On Thu, 6 Feb 1997 14:46:59 -0500, Andrew Yee

<a…@nova.astro.utoronto.ca> wrote:
>Canadian Space Agency
>Saint-Hubert, Quebec, Canada

>CANADA HELPS BUILD TELESCOPE BIGGER THAN EARTH!

Hmm, could this resolve the radio signals of gas giants orbiting
near-by stars?

The Mars home page
(htttp://www.engineering.usu.edu/Departments/mae/Space/mars.html)
has added this essay as a new link.  The essay can be found at:
http://www.engineering.usu.edu/Departments/mae/Space/harris.html

I invite your comments, good or bad.

Tom Harris

                         ————————-
                        |        FPSPACE 97       |
                        |  International Workshop |
                        |     April 4-14, 1997    |
                        |      Moscow, Russia     |
                         ————————-

Friends and Partners in Space (FPSPACE), Bauman Moscow State Technical
University (BMSTU) Youth Space Center, and Moscow Aviation Institute
(MAI) are pleased to announce that we have obtained the minimum number of
participants for both our 10-day Friends and Partners in Space (FPSPACE)
International Workshop in Moscow, Russia (April 4-14) and the 4-day
extension trip to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazahkstan. In addition, due
to the continuing interest in the workshop, we have extended our deadline
for registration to March 1, 1997.

The program for the 10-day workshop includes: four workshop sessions
(Space Policy and Economics, International Space Station, Lunar/Mars
Programs, and Internet Applications); tours of space facilities (Star
City, Mission Control (TsUP), Khrunichev Space Center, BMSTU Orevo
Laboratory, and MAI Special Laboratories); an Astronaut/Cosmonaut Panel
Session; and a panel session on Russian Manned Lunar Programs. In
addition, cultural programs are provided before and after the workshop.
The official languages for the workshop are English and Russian; however,
FPSPACE can arrange for translation into other languages at an additional
fee.

The price for the 10-day program is $1,295 and includes registration
for the workshop, hotel, three meals per day, all ground transportation,
all program materials, entrance fees to space facilities, opening
reception and our April 12 Cosmonautics Day celebration. Airfare is not
included. Group rates for airline tickets may be possible depending on the
number of participants traveling from each destination. Airport transfers
are included in the price for arrivals in Moscow on April 4 regardless of
country of origin; however, a $20 fee will be charged for airport
transfers for early/late arrivals.

For those interested in a longer trip, we are offering an optional
5-day, 4-night (two nights in Moscow, two nights in Leninsk) extension to
the Baikonur Cosmosdrome in Kazakhstan to tour the launch and integration
facilities. FPSPACE will operate this extension as close to cost as
possible. The cost to FPSPACE for this extension is $1750 (plus
additional fee) per person based on a minimum attendance of 10 people and
includes roundtrip airfare from Moscow-Baikonur, hotel, three meals per
day, ground transportation, all program materials, and entrance fees.

In order to conduct the Baikonur extension we also need to cover the costs
of at least three individuals from BMSTU. The Sponsors of FPSPACE 97 are
actively looking for funding to cover this additional cost; however, it is
anticipated that a portion of these costs will have to be passed on to
participants. This cost will be equally divided amongst participants and
in all cases the additional fee shall not exceed $250.

For more information on FPSPACE 97 and highlights from last April’s
FPSPACE 96 workshop, please see our WWW Homepage at:
http://www.fpspace.org/

For information on FPSPACE 97 via e-mail, please send a request to this
address (jlgr…@clark.net) or for information via standard mail
or fax please call Jennifer Green in the U.S. at 301-464-3361 (daytime) or
301-251-9838 (evening).

FPSPACE is an international non-profit organization devoted to improving
communication and cooperation between the West and Russia/Former Soviet
Union.

Please forward this message to as many interested parties as possible.
————————————————————————–
 Jennifer L. Green    | Director, Friends and Partners in Space (FPSPACE)
 jlgr…@clark.net    | http://www.fpspace.org/
 **Information and projects dealing with West-Russia/FSU space programs**
————————————————————————–

In article <Pine.LNX.3.93.970203121010.29124C-100…@nova.astro.utoronto.ca>,
Andrew Yee  <a…@nova.astro.utoronto.ca> wrote:

>[Extracted from Geophysical Institute, Univ. of Alaska Fairbanks webpage.]

>                      The FAST Way to Study the Aurora

>FAST STUDY — Researchers will study the aurora in three dimensions this
>winter: from space, from jet aircraft, and from ground stations equipped with
>all-sky cameras. The graphic at right, designed by Geophysical Institute
>Graphics Artist Deborah Coccia, depicts the FAST satellite flying over an
>aurora while a Saber 60 jet flies under the display at the same time it is
>being tracked by ground stations in Alaska at Poker Flat Research Range,
>Fort Yukon, Kaktovik, and Kotzebue, and in Canada’s Northwest Territories
>at Fort Smith.

[...]

>While a small satellite orbits high overhead, researchers will monitor
>brilliant auroral displays simultaneously in three dimensions: from space,
>from jet aircraft, and from the ground.

>The satellite, known as the Fast Auroral Snapshot (FAST) Explorer, will
>guide the three-dimensional study as it gathers data about the aurora while
>orbiting 4200 km (2610 miles) above the polar north. The unusual experiment
>is designed to help scientists understand the physics behind what is
>happening at high altitudes to energize brilliant auroral displays seen from
>Earth.

A few months ago I was working on STIS (a camera going aboard Hubble in a
few days) and was wandering around the building a bit to stretch my
legs. That part of the building is like a giant hangar with all sorts of
weird sundry equipment items lying around. I noticed an area sectioned
off by plastic sheets like shower curtains. Curious, I wandered over
and, to my surprise, saw a small satellite sitting in the middle of
the area. Usually, satellites are kept in clean rooms like you see
on TV, but here this one was sitting open to the air! Turns out, there
is an airfeed blowing cleaned air into the area, which maintains
positive air pressure, so the satellite was never exposed to dirty air.
But it was sitting 2 meters from me! I was also surprised at how small it
was. The whole thing would easily fit in the bed of my pickup.

This was none other than FAST. I have absolutely nothing to do with that
project, but still feel somewhat akin to it when I read about it.

Whenever I get bogged down at work with tons of details and things get
a bit of my control, I remember things like standing close to a machine
that will orbit the Earth, and it always makes me smile. These are
wonderful times.

–
* Phil Plait, Pee Aytch Dee       pc…@virginia.edu
* My home page– http://www.astro.virginia.edu/~pcp2g/home.html
*      –>  Humor, supernovae, Bad Astronomy, Mad Science
*           and my daughter Zoe.

We have added the Imagery Resolution Assessments and Reporting Standards
(IRARS) Committee’s "Civil National Imagery Interpretability Rating
Scale (NIIRS) Reference Guide" March 1996 to our IMINT document
collection @

        http://www.fas.org/irp/imint/docs/

This is a rather nice item, and if you haven’t visited our IMINT Gallery
lately, you might want to drop by and check out our inventory.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

John Pike
Federation of American Scientists  http://www.fas.org/
 Space Policy Project              http://www.fas.org/spp/
 Public Eye                        http://www.fas.org/eye/
 Intelligence Reform Project       http://www.fas.org/irp/

Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just.
  – Jefferson

This is a test, as my postings have not
been successful for some time.

Mike Walsh

i want to have more infomation to the space.

I ran into problems trying to post to newsgroups a while
back and so I was not able to respond to a post which
stated that three non-LH2 fueled SSTO’s were reported
or listed in Aerospace Source Book edition of Aviation Week
dated January 13, 1997.

I have looked through this issue and I have found no such
reference to any such vehicle.  Can anyone supply an
article and page number so they I can look at the reference?

My assumption is that this was supposed to be a non-recoverable
SSTO vehicle, although the post did not make this clear.

I do not know of any SSTO vehicle which has been flown to orbit.

I have not yet heard of any SSTO vehicle currently under development,
as opposed to sub-orbital test vehicles, with the exception of the
ROTON.

Please regard this as a request for information.  I am not saying
that because I didn’t find it that it doesn’t exist.

Mike Walsh

One disturbing trend that I see in this newsgroup and elsewhere in the
pro-space exploration community is the notion that there is some cosmic
program that propels us into the space frontier once and for all.  Maybe
the transformation will really come through a series of very small
steps.

Let’s not limit our enthusiasm exclusively to multi-billion dollar
government programs. We’ve got to stop seeing gigabuck investments by
aerospace corporations as our salvation, too.  Let’s focus more on
smaller changes that can be realized in a year or two for under a
billion dollars, and promise an immediate payoff.  

Such as automated vehicles that jettison their avonics packages for
reuse.  A Pegasus type remote controlled flyback booster.  Telepresence
robots in orbit to repair communications satellites in place.  These
steps help expand a space infrastructure that will eventually make SSTO
inevitable as a support vehicle.    

We’ve been waiting twenty-five years for the Next Big Thing after
Shuttle.  It’s time to  promote smaller steps.

Joe Schembrie
The Cydonia Files
http://home.navisoft.com/cydonia/cydonia.htm

Space buffs know well how Gerard O’Neill in the late ’70s proposed
putting space colonies in the Earth-Moon L4 and L5 neutral-gravity
points, where the gravity of the Earth and Moon balance so that an
object put there stays there.

What’s less well known is that Isaac Asimov beat him to this idea
by maybe 10 years or more, only what Asimov wanted to put there was
nuclear waste. I know exactly where to find a reference to Gerry
O’Neill’s idea (in his book, the High Frontier); but can any of
you give me an at least approximate reference to Asimov’s?  I
remember reading it when I was about 8 years old, but the title
escapes me now.  It’ll take a good knowledge of Asimov’s writing,
since he wrote well over 100 books…Thanks,

Fred Ringwald                    … to further the progress of science,
Dept. of Astronomy & Astrophysics    to guide to an understanding
The Pennsylvania State University         of the majesty of the heavens,
525 Davey Laboratory                 to emphasize that
University Park, PA 16802-6305      under the great celestial firmament,
U. S. A.                     there is order, interdependence, and unity.
Phone: +1-814-863-1756                    – Adler Planetarium, Chicago
  Fax: +1-814-863-3399
Email: ringw…@astro.psu.edu   http://www.astro.psu.edu/users/ringwald/