Last month, I distributed a survey asking for feedback from readers on various aspects of SpaceViews. I received a number of responses, nearly all of which were positive. I also received a number of suggestions for improvements for the publication. I'll be incorporating those changes, where feasible, over the next couple of issues. If you didn't get a chance to turn in a survey form, don't fret: comments about the publication are always welcome.
A couple of innovations have been added to SpaceViews in the last
month. First, SpaceViews now has a page on the World Wide Web (WWW), a
form of multimedia communication that is the fastest growing sector of
the Internet. On the SpaceViews home page you can access the current
issue and back issues in a number of formats (plain text, hypertext, and
PostScript). There is also information on subscribing to SpaceViews as
well as submitting articles for publication. The URL, or address, of the
SpaceViews page is:
http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/spaceviews
You need Netscape, or another
Web browser to be able to access
these pages.
Second, we've created a mid-month supplement to SpaceViews called SV Update. SV Update provides the latest information on space science, technology, and policy events, information what would be old news by the time the next issue of SpaceViews came out. For now, SV Update is available only by e-mail and from the WWW page mentioned above.
If you have any feedback about SpaceViews, SV Update, or the World Wide Web page, please feel free to contact me. Your comments will help these publications better serve the needs of space enthusiasts everywhere!
-- Jeff FoustDear Editor,
I'm on the road right now...so I haven't been able to scan
SpaceViews and give you my opinion. Overall, however, the issues have
been very informative. There is so much going on in so many sectors of
the space program(s), it's near impossible to keep an eye out for trends,
milestones and future activities. SpaceViews is an important way to
maintain a heads up on what's going on overhead.
Our March lecture was given by our acting president, Larry Klaes, and Drew LePage, titled "The Rocky Soviet Road to Mars". This was a fascinating historical analysis of Earth's missions to Mars and a discussion of proposed future missions, complete with handout of Mars missions and many interesting slides. Larry and Drew focused on the Soviet missions but also included US missions as well.
They began by reminding us of the characteristics of Mars: polar ice caps, mountain chains, canyons, water channels, craters, fog and dust storms, sand dunes. Even at half the size of Earth, and 35 million miles away at its closest point, Mars still seems rather Earth-like.
The Soviet Union began their push to Mars in the fall of 1960, although their first official Mars mission did not "occur" until November of 1962 with the MARS 1. Larry and Drew explained that, in the beginning, only (at least partially) successful Soviet missions were "announced" and named. All other missions were simply engineering tests or working according to plan (bad launches and explosions included). The USSR certainly had a lot of "engineering tests"! Out of 18 Mars missions in 35 years, none were complete successes.
No pictures are available of the first three "unannounced" (read "unsuccessful") satellites. The first two (in 1960) failed to reach Earth parking orbit. The third exploded after failing to leave parking orbit in 1962.
The fourth Soviet Mars mission, but the first to be announced, was MARS 1. Launched in November 1962, its Mars flyby was planned for June 1963. In March 1963, we now know the probe failed due to problems with the attitude control systems. When no transmission was received in June, the plan now said the goal was just to get there, not to transmit...
Another failed Soviet launch followed MARS 1, then came two US flybys in 1964: MARINER 3 (failed) and MARINER 4 (successful). At the same time, the USSR raced to launch their ZOND 2. Despite Soviet reports to the contrary, it appears that ZOND 2 was a lander, although a doomed one, whose landing parachute would not have worked in the thin atmosphere.
1969 brought two more successful US flybys (MARINER 6 and 7) and two "unannounced" Soviet orbiter attempts. In 1971, the US failed with orbiter MARINER 8 but succeeded with MARINER 9 (orbiter) that continued to transmit images for 11 months. The KOSMOS 419 orbiter never left Earth parking orbit correctly. However the MARS 2 and 3 orbiter/lander missions met with mixed success. The orbiters continued to send out images for 10 months. Both landers failed.
1973 and 1975 brought four more mostly unsuccessful Soviet missions and the two very successful US VIKING orbiter/landers (# 1 and 2).
After 1975, Mars missions were all but eliminated. In 1988, the Soviet PHOBOS 1 and 2 missions failed. The US did not do any Mars missions until 1992 with the MARS OBSERVER orbiter that failed, probably due to an explosion in the propulsion system. No other Mars missions have occurred since then.
Short-term future missions include two from Russia (orbiters in 1996 and 1999), four from the US (2 orbiters in 1996 and 1999, and 2 lander/rovers in 1996 and 1999). And Japan enters into the race with a 1998 orbiter.
Larry and Drew's presentation was full of interesting stories and technical details, presented clearly and enthusiastically. The Mars Missions timeline handout was especially informative.
Construction of what will be the world's largest telescope continued on a mountaintop in northern Chile despite a Chilean court order and action by local police to halt construction.
On Thursday (March 30), a month after the Chilean Supreme Court issued a court order to stop construction, police forcibly entered the facility and inspected the grounds. The police made no effort to stop construction and left after several hours.
The court order stems from a lawsuit filed by a family who claim that the mountaintop, known as Cerro Paranal, was illegally seized by Chilean government in 1988 and given to the European Southern Observatory (ESO) for their telescope project. At the time Chile was under the military dictatorship of August Pinochet. ESO officials claim a 1963 treaty with Chile gives them immunity from civil lawsuits.
The observatory, when completed early next decade, will consist of four telescopes, each 8 meters in diameter. Using the telescopes to obsreve the same object will create a single telescope with an effect dimater of 16 meters, far larger than the world's largest telescope, the 10 meter Keck Telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii.
A joint venture of McDonnell Douglas and Orbital Sciences Corporation was awarded the contract for the Med-Lite launch vehicle by NASA last week. The joint venture was one of only two proposals submitted to the space agency.
According to Space News, industry sources believe the joint venture proposed two launch vehicles for Med-Lite: a scaled-up version of OSC's Taurus vehicle for small payloads, and a scaled-down version of McDonnell Douglas's Delta launch vehicle for larger payloads. Neither company has released details on their proposals.
The Med-Lite program was created by NASA to provide low-cost launch vehicles for payloads too large for small launchers, such as OSC's Pegasus, and too small for larger vehicles. Launch costs for Med-Lite vehicles are expected to be in the $25-30 million range. NASA has lined up approximately a dozen payloads that will utilize Med-Lite.
The McDonnell Douglas/OSC joint venture was one of only two bidders for the Med-Lite contract. The other bidder was Polyot Astro Satellite Systems Ltd. This joint US-Russian company was to offer the Russian Cosmos booster for the Med-Lite program. However, since current policy is to launch government payloads only on American vehicles, Polyot could not be awarded the contract, giving Med-Lite to McDonnell Douglas and OSC by default.
Rockwell International and Orbital Sciences Corporation announced that their proposed X-34 reusable launch vehicle will be launched from an aircraft, carry a payload into orbit, and then return to earth and land on a runway to be reused.
The X-34 project, which is being funded in part by NASA, is designed to develop small, unmanned, reusable launch vehicles. The goal of the X-34 is to launch payloads as large as 1100 kg (2500 lbs.) into low Earth orbit by early 1998 at costs as little as one-third current launch costs.
A typical mission profile for the X-34 would have it carried under an aircraft, such as OSC's L-1011, to an altitude of 12,000 m (40,000 ft.). There the X-34 would separate from the aircraft and use its liquid-fueled engines to ascend above the atmosphere. After depositing its payload, it would reenter the atmosphere and glide back to earth to land on a runway. The vehicle could be readied for another launch within three weeks, according to officials.
The X-34 is being developed by American Space Lines, a company owned jointly by Rockwell and OSC. The campanies plan to spend $100 million to develop the X-34, and NASA plans to contribute another $70 million as well as technical support from several field centers.
A converted Russian ICBM carrying three satellites, including an Israeli amateur radio satellite, crashed into the Sea of Okhotsk in the Russian Far East Tuesday (March 28), presumably destroying the payload.
An official with the Russian space program confirmed that the SS-25 rocket, a former ICBM, failed shortly after launch from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. The booster and its payload crashed into the sea about ten minutes after launch.
The SS-25 was carrying three satellites. One satellite, Gurwin-1 TechSat, was an Israeli-built smallsat. The 50-kg satellite was a prototype for future communications satellites. Gurwin-1 was to be placed in a orbit that passed over Israel every two hours and be used by Israeli amateur radio hobbyists to test communications. The other two satellites were Russian. Details about these satellites were unavailable at press time, although one the satellites was believed to be a cooperative venture with Mexico.
The cause of the failure of the booster is believed to be with its fifth stage, according to Russian space officials. The fourth and fifth stages of the booster were added to convert the ICBM into a satellite launch vehicle. This rocket was the second modified SS-25 to be launched; the first was launched in November with a dummy payload and encountered no problems.
NASA astronaut Eileen Collins, the first female shuttle pilot, was forced to cancel a trip to her upstate New York hometown when an anonymous caller delivered a death threat to the local newspaper.
