lyndon@cs.AthabascaU.CA (Lyndon Nerenberg) (07/20/89)
In article <1989Jul17.230138.26746@utzoo.uucp> henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) writes: >As far as I know, all the Apollo lunar-surface transmitters were shut >down when the Apollo seismometer network was shut down (to save some >trifling amount of money!!! :-[ ) some years ago. I could be wrong. Eh? Was ConEd charging NASA for the power produced by the (moon-based) nuclear reactors? -- Lyndon Nerenberg VE6BBM / Computing Services / Athabasca University {alberta,decwrl,ncc}!atha!lyndon || lyndon@cs.AthabascaU.CA If everyone quit smoking, drinking, and buying gas, the nation would probably go bankrupt.
henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) (07/20/89)
In article <683@aurora.AthabascaU.CA> lyndon@cs.AthabascaU.CA (Lyndon Nerenberg) writes: >>... when the Apollo seismometer network was shut down (to save some >>trifling amount of money!!! :-[ ) some years ago... > >Eh? Was ConEd charging NASA for the power produced by the (moon-based) >nuclear reactors? No, but it was costing some small amount of money to receive, store, and analyze the data. -- $10 million equals 18 PM | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology (Pentagon-Minutes). -Tom Neff | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu
johnl@gronk.UUCP (John Limpert) (07/21/89)
In article <683@aurora.AthabascaU.CA> lyndon@cs.AthabascaU.CA (Lyndon Nerenberg) writes: >In article <1989Jul17.230138.26746@utzoo.uucp> henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) writes: >>As far as I know, all the Apollo lunar-surface transmitters were shut >>down when the Apollo seismometer network was shut down (to save some >>trifling amount of money!!! :-[ ) some years ago. I could be wrong. >Eh? Was ConEd charging NASA for the power produced by the (moon-based) >nuclear reactors? I started working at a NASA tracking station shortly after ALSEP was shut down. The story I heard was that NASA ran out of money to receive, record and process the telemetry data. The tracking stations used to record ALSEP data for hours at a time, every day. I was also told that NASA had warehouses full of magnetic tape that couldn't be reduced or analyzed due to lack of funding. -- John Limpert johnl@gronk.UUCP uunet!n3dmc!gronk!johnl
joe@hanauma.stanford.edu (Joe Dellinger) (07/21/89)
In article <1989Jul20.155847.15452@utzoo.uucp> henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) writes: >No, but it was costing some small amount of money to receive, store, and >analyze the data. Here's a question I've always wanted to ask: why even bother to shut the things off? Just ignore them, and if they're still working a few years later when you change your mind, so much the better. If they had shut off the deep space network, would they have given a command to the Voyagers and pioneers "make no further broadcasts, accept no further instructions from Earth"? \ /\ /\ /\/\/\/\/\/\/\.-.-.-.-.......___________ \ / \ / \ /Dept of Geophysics, Stanford University \/\/\.-.-....___ \/ \/ \/Joe Dellinger joe@hanauma.stanford.edu apple!hanauma!joe\/\.-._
john@stiatl.UUCP (John DeArmond) (07/21/89)
In article <481@gronk.UUCP> johnl@gronk.UUCP (John Limpert) writes: > >I started working at a NASA tracking station shortly after ALSEP was >shut down. The story I heard was that NASA ran out of money to receive, John, The question at hand is did NASA leave the transmitter on the moon running? You could probably answer this as well as anyone. I read a new report in the local yellow rag that the transmitter had been left on and that only the tracking station had been shut down. -- John De Armond, WD4OQC | Manual? ... What manual ?!? Sales Technologies, Inc. Atlanta, GA | This is Unix, My son, You ...!gatech!stiatl!john **I am the NRA** | just GOTTA Know!!!
rusty@cadnetix.COM (Rusty Carruth) (07/22/89)
In article <481@gronk.UUCP> johnl@gronk.UUCP (John Limpert) writes:
->I started working at a NASA tracking station shortly after ALSEP was
->shut down. The story I heard was that NASA ran out of money to receive,
->record and process the telemetry data....
->--
->John Limpert johnl@gronk.UUCP uunet!n3dmc!gronk!johnl
So, we shut down the transmitter so that NOBODY could recieve it.
Makes sense to me. :-(
----------
Rusty Carruth UUCP:{uunet,boulder}!cadnetix!rusty DOMAIN: rusty@cadnetix.com
Daisy/Cadnetix Corp. (303) 444-8075\ 5775 Flatiron Pkwy. \ Boulder, Co 80301
Radio: N7IKQ 'home': P.O.B. 461 \ Lafayette, CO 80026add@v7fs1.UUCP (Andrew D. Daniel) (07/22/89)
In article <1989Jul17.230138.26746@utzoo.uucp> henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) writes: >In article <1473@xn.LL.MIT.EDU> wjc@XN.LL.MIT.EDU (Bill Chiarchiaro) writes: >>... a radio transmitter that was left on the Moon ... still operating. > >As far as I know, all the Apollo lunar-surface transmitters were shut >down ... to save some trifling amount of money!!! Am I missing something here? How could shutting down something already on the moon save ANY money? I DID hear that NASA recently shut down a listening station that was picking up signals from moon-based instruments to save $2M per year, but that the instruments themselves were still operