... sorry].

-george william herbert
gwh@soda.berkeley.edu


Newsgroups: sci.space
From: arromdee@jyusenkyou.cs.jhu.edu (Ken Arromdee)
Subject: Re: ETs and Radio
Organization: Johns Hopkins University CS Dept.
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1992 18:47:07 GMT

In article <rwallace.712328556@unix1.tcd.ie> rwallace@unix1.tcd.ie (russell wallace) writes:
>Given that for evolution of life to start, a simple living organism must
>come together from amino acids etc. by accident; and that for any
>complex structure to fall together by accident is extremely improbable;
>then it looks pretty much like the odds against life appearing on any
>one planet could easily be more than 10^1000 to 1 against, and the
>number of planets in the visible universe is only about 10^22.

This is based upon the false premise that evolution requires life to come
out about "by accident" in the sense you mean.
--
Hi! Ani mutacia shel virus .signature. Ha`atek oti letoch .signature shelcha!

Ken Arromdee (UUCP: ....!jhunix!arromdee; BITNET: arromdee@jhuvm;
     INTERNET: arromdee@jyusenkyou.cs.jhu.edu)
Xref: sparky sci.space:10631 sci.misc:1375
From: roberts@CMR.NCSL.NIST.GOV (John Roberts)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: Calendar and Zodiac
Date: 29 Jul 92 12:35:03 GMT
Organization: National Institute of Standards and Technology
	formerly National Bureau of Standards


-From: gary@ke4zv.uucp (Gary Coffman)
-Subject: Re: Calendar and Zodiak
-Date: 28 Jul 92 13:56:14 GMT
-Organization: Gannett Technologies Group

-There wasn't a March 2000 years ago. The calender we use is a modern 
-invention of the 17th century. When the Gregorian calendar was rationalized,
-we lost a week, and renters rejoiced and landlords cried. 

In the British Empire, the month of September, 1752 lost 11 days (the day
after September 2 was September 14). It was the renters who complained,
because they had to pay a full month's rent.

The months themselves have been around for thousands of years.

John Roberts
roberts@cmr.ncsl.nist.gov
From: jfw@ksr.com (John F. Woods)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: ETs and Radio
Date: 31 Jul 92 11:55:34 EDT

henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) writes:
>The only argument against extraterrestrial life/intelligence that strikes
>*me* as being particularly telling is the Fermi Paradox:  if they're out
>there, why didn't they colonize this planet long before we evolved?

There've been a number of suggestions for the answer to this one, mostly
centered on the idea that when ETs have the kind of toys necessary for
stellar travel, they commit suicide instead in nuclear wars.  It may also
be just that, since FTL travel definitely looks like an impossibility (unless
causality isn't all it's cracked up to be), stellar colonization may just be
more trouble than it's worth.
Newsgroups: sci.space
From: sysmgr@king.eng.umd.edu (Doug Mohney)
Subject: Re: ESA Future
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 92 19:26:38 GMT
Organization: Computer Aided Design Lab, U. of Maryland College Park
Reply-To: sysmgr@king.eng.umd.edu

In article <63998@hydra.gatech.EDU>, ccoprmd@prism.gatech.EDU (Matthew DeLuca) writes:

>In principle, it would be good for the former Soviet states to cooperate 
>with the ESA and contribute their storehouse of experience and knowhow.
>
>In practice, it's extremely unlikely.  Funding for the ESA comes from contri-
>butions by the member nations, and there is no way the ex-Soviet states can 
>afford it.  The only way they could even consider it is if they completely 
>scrapped their current space program and subordinate themselves to the ESA, 
>which is unlikely, to say the least.  

Should look up terms like "in kind" aid. And "cheaper facilities." And
"hypersonic wind tunnels."  And other goodies which could be rented at cost.

If DoE can spend $9 million to fund fusion research in Russian and NASA is
preparing to spend more money with the not-so-evil Confederation, ESA
might do the same.

>I think what we are going to see happen is a fairly signifigant scaleback in 
>Russian space activity for several years, followed by a gradual resumption to 
>former levels around the turn of the century, when their economy starts to 
>function again. 

I think the first REAL commercialization of space (the sort of thing which Nick
and Alan espouse, but can't seem to get going here) is happening in Russia.
They've got incentive; if they don't get outside cash, they're unemployed. 
With various export technology controls being lifted, it is quite feasible to
see some U.S. companies put together experiments here and send them up for
30-60-90-120 day stints on Mir. For cold cash. 

   Previous signature chastized by Canadian Grad Student who flayed the United
   States as a bully from his bastion of free speech in Pittsburgh, PA. 
                    Yes, fact IS stranger that fiction.     
  -- >                  SYSMGR@CADLAB.ENG.UMD.EDU                        < --
From: steve@lewis.OZ (Steve Pattinson)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Wanted satellite tracking program for GPS sats
Keywords: GPS
Date: 24 Jul 92 04:33:15 GMT
Organization: Lewis Construction Co. P/L., Melbourne, Australia.


Can anybody please tell me where I can get a satellite tracking program
suitable for use with NAVSTAR (Global Positioning System) satellites.
I'd prefer public domain/shareware etc, but I'm desperate enough
to buy a commercial product.

Iv'e looked at quite a few satellite tracking programs (SIMTEL 20
& Celestial BBS), but none present the data in the form convenient for
determining the observable satellites for GPS positioning purposes.

Basically, you need a tracking program that shows the azimuth and
elevation of all observable satellites at a particular time, so the
program must track 24 or so satellites.  It would be nice if the
GDOP/HDOP were also calculated..
 
Preferably the program should use the standard Norad 2-Line elements.

Please don't e-mail me - incomming messages are broke!

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
Stephen Pattinson. | Computer Operations Manager  | Lewis Construction Company
15 Batman St., West Melbourne 3003., Victoria, Australia, Ph =>  +61 3 320 4700
A division of the Concrete Constructions Group.   |    ACSnet => steve@lewis.oz
From: meyers@mcclb0.med.nyu.edu
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: first man on moon date and time
Date: 22 Jul 92 00:13:49 GMT
Organization: NYU Medical Center, New York, NY 10016, USA

Can someone E-mail me the following information.  I wouldlike to know
at what time the first man stepped on the moon and when it wass
televised. Direct ansewrs to : Meyers@mcclb0.med.nyu.edu
Thank you
OAM
Newsgroups: sci.space
From: matulka@convex.com (Jerry Matulka)
Subject: SEDS International Conference Information
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1992 16:24:17 GMT
Distribution: usa
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.

I am looking for information on the SEDS International Conference that is
supposed to happen in Washington, D.C. at the end of August.  If you have
information on this conference or know who I might contact to find out more
information I would appreciate hearing from you.  Thanks!

_____________________________________________________________________________
|Jerry Matulka       Phone: (214)497-4305         Email: matulka@convex.COM |
|3000 Waterview Parkway, P.O. Box 833851, Richardson, Texas USA 75083-3851  |
|___________________________________________________________________________|
From: ccoprmd@prism.gatech.EDU (Matthew DeLuca)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: ESA Future
Date: 21 Jul 92 18:07:02 GMT
Organization: The Dorsai Grey Captains

In article <1992Jul21.160023.20724@en.ecn.purdue.edu> dominop@en.ecn.purdue.edu (Philippos A. Peleties) writes:
>In article <63941@hydra.gatech.EDU> ccoprmd@prism.gatech.EDU (Matthew DeLuca) writes:

>The point is this: ex-Soviet (Russian/Ukranian) technology most likely
>will be used in some rather substantial capacity and some combination
>of the above countries will become ESA members whether they are geographically
>located in Europe or not.

>It makes sense economically, politically and any other way there is to
>measure things.

I think the real point here is that you completely ignored what I wrote and
simply poted what you would *like* to see.  

In principle, it would be good for the former Soviet states to cooperate 
with the ESA and contribute their storehouse of experience and knowhow.

In practice, it's extremely unlikely.  Funding for the ESA comes from contri-
butions by the member nations, and there is no way the ex-Soviet states can 
afford it.  The only way they could even consider it is if they completely 
scrapped their current space program and subordinate themselves to the ESA, 
which is unlikely, to say the least.  

I think what we are going to see happen is a fairly signifigant scaleback in 
Russian space activity for several years, followed by a gradual resumption to 
former levels around the turn of the century, when their economy starts to 
function again.  As for the ESA, God only knows what is going to happen to 
them...probably bicker themselves to death.