Collins was scheduled to visit her hometown of Elmira, New York, on Monday (March 27), but NASA officials decided to cancel the trip less than one hour before her scheduled arrival. Collins was scheduled to take part in a parade held in her honor as well as other events. The parade was held as scheduled and a tape sent to Collins's home in Houston.
The death threat was not the first threatening action against Collins recently. According to Collins's mother, the astronaut was speaking in St. Louis when a man stood up and threatened her. The man was removed from the room. It is not clear whether the two events are related.
Collins was the pilot of the shuttle Discovery in February on the STS-63 mission. The highlight of the mission was the rendezvous with the Russian space station Mir.
Are you sick of the weather? Is it too hot? Too cold? Too dry? Too wet? Imagine, though, waking up one morning and hearing this weather forecast: "Low haze this morning, then clearing. A small chance of a dust storm this afternoon. Warm temperatures, with highs of -30 to -20 Celsius." Or, perhaps, "Another hot, cloudy day, with continued sulfuric acid showers. Highs near 500 Celsius."
These are sample forecasts for Mars and Venus, using updated information provided by the Hubble Space Telescope. Using images and spectroscopic data, researchers have been able to better understand the atmospheres of both worlds and compare them to our own.
Scientists analyzing Hubble data have discovered that the Martian climate has changed considerably since the Viking missions nearly 20 years ago. Images of clouds and spectroscopic detection of ozone have revealed that Mars is cooler, clearer, and drier than in the mid-1970s. Venus, by contrast, has not cooled, but continues to recover from an intense period of sulfuric acid rain in the late 1970s. Scientists suspect that the showers were triggered by a volcanic eruption.
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe appears to have a bar as well. A trio of British astronomers, using a telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii, have discovered a large cloud rich in alcohol around a new star about 10,000 light years from the Earth. One of the astronomers, Geoff MacDonald of the University of Kent, estimates that there is the equivalent of 400 trillion trillion pints of beer in the cloud. While this may seem like an extraordinary amount of alcohol, it is only equivalent to a few millionths of the mass of the Sun.
The C.I.S. manned space station Mir with cosmonauts Commander Vladimir Dezhurov, Flight Engineer Gennady Strekalov and Astronaut Norm Thagard, will be appearing in the pre-dawn skies March 24th to April 14th. They will then appear in the evening skies April 15th to May 2nd.
Amateur radio operators can log into the Mir 'Packet' (R0MIR-1) BBS on 145.550 MHZ. The cosmonauts also use this freq. to talk to amateur radio operators on the ground during their off-hours. Mir BBS users please be sure to log off at least 2 min before they go out of range. If you don't log out others will not be able to log in until after you time out.
For exact times and locations to see the space station over your backyard call MN MIRWATCH Coordinator Ben Huset at (612) 639-9109. This info is also available on the MN SFS computer BBS at (612) 459-0892 (300-14,400 baud) You can also look for Mirwatch and other great space stuff on my web page at http://www.skypoint.com/subscribers/benhuset
WWW surfers check out http://spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov/Spacelink.Hot.Topics/Mir.18/ for the latest status reports about Mir from Mission Control Center, Kaliningrad. Many NASA sites and the MN SFS BBS have photos on-line from STS-63 of Mir.
Norm is 'on orbit' aboard the Russian space station Mir. YEAAA!!! On Tuesday March 14th, Norm Thagard rocketed into space for the fifth time. With him were the rest of the Mir 18 crew, flight commander Vladimir Dezhurov, a space rookie, and flight engineer Gennady Strekalov his 6th flight. They will spend 90 days aboard Mir and return on the Shuttle Atlantis, STS-71 in June. The Mir 18 crew has adopted the nickname 'Uragon', which translates into 'hurricane.'
In a pre-launch interview Norm said that he would observe ALL the Russian traditions of space flight. Traditions such as visiting Gagarin's office, writing names in the frost of the fuel tanks and taking a whiz on the wheel of the astrovan at the pad and planting a tree after his return. He also said that besides his family he would miss a stray cat that he had adopted while training in Russia.
The launch was carried live on CNN and NASA Select TV. At 12:13 AM CST Soyuz TM-21 rocketed into clear skies over Asia. The TV camera work needs help. There wasn't the NASA usual video cameras from ALL angles available. When they opened the hatch a few days later they had problems with the signal dropping out.
A rendezvous profile for a Soyuz space craft differs from a shuttle profile in several ways. The Soyuz employs fewer, but longer maneuvering burns and uses an inertial approach for the docking. The shuttle uses a large numbers of smaller burns. Both target to arrive at a point about 8 miles behind the station then slowly translating towards the station with a bunch of manually controlled jet firings. The day before the docking, a Progress spacecraft packed with trash was dumped into the Pacific ocean.
