Aucbvax.4987
fa.space
utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!space
Fri Nov 6 06:18:53 1981
SPACE Digest V2 #29
>From OTA@S1-A Fri Nov 6 05:42:22 1981
SPACE Digest Volume 2 : Issue 29
Today's Topics:
Shuttle technology
Clipping Service - Pick your Future in the Second Space Race
"America to the Moon"
Occluding a star to see a planet
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Date: 5 Nov 1981 1248-CST
From: Clyde Hoover <CC.CLYDE AT UTEXAS-20>
Subject: Shuttle technology
To: space at MIT-MC
These primitive Earthlings.... forgetting that the oil needs to
be changed every 200,000 miles! NEVER believe the mileage claims from
manufacturers - they all want you to believe you can get to Alpha
Centauri using 10% less antimatter if you use their hyperdrive
lubricant!
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------------------------------
Date: 6 November 1981 02:21 est
From: Schauble.Multics at MIT-Multics
Subject: Clipping Service - Pick your Future in the Second Space Race
To: Space at MIT-MC
[This is an excerpt from the lead article in the November 1981 issue
of Reason, a conservative political magazine. The issue discusses the
issues of private space operations. This article is written by James
C. Bennett]
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..
Consider two scenarios. Both start in the present and diverge
from decisions that are only slightly different in their initial
reasonableness but are very different in their long-term
consequences. Although both scenarios are projections, they are not
fantasy -- the actors, issues, and possibilities all have some basis
in what has happened to date. Which one will be reality and which one
will remain fiction?
Flourish...
===========
In 1983 the Reagan administration wins a congressional vote on
its plan to "privatize" NASA's Space Transportation System by 1987.
United Airlines and Boeing announce a joint venture to form United
Spacelines. They state their willingness to assume responsibility for
many of NASA's existing commercial space contracts and obligations
and to operated selected NASA facilities for profit.
A few years later, MATCO, a consortium of Fortune-500
manufacturing firms, contracts with the newly formed United
Spacelines Corporation to purchase three shuttle external tanks, on
orbit. United Spacelines has created a lucrative market for such
tanks by deciding to lift them all the way to orbit rather than
throwing them away as earlier NASA Shuttle launches had. MATCO
announces it will use the external tanks as structures for a
commercial, manned orbital research facility, intended to begin
operations in 1988.
In 1990, with the space station ready for business, MATCO
announces that the contract to transport personnel has been awarded
to United Spacelines, as expected. However, it surprises many by
awarding the contract to transport bulk cargo to a "dark horse"
company, Space Truck, Inc. "Space Truck quoted us a lower price, and
we think they can do the job," explains a MATCO executive.
In 1993, an independant contractor leasing space from MATCO at
one of its orbital stations uses a zero-gravity, containerless
processing technique to develop a significant advance in
semiconductor technology. She sells her invention to a leading
semiconductor firm ... and retires for life at the age of 27.
Subsequently, National Telecom, the second-largest US
telecommunications company, announces that its next communication
satellites will be launched by Inter-Spatial Transport, Inc.'s "Heavy
Lift" rocket. Representatives of Nippon Rocket, the other major
contender, admit that ISTI's new cost-saving innovations have left
them "surprised ... and working hard to catch up."
By the year 2000, Space Truck-Boeing Corporation unveils its
newest model space launcher, promoting it as, "not just another
breakthrough in reliable low-cost space transportation, but \the/
breakthrough." At the significantly lower cost of transport to orbit,
solar power satellites will finaly become profitable mechanisms for
producing energy to suit Earth's needs. "Looking back," says an STB
spokesman, "it's a good thing this industry has been lean and
competitive for so many years. Otherwise space travel would still be
an expensive luxury, not an everyday occurrence."
An enchanting vision! But just assume that the first decision had
been made a little differently...
... or flounder?
================
In 1983, the Reagan administration agrees to grant NASA
regulatory authority over space operations, including private
activities. "They \are/ the space experts," says one administration
spokesman. At NASA, a high-level official promises that private firms
will not be treated as rivals, but as allies in the opening of the
space frontier. A few years later, backers of Space Truck, Inc.,
announce that they can no longer support their attempt to start a
private launch service. "After waiting three years to get
certification for our vehicle, approval is still not even in sight.
We can't afford to wait any longer." With the bankruptcy of Space
Truck, serious efforts by private American firms to enter the space
transportation business cease.
In 1987, federal budget cutters force NASA to shelve its space
operations center project "because it is an immense burden on American
taxpayers." Components already orbited are turned over to the Air
Force for use at its restricted surveillance space station.
A few years later, a European-Japanese joint venture in
semiconductor production announces its discovery of a remarkable
technical advance at its research space station.
In 1995, in a major policy speach in San Jose, California, the
president announces that no new follow-on to the Space Shuttle will
be funded. "In hard times like these, we just cannot afford luxuries
like advanced space transportation systems. Our first priority must
be taking care of our unemployment problems in seriously depressed
areas such as Detriot, and, of course, Sunnyvale."
The turn of the century passes quietly in America. An American
historian reads a paper at the annual meeting of the American
Economic Association. His topic: "Private American Space Companies:
Could They Ever Have Successfully Competed with State-Financed
Corporations of Europe and Japan?" His talk is almost as well
received as the previous one, "Lessons from Lysander Spooner's
Attempt to Compete with the US Post Office."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[The entire article is too long to transcribe. Those interested in
the topic should be able to find the issue without too much trouble.
I intend to transcribe one of the sidebars, but that will have to
wait until another day.
Paul ]
------------------------------
Date: 6 November 1981 02:27-EST
From: Robert Elton Maas <REM MIT-MC AT>
Subject: "America to the Moon"
To: SPACE at MIT-MC
There's a rather nice series on PBS currently called "America to the Moon".
Each half-hour episode is a review of one of the Apollo missions.
Last week was Apollo 11 (Neil Armstrong: "One small leap for a man,
one giant leap for mankind") and tonite was Apollo 12 (landing within
600 feet of a Surveyor, "That was one big step for me, even if it
was a small one for Neil" <APPX QUOTE>).
They have the highlights of footage from launch to splashdown, plus
overview explaining what the main mission was and what good info
was obtained. For example, this time they told how Apollo 11 had found
its maria to be 3.8 E9 years old while Apollo 12 landing in just about
the newest maris found it to be 3.2 E9 years old, thus indicating that
all major activity on the Moon stopped about 3 E9 years ago, so that
what we find there is a record of bombardment for 3 E9 years not
erased by geologic upheavals and climate like on Earth.
Here in SF bay area it's on KQED (9) Thursday 22:30 PST.
------------------------------
Date: 6 November 1981 02:54-EST
From: Robert Elton Maas <REM MIT-MC AT>
Subject: Occluding a star to see a planet
To: SPACE at MIT-MC
In the COSMOS episode about Ionian experiments and Pythagorean dogma,
Carl Sagan suggests one spaceship holding up a disk to block out
thelight of a star while another spacecraft looks aside the disk
to see if a planet is visible. I think this would be a wonderful
experiment to do for nearby stars such as Sirius and Barnard's star.
How soon will this experiment be feasible? 5 years??
------------------------------
End of SPACE Digest
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