-- 
Matthew DeLuca                      "I'd hire the Dorsai, if I knew their 
Georgia Institute of Technology      P.O. box."
Office of Information Technology                - Zebediah Carter, 
Internet: ccoprmd@prism.gatech.edu              _The Number of the Beast_
From: rtravsky@news.uwyo.edu (Rich Travsky)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: Star Trek Realism
Date: 29 Jul 92 22:04:09 MST
Distribution: sci,world
Organization: Banzai Institute

In article <1992Jul29.102344.1@max.u.washington.edu>, 
   games@max.u.washington.edu writes:
> Now, another problem, why do they all fall unconcious within about 2 minutes
> of losing "LIFE SUPPORT"?
> 
I think it would take much longer for the air to foul, heat to escape, etc.,
from a room in a large structure such as the Enterprise is supposed to be.
How long would such a scenario take to come to pass in something like the
shuttle or Soyuz?

Richard Travsky
Division of Information Technology     RTRAVSKY @ CORRAL.UWYO.EDU
University of Wyoming                  (307) 766 - 3663 / 3668
       No animals were harmed in the preparation of this post.
From: steinly@topaz.ucsc.edu (Steinn Sigurdsson)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: ET's amd Radio
Date: 28 Jul 92 20:51:42 GMT
	<1992Jul28.071148.20016@blaze.cs.jhu.edu>
Organization: Lick Observatory/UCO
NNTP-Posting-Host: topaz.ucsc.edu
In-reply-to: arromdee@jyusenkyou.cs.jhu.edu's message of 28 Jul 92 07:11:48 GMT



Ooh. Is it really time for this flame war to erupt!
Let me get it off to a formal start with the magic words:


	The Drake Equation.


|  Steinn Sigurdsson	|I saw two shooting stars last night		|
|  Lick Observatory	|I wished on them but they were only satellites	|
|steinly@helios.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: jdnicoll@watyew.uwaterloo.ca (James Davis Nicoll)
Subject: Re: Propulsion questions
Organization: University of Waterloo
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 14:37:41 GMT

In article <13626@mindlink.bc.ca> Nick_Janow@mindlink.bc.ca (Nick Janow) writes:
>ott@astroatc.UUCP (Michael Ott) writes:
>
>> Just exactly how do you store antimatter?  I would think perhaps magnetically
>> suspended in a vaccuum, but can "vaccuum-enough" vaccuums be created?
>
>Sure.  Pump out most of the air, then spray in some antimatter to remove the
>rest of the air molecules.  :-)

	Which brings up the question of 'how hard a vaccuum is space and 
how often will molecules impact the antimatter  fuel?' Even a block of
am in lunar orbit should lose *some* material due to interaction with the
solar wind, and  such.

							James Nicoll
From: ott@astroatc.UUCP (Michael Ott)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: Propulsion questions
Keywords: Antimatter
Date: 21 Jul 92 16:14:29 GMT
Reply-To: ott@astroatc.UUCP (Michael Ott)
Organization: Astronautics Technology Cntr, Madison, WI


Just exactly how do you store antimatter?  I would think perhaps magnetically
suspended in a vaccuum, but can "vaccuum-enough" vaccuums be created?


-michael			             "Back off man, I'm an Engineer"
ott%astroatc.uucp@cs.wisc.edu   
                                     Nope, I'm not speaking for Astronautics...
			             No really, I'm not.
From: colombo@bronco.fnal.gov (Rick Colombo - Fermilab)
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Re: What's the date on the moon?
Date: 24 Jul 92 20:31:11 GMT
Organization: Fermilab Computing Division

In article <BrwK60.5wD@zoo.toronto.edu>, henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) writes:
> In article <2A6FC77D.15186@noiro.acs.uci.edu> dkrause@noiro.acs.uci.edu (Doug Krause) writes:
>>#But then, when did WWII start, on Dec 7, 1941 or (in Japan) Dec 8, 1941?
>>
>>Neither of those two dates.
> 
> Indeed, depending on how you define WWII, dates as early as 1933 can be
> justified.  (That was when Japan invaded China... which is not just a
> side issue, because it was the ultimate cause of Pearl Harbor.  Japan
> attacked because of the US/UK/Dutch oil embargo, which was imposed due
> to Japan's unwillingness to halt its ongoing conquest of China.)
> -- 
> There is nothing wrong with making      | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
> mistakes, but... make *new* ones. -D.Sim|  henry@zoo.toronto.edu  utzoo!henry


Ok ok, so I used a bad example :-).  Back to the moon landing question,
is there a final solution?  Since NASA sent them up there, do they decide?
I'm kinda partial to UTC as the determining factor in worldly matters.
Or maybe a stardate for all us trekkers. ;-)

 ___________________________________________________________________________
 *****  *   *  From the e-net desk of: Rick Colombo CD/DCD/DSG    *    *
 *      **  *  Fermi Nat'l Acc'l Lab   708-840-8225 Fermilab     * *   *
 ***    * * *  P.O. Box 500   MS 369   Feynman Computer Center  *****  *
 *      *  **  Batavia, Ill. USA 60510 Colombo@fnal.fnal.gov    *   *  *****
 *  Sure to get `Flamed' if I didn't cross all my i's and dot all my t's ;-)
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
From: mperlman@nyx.cs.du.edu (Marshal "Airborne" Perlman)
Subject: FTP
Organization: University of Denver, Dept. of Math & Comp. Sci.
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 92 04:53:40 GMT

any shuttle ftp sites?
--
==============================  *  Marshal Perlman               * DO
=-> mperlman@nyx.cs.du.edu <-=  *  Huntington Beach, California  * NOT
==============================  *  (Surf City, U.S.A)            * EAT
"It's the greenhouse effect, officer. That's why I am not wearing pants."
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: Emergency Evac/Reentry Vehicle
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1992 15:41:32 GMT
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology

In article <robertj.712381211@mars> robertj@mars (Robert Jongbloed) writes:
>.... an articale about the HL-20, a lifting body "micro-shuttle". Its
>based at Langley and there is a full scale mock up already built. Lockheed
>have a contract to study the concept...

The total money spent on publicity for the HL-20 almost certainly exceeds
the money spent on actual technical work.  To date, it barely qualifies
as a design sketch.  The mockup was built on a shoestring by a university.
Lockheed's study contract is tiny, a "does this look reasonable?" study
rather than a detailed design effort.  There is no schedule, no flight
date, and no commitment to any sort of full-scale development.  This kind
of small study gets done all the time; mostly it never goes anywhere.
The only thing notable about this one is all the press releases.
-- 
There is nothing wrong with making      | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
mistakes, but... make *new* ones. -D.Sim|  henry@zoo.toronto.edu  utzoo!henry
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: What's the date on the moon?
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1992 15:57:19 GMT
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology

In article <980@vk2bea.UUCP> michael@vk2bea.UUCP (Michael G. Katzmann) writes:
>So what is the date on the moon?  One might guess that it is the
>same as the point on the earth that it is directly above, or one
>might conceivably use GMT (UTC) as moon time but I doubt one uses
>US EDT...

Actually, the answer is "ask the people who were there"... and they were
on Houston time, as I recall.  That would have been CDT, which is handily
the same as EST.

>... Therefore please adjust your history books to read the
>first step on the moon took place JULY 21 1969.

The NASA History series books, which are the closest thing to an
authoritative history so far, give the times in EST.
-- 
There is nothing wrong with making      | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
mistakes, but... make *new* ones. -D.Sim|  henry@zoo.toronto.edu  utzoo!henry
From: wats@scicom.AlphaCDC.COM (Bruce Watson)
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Re: What's the date on the moon?
Date: 24 Jul 92 18:11:53 GMT
Organization: Alpha Science Computer Network, Denver, Co.

In article <1992Jul23.113709.1@bronco.fnal.gov+ colombo@bronco.fnal.gov (Rick Colombo - Fermilab) writes:
+
+I've always wonder too, but it seems that history books (that I've seen)
+avoid mentioning the date, just July, 1969.  However, the only
+fair thing to do is use UTC, therefore the landing was on July 20 and
+the walk on July 21 (they had a sleep period after landing, as I recall).
+
+But then, when did WWII start, on Dec 7, 1941 or (in Japan) Dec 8, 1941?
+
WWII started on Sep 1, 1939 with the invasion of Poland.


-- 
 __________________________________________________________________________   
|wats@scicom.AlphaCDC.com|    "Another Case of too many scientists and     |
|Bruce Watson            |     not enough hunchbacks." -- Gary Larson      |