Norm got the honor of being the first to enter the Mir complex and was warmly hugged by Elena Kondakova. Vladimir and Gennady soon followed and were also warmly greeted. Above the hatch were the US and Russian flags and a picture of Yuri Gagarin. They were given the traditional Russian gifts of bread and salt. This was also carried LIVE on NASA TV/CNN. I just wish it wasn't 3am CST at the time (YAWN!!) but it was worth it. The hatch was opened after a bunch of checks to make sure that the docking latches were secure and that there were no leaks.
Norm's wife, three sons and his mother got to watch the activities at Kaliningrad. With them were NASA Assoc. Admin. Wayne Littles and Russian Space Agency Director General Yuri Koptev.
All of this visibility has also drawn some critics. One I noticed was an article by Alcestis Oberg that appeared in the March 15th USA Today, Pg 11A. In it she says that we are getting too little for our money. She said the flights to Mir would just duplicate Skylab and Russian Mir life science data. Citing price gouging by Russians and yet the money doesn't make it down to the technicians. She closed by saying that for the amount of money we plan to spend with the Russians over the next twenty years ($120 billion) we should get much more that just a space station, we should also get a lunar base, asteroid mining and a trip to Mars.
I'm not counting on the US/Russian space efforts yielding much science data but it will buy experience in working with the Russians and building trust. We haven't worked together on a major project with the Russians since WWII and we both need the practice. Yes, I know there was the Apollo/Soyuz Test Project flight in '75, I was at KSC for the launch and at JSC for the splashdown but that flight was just a few days in length. Hopefully both congresses will spend some money and give peaceful space exploration a chance. So far they aren't off to a good start. This year's budget on the Russian space program has been cut 50% and the U.S. congress is looking at a 7% cut in NASA's budget. ARGGGH!!!! We won't mention what Canada just did to its space budget. It's too depressing.
The Space Frontier Foundation (SFF) and the California Space Development Council (CSDC) briefed 55 members of Congress and/or their aides during the week of March 6 - 10. We wanted to let the space community know that these members of Congress have been briefed on the X-33 (Single-Stage To Orbit) program and Bob Walker's Omnibus Space Commercialization legislation.
We wanted to let you know that citizens can make a difference.
The team members were recruited by Charles Miller, CSDC Vice President - External Affairs, and David Anderman, Chairman of the CSDC Policy Committee. The briefing materials were developed by the Space Frontier Foundation.
Team members included David Anderman, Dr. Jamie Floyd, Joe Gillin, Mike Heney, Charles Miller, Ben Muniz, Dennis Wingo and Ransom Wuller. The team members came to Washington, D.C. at their own expense. They decided to get directly involved in our nation's space policy debate. The results are not in yet, but pro-space members of Congress have been ecstatic about our efforts.
HINT: Look forward to growing congressional support for not one, but two (2) Phase II contracts for the X-33 program. We have a real chance at a fly-off! Also, look forward to bi-partisan support for Mr. Walker's Omnibus Space Commercialization bill, which should include a version of the "Back to the Moon" bill.
We believe that this joint effort by SFF and CSDC has opened a new frontier for all space activists. Briefing Members of Congress on a "Citizens Space Agenda" is not only possible, but it can make a big difference. If you are interested in getting involved in future lobbying efforts, contact Charles Miller at ChazEugene@aol.com, or call him at 707-649-0225.
For your information, following is a list of people contacted by the SFF/CSDC team.
Monday, March 6:
Rep. Wally Herger (R, CA), Rep. C.W. Bill Young (R, FL), Amy Henderson,
aide for Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R, TX), Hugh Houtcher, aide for
Rep. Amory Houghton (R, NY), Lori Eisner, aide for Rep. Tom Delay (R, TX)
(Majority Whip, U. S. House of Representatives), Cynthia Johnson, aide for
Rep. Robert Matsui (D, CA), Sally Gaines, aide for Rep. Alan Mollihan (D, WV),
Elizabeth Jennings, aide for Rep. Bill Archer (R, TX), Karen Greenwood,
aide for Rep. Jim Chapman (D, TX), Stuart Hall, aide for Senator Richard
Shelby (R, AL).
Tuesday, March 7:
David Murray, aide for Rep. Sam Johnson (R, TX), Nell Best, aide for Rep.
Sam Gibbons (D, FL), Frank Paganelli, aide for Rep. Norm Mineta (D, CA),
Joe Pierle, aide for Senator Chris Bond (R, MO), Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D, OH),
Mort Ralston, aide for Rep. Barbara Vucanovich (R, NV), Mark Lindsay, aide
for Rep. Louis Stokes (D, OH), Larry Spencer, aide for Senator Conrad Burns
(R, MT), Wayne Rast, aide for Rep. Steve Stockman (R, TX), Brad Hunt, aide
for Rep. Mark Neuman (R, WI), Rep. Tom Bevill (D, AL).
Wednesday, March 8:
Elizabeth Sarrett, aide for Rep. Herb Bateman (R, VA), Lisa Gilbert, aide
for Rep. Jim Ramstad (R, MN), Manning Feraci, aide for Rep. Melton Hancock
(R, MO), Rep. Curt Weldon (R, PA), Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R, CA), Larry Hojo,
aide for Rep. Joel Hefley (R, CO), Kirt Johnson, aide for Rep. Phil Crane
(R, IL), Rep. George Brown, Jr. (D, CA) (Ranking Minority Member, Committee
on Science), Rep. Andrea Seastrand (R, CA), Jeff Stasser, aide for Senator
Ted Stevens (R, AL), Scott Spear, aide to Rep. Clay Shaw (R, FL), Ben Wu,
aide for Rep. Connie Morella (R, MD), Rep. Elton Gallegly (R, CA), Rep.
Jerry Costello (D, IL).
Thursday, March 9:
Rep. David Camp (R, MI), Andrew Shifton, aide for Rep. Dick Zimmer (R, NJ),
Nelson Garcia, aide for Rep. Ken Calvert (R, CA), Melissa Beal, aide for
Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R, KA), Carmen Scialabba, aide for Rep. John Murtha (D, PA),
Richard Cathy, aide for Rep. Michael Collins (R, GA), Debbie Curtis, aide
for Rep. Ben Cardin (D, MD), Rep. Phil English (R, PA), Ron Anderson, aide
for Rep. James T. Walsh (R, NY), Craig Pierce, aide for Rep. Joseph
Knollenberg (R, MI), Rep. Tim Roemer (D, IN) and aide John St. Croix, Bob
Irbin, aide for Rep. Van Hilleary (R, TN), Rep. John Ensign (R, NV), Mike
King, aide for Senator John Ashcroft (R, MO), Rep. Anna Eshoo (D, CA).
Friday, March 10:
Ken Monroe, aide to Rep. Dave Weldon (R, FL), Greg Dahlberg, Bob Davis,
Rep. Bob Walker (R, PA), Ron Stone, aide for Rep. Jane Harman (D, CA).
Have you wondered how you can help humanity get into space, even if you are not a rocket scientist or have lots of money to give away?
Help us start a space investment club, primarily for personal profit. After all, sooner or later you will want money to either buy a house, or send you kids away to college, or, (if you really can't stand your kids) buy them a ticket to Luna or Mars.
Like the socially responsible mutual funds, the fund will have a second goal: promoting the technologies needed to actually live and work in space. But, we will choose companies which can be profitable even if there is not a big space business, such as robotics and environmental sensing.
To save startup costs, it will initially be an investment club. That is a partnership which is only able to buy stock. Members contribute small monthly amounts, and jointly decide how to invest. There are thousands of such clubs, and a national association to get advice from.
To help organize this new "High Frontier Investment Fund (tm)",
contact Bruce Mackenzie, preferably by e-mail at:
bam@draper.com or:
110 Van Norden Road
Reading, MA 01867-1246
There will be planning meetings in April and at ISDC May 20 & 21, and via e-mail. Note that there is no connection with NSS or the NSS Boston Chapter, and this is not a solicitation, ie, do NOT send money.
By the close of the 19th century, refracting telescopes had reached their limits. The mass of the largest lenses, such as the 40-inch refractor at Yerkes Observatory in Wisconsin, had grown so large as to make telescope construction nearly impossible. Achromatic aberation caused by lenses refracting different wavelengths of light by different amounts was a problem as well. In order to meet the demands of astronomers who needed the additional light-gathering power of larger apertures, it would be necessary to reflecting telescopes, whose construction was better suited for larger telescopes, although certainly not simple. This revolution in telescope construction in the early 20th century, which culminated with the gargantuan 200-inch (5-meter) Hale Telescope on Palomar Mountain, is chronicled in Ronald Florence's The Perfect Machine.
