Aucbvax.6255
fa.space
utcsrgv!utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!space
Mon Feb 22 03:40:11 1982
SPACE Digest V2 #112
>From OTA@S1-A Mon Feb 22 03:04:55 1982
SPACE Digest Volume 2 : Issue 112
Today's Topics:
Administrivia
Honest Ron's Surplus Spaceships...
twisting of orbital platforms
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Date: 21 Feb 1982 2108-PST
From: Ted Anderson <OTA AT S1-A>
Subject: Administrivia
To: space at MIT-MC
CC: rem at MIT-MC
As most of you probably noticed another totally batshit set of digests
emanated from this site over the weekend. This time the problem was that
Friday's digest was recursively included in Saturday's digest which
inexplicably got mailed out twice, the two copies comming about 30 minutes
apart. This was caused by (or perhaps was the cause of), at least in
part, the mailer task looping for about 24 hours over the weekend.
Basically this system SUX. I'm working on a replacement but it will be
some while in the construction. Please bear with me.
Thanks,
Ted Anderson [The Moderator]
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Date: 21 Feb 1982 1426-PST
From: Tom Wadlow <TAW AT S1-A>
Subject: Honest Ron's Surplus Spaceships...
To: space at MIT-MC
I wonder what the orbit cost per pound is on a *second-hand* Titan?
If all they do is scrap them at the end of their ''tour of duty'' as
ICBMs, would the cost be just the price of transport, checkout and launch?
(Presumably people would frown on launches directly from the silos). Are
there any existing Titan launch complexes in use today, or would one have
to be built? I would think that you could adapt an old missle base if you
wanted to but an existing,tested site would sure make life easier.
I like REMs idea of putting cheap canisters of raw material into orbit for
future use. I would guess that the cans just need some small
orbital correction devices and a radio beacon. That means that even NASA
could be expected to develop them in a reasonably short time.
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Date: 21 February 1982 20:54-EST
From: Robert Elton Maas <REM MIT-MC AT>
Subject: twisting of orbital platforms
To: VaughanW at HI-MULTICS
cc: SPACE at MIT-MC
Hmmm, putting weight at end of rope doesn't help at all for moment arm
because ropes pull longitudinally only (except for some dynamic
damping), but does help in terms of gravity difference that generates
the tital force in the first place. Maybe a short supported column
to create a decent moment arm, with a weight on a long rope attached
to it to create large tidal differences, would be optimal.
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Date: 22 February 1982 03:52-EST
From: Robert Elton Maas <REM MIT-MC AT>
To: SPACE at MIT-MC
It seems almost a shame that the great reptiles were exterminated
by that comet. Just think if they had survived and developed space
travel, they could save lots of money inhabiting space by sending up eggs
and having a nursary up in space instead of having to send up fullsize
people like we mammals have to do presently.
By the way, "Life on Earth" is a really good program of interest to
those who like to understand evolution. The episode on amphibians
just ended, and this next week comes the episode on reptiles.
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End of SPACE Digest
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