Asri-unix.874
net.space
utcsrgv!utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!ARPAVAX:C70:sri-unix!ELITE@OFFICE-1
Tue Mar 2 09:18:14 1982
Space in the News
Just ran through an accumulation of back issues of Electronic
Engineering Times, and have the following items that may be of
interest to the list:
>From the 1 Feb. 82 issue:
NASA recently published a document titled "Space Astronomy
Program Plan for the 1980's and 1990's" which discusses, among
other areas, plans for interstellar flight. The Management
Operations Working Group For Space Astronomy (MOWGSA) states, "An
interstellar mission is envisioned in the 1990 to 2000 time
frame. An actual unmanned interstellar encounter [THAT could
mean ALL sorts of things! - WM] is projected for the latter part
of the 21st century."
"The following types of drive systems have been considered, and
deserve further study: ion electric propulsion, in which heavy
ions are created and then accelerated electrically; a
magnetohydrodynamic drive, in which a stream of propellant passes
through an electric current, creating self-induced magnetic
fields which interact with the current to provide acceleration;
solar sails, utilizing solar radiation pressure to provide a
boost out of the solar system; continuous thrust nuclear
propulsion and pulsed explosive nuclear propulsion."
[This document may well be of interest -- you may be able to get
a copy as an individual citizen just by writing NASA or your
congressperson and asking for it . Or a public or university
library designated as a government documents depository may have
it. WM]
Other items of interest in this same column (DC Circuit, by
Howard Roth):
A study done by the National Science Board (part of the NSF)
polled an unknown sample of people and came up with the findings
that 58% thought that "scientific discoveries make our lives
change too fast." Out of 13 areas of science and technology on
which to spend tax dollars, health research was #1, but
"discovering new knowledge about man and nature" and "exploring
outer space" and "predicting and controlling weather" were #s 11,
12, and 13, respectively. [The other choices were not listed.]
The other item in the column: The William Sword Co. of
Princeton, NJ, is raising $1 billion to buy a space shuttle
through a subsidiary, Space Transportation Co. The purpose is to
serve industrial requirements for materials processing and R&D.
This project could serve as a test case for involving large
private investment in space.
>From the March 1 issue, same column: Soviet development of a
space-shuttle-type winged reuseable spacecraft was acknowledged
recently by the Soviet Emabassy in Washington.
The science and technology attach told an American Astronautical
Society meeting that launch of the system could occur in about
five years.
Another article from one issue in this range discussed Soviet
industrial activity in space -- the Soviets published a report on
the subject which discusses materials melting phenomena and
crystalization. Also mentioned are "giant mirror reflectors
suspended in space that will help scatter the dark of the polar
night in the streets of northern cities and produce nearly
cost-free power." [An SPS? - WM]
Will Martin
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