Florence starts with the efforts of George Ellery Hale to build large telescopes atop Mount Wilson, just north of Pasadena, California. His efforts led first to a 60-inch telescope in 1908 and then the 100-inch Hooker telescope in 1917: both the largest telescopes in the world at the time. The Hooker telescope stretched the art and science of telescope making to their limits: making the glass blank for the 100-inch telescope required an extraordinary effort on the part of the French company that created it, and even then the first attempt was not a success. The result, though, was a telescope that could look at fainter objects than ever before. When it became clear a few years later that even larger telescopes were needed to answer basic questions about the nature of the universe, Hale began planning a 200-inch telescope.
The Perfect Machine tells the story about the design and construction of the 200-inch telescope: the perfect machine. Nothing less than perfection was required to make the telescope more than just several million dollars of steel and glass. The glass needed to be free of cracks, air bubbles, and other imperfections, a task that took several years, two companies and numerous failed attempts. The glass needed to be ground into exactly the right shape: an aberation of one millionth of an inch was intolerable. This required eleven years, including a several-year hiatus during World War II. The gears of the telescope had to be cut just right, or else the telescope would not move properly. The result of nearly two decades of painstaking work was a telescope that today, nearly fifty years after its completion, is still one of the largest telescopes in the world and remains at the forefront of scientific research.
Florence dows an excellent job conveying not only the technical story behind the construction of the 200-inch, but also the stories of the people who turned thousands of tons of steel and Pyrex into a premier telescope. Anyone who has ever been even slightly interested in the construction of telescopes will find this to be an excellent book.
It was only a matter of time before the National Space Society's International Space Development conference would be held in Cleveland, Ohio. Not only is Cleveland home to the NASA Lewis Research Center, but we also boast an active Aerospace Industry as well. We have long been pioneers in aviation and aerospace, having been home to NACA before the advent of NASA. Today Lewis is testing jet engines and performing icing experiments among its many aerospace activities.
Face it, some members of the 1995 ISDC Convention committee have always lived on a space faring planet. We were growing up during the years of Mercury, Gemini and Apollo and have never known a world without satellites beeping their telemetry from over our heads. Space travel is the present and our future, not simply a dream in the mind's eye of a Hollywood producer. Together, we have worked long and hard to produce what should be one of the best space conferences ever!
The NASA Lewis Research center was sponsoring the one of the most successful expendible rocket programs while the rest of the country was depending upon the space shuttle as its *only* launch vehicle. And for some people it's more than just a little bit annoying that we have recently launched the most advanced communication satellites ever flown. In addition, we have crossed international borders and worked with our equals from other nations.
So join us in Cleveland for the space conference in 1995! We are offering tours at the NASA facilities at Lewis Research Center. We are also sponsoring a special conference trip to visit the habitat at the Cleveland Metroparks Rain Forest Exhibit. Through our outreach program, we have involved the Cleveland community so that the Parma Symphony Orchestra is presenting a medley of Science Fiction classical theme songs and the Baldwin Wallace Observatory is opening its doors with a special presentation on the exploration of Mars. Not only is there a special teacher's conference, but a children's conference will be conducted as well. The Civil Air Patrol will also be on hand to help out.
We have an exceptional line up of speakers, covering a vast number of subjects and fields. If the Moon is your passion, or if rockets are your favorite subject, this conference is for you. We are planning for Mars and preparing to receive data from satellites and spacecraft throughout the solar system. And while we are looking toward the future, we haven't forgotten the past. There are programs on Lewis' role in Apollo, and the interesting story of the Cleveland Rocket Society.
Other activities include rocketry workshop, the House of Tomorrow's Foundry, and a Solar Power workshop. There are many other interesting facets of this conference, too many to list here, so if you are interested, clip off the attached form and email it to AnnetteSW@aol.com. Send in your registration or ask for more information, but act fast because May 18 is just around the corner.
-----------------------clip here----------------------------
ISDC `95 Registration Information
NOW 'til April 15, 1995 $60.00 U.S.
April 16 'til May 17, 1995 $75.00 U.S.
AT THE DOOR: $90.00 U.S.
Students/Seniors $25.00 U.S.
MEALS
Thursday Lunch $11.00 Thursday Dinner $19.00
Friday Lunch $10.00 Friday Dinner $19.00
Saturday Lunch $12.00 Saturday Banquet $35.00
Sunday Lunch $12.00
ALL MEALS $118.00 U.S.
Indicate need for Vegetarian
All costs counted in U.S.A. Currency.
NAME .......................................................
(please print)
CHAPTER AFFILIATION.........................................
(if any)
ADDRESS.....................................................
CITY..............................STATE.........ZIP.........
HOME PHONE............................
WORK PHONE............................
EMAIL...........................................
FAX................................................
AMOUNT ENCLOSED:$....................................
(indicate choices above)
(Please make checks/money orders payable to: The Midwest
Space Development Corporation)
U.S. CURRENCY ONLY!
P to: MSDC
O 6167 Oakwood Circle
S North Ridgeville, OH 44039-2663
T Phone: (216) 826-0330
For fast information email to:
ff212@cleveland.freenet.edu-prefered
annettesw@aol.com
charles@tranquest.com
HOTEL RESERVATIONS:
Please call Holiday Inn Independence at 1-800-465-4329
(1-800-HOLIDAY)
or locally at 216-524-8050 to reserve your room at the
SPECIAL rate of $82.00 (US) + tax
This is a flat rate, specially arranged by ISDC '95.
AIR TRAVEL:
Special discount air fares are available from
American Airlines the official ISDC-95 airline.
Call 1-800-433-1790 and reference Star Number
0655 LN.
Endeavour landed on the concrete Edwards runway 22 at 2147:00 on 1995 Mar 18, ending the longest Shuttle mission yet. Duration was 16 days 15 hr 8 min 47 sec. The deorbit burn was at 2039:13 and lasted an unusually long 5 min 0 sec, placing Endeavour in a 33 x 357 km descent orbit. OV-105's next flight is STS-69 in the summer; first comes the Atlantis docking with Mir and Discovery's deployment of a TDRS comsat.
The External Tank, ET-70, for mission STS-71 was mated to the solid rocket boosters on Mar 16.
Soyuz TM-21 (spacecraft 11F732 no. 70) was launched at 0611:34 on 1995 Mar 14 carrying the EO-18 Mir crew, Vladimir Dezhurov, Gennadiy Strekalov and Norman Thagard. According to Vladimir Agapov, orbit insertion and separation of the 7170 kg spaceship from the Blok-I third stage was at 0620:23. Soyuz TM-21 entered an 88.61 min, 190 x 220 km x 51.65 deg orbit; (Note: this is based on a spherical Earth and the Space Command elements; Agapov reports a 201 x 247 km orbit based on an oblate Earth and Russian elements. I haven't attempted to reconcile the data.) Two burns at 0946 and 1045 UTC raised the orbit to 89.89 min, 231 x 306 km. A small phasing burn was carried out the following day at 0709, and then two final rendezvous burns raised the orbit to 92.43 min, 390 x 396 km, matching that of the Mir station. Soyuz docked with Mir at 0745:26 UTC on Mar 16 and the crew entered Mir at around 0930. Launch of TM-21 meant that there were 13 people in space at once for the first time ever: Dezhurov, Strekalov, Thagard on Soyuz; Viktorenko, Kondakova and Polyakov on Mir; and Oswald, Gregory, Lawrence, Jernigan, Grunsfeld, Parise, and Durrance on Endeavour.
The Soyuz TM spaceship is made up of three sections: the priborno-agregatniy otsek (service-equipment module), 3057 kg, which contains the engine and carries the solar panel wings; the spuskaemiy apparat (descent vehicle), 2835 kg, with heat shield, command and control cabin, and the three cosmonaut couches; and the bitovoi otsek (living module) of 1278 kg with the docking unit. Thagard is the first American to be launched in a Soyuz, although the ASTP crew flew in one while their Apollo craft was docked to it in 1975. Soyuz TM-21 was launched by the Soyuz-U2 (11A511U2) variant of Energiya's standard R-7 based launch vehicle.
The Progress M-26 cargo craft undocked on Mar 15 at 0226:38 and deorbited itself over the Pacific at 0528 UT.
Japan's NASDA space agency launched the third H-II launch vehicle from Tanegashima on Mar 17. Launch was at 2001 UTC; the first stage flew a suborbital trajectory, and the LE-5A second stage completed its first burn to enter a 322 x 336 km x 28.5 deg orbit, deploying the SFU (Space Flyer Unit) satellite at 2014. The LE-5A then ignited again to enter geostationary transfer orbit, and at 2028 the second payload, Geostationary Meteorological Satellite 5, separated into a 329 x 36669 x 28.5 deg orbit.
The SFU will carry out materials processing, technology and astronomy experiments, and will be retrieved by the STS-72 mission in December. It carries the 0.15m liquid helium cooled IR Telescope in Space (IRTS), with near and mid infrared spectrometers; a biology experiment studying salamander eggs; an electron density experiment; materials processing furnaces; and technology experiments with solar arrays and an electric thruster. It also carries an experimental platform to test technology for the JEM Exposed Facility planned for the Space Station, and as such it is the first flight element of Japan's Station program.
GMS-5 carries a Star 27 solid motor which is intended to place it in geostationary orbit. The satellite has visible and IR radiometers and will continue the Japanese Meteorological Agency's operational weather satellite system.
Foton 10 landed on Mar 3, 135 km SE of Orenburg in Russia. The descent cabin was later severely damaged when it was dropped from the helicopter carrying it back for deintegration; many of the experiments were destroyed.
Telemetry has been received from the Clementine probe in solar orbit, last heard from in Jul 1994. Further attempts will be made to restore comms with the probe.
Date UT Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission INTL.
DES.
Feb 3 0522 Discovery ) Space Shuttle Kennedy LC39B Spaceship 04A
Spacehab SH03)
Feb 4 0457 ODERACS II A ) Discovery, LEO Calibration 04C
ODERACS II D ) Calibration 04F
ODERACS II C ) Calibration 04E
ODERACS II B ) Calibration 04D
ODERACS II F ) Calibration 04H
ODERACS II E ) Calibration 04G
Feb 7 1226 Spartan 204 Discovery, LEO Astronomy 04B
Feb 15 1648 Progress M-26 Soyuz-U Baykonur LC1 Cargo 05A
Feb 16 1740 Foton No. 10 Soyuz-U Plesetsk LC43 Materials 06A
Mar 2 0638 Endeavour ) Space Shuttle Kennedy LC39A Spaceship 07A
Astro 2 )
Mar 2 1300 Kosmos-2306 Kosmos-3M Plesetsk LC132 Calibration 08A
Mar 7 0923 Kosmos-2307 ) Proton-K/DM2 Baykonur LC200 Navigation 09A
Kosmos-2308 ) Navigation 09B
Kosmos-2309 ) Navigation 09C
Mar 14 0611 Soyuz TM-21 Soyuz-U2 Baykonur LC1 Spaceship 10A
Mar 17 2001 SFU ) H-II Tanegashima Science
GMS-5 ) Weather
Jan 15 EXPRESS Reentered Feb 11 Discovery Landed at KSC Feb 12 BREMSAT Reentered Feb 16 Progress M-25 Deorbited Feb 23 Molniya-1 (58) Reentered Feb 24 ODERACS F Reentered Feb 27 ODERACS II E Reentered Mar 2 ODERACS II D Reentered Mar 3 ODERACS E Reentered Mar 3 Foton 10 Landed in Russia
Orbiters Location Mission Launch Due
OV-102 Columbia Palmdale OMDP -
OV-103 Discovery OPF Bay 2 STS-70 Jun 22
OV-104 Atlantis OPF Bay 3 STS-71 Jun
OV-105 Endeavour EAFB RW22 STS-67
ML/SRB/ET/OV stacks
ML1/ STS-70
ML2/ STS-67
ML3/RSRM-45/ET-70 VAB Bay 1 STS-71
An updated version of the calendar is available from JPL.
* indicates changes from last month's calendar
The key to inexpensive space settlement is using lunar or asteroid material to bootstrap manufacturing and transportation systems. The cheapest initial systems may be:
Miniature Lunar Mining Base - use miniature tele-operated rovers to load lunar regolith into spacecraft. Each rover might be 10 kg, plus a few 100 kg of stationary equipment for power, communication, shelter, and materials handling.
Regolith Rockets - use raw lunar soil for reaction mass to lift off the surface. Each might be 100 kg, not including their dirt-cheap "fuel".
Rotating Tethers - like a bucket-brigade, several tethers throw mining equipment from Earth orbit to the lunar surface, and catch raw materials coming back. Each tether with associated equipment would be about 1000 kg, but they are fully reusable, and do not use propellant!
Refining and Manufacturing - Since the equipment may be heavy and temperamental, regolith is refined and manufacture into finished goods in LEO where launch costs are lower and it is "relatively" cheap to support people. Later, automated plants built from lunar material would be in high orbit.
The system grows by producing: fiberglass for more tethers; aluminum, steel, and glass for spacecraft and habitats; solar panels, slag for shielding, and oxygen. We can sell: transportation, power, fuel, and service for communications satellites and SPS. All without the expense of sending people to the lunar surface.
After the meeting there will be a video from the February rendezvous between Mir and the shuttle Discovery. The video will last about 30 minutes.
Jonathan McDowell, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, will give two half-hour presentations on the Mir-Atlantis docking and quasars. Watch this space for more information!
Elections for officers of the Boston NSS chapter and members of the Boston NSS Board of Directors will be held at the April meeting. Here is the list of candidates for the available positions:
President: Larry KlaesThe following appointed volunteer positions, each with specific duties, are also available:
Newsletter Editor: Jeff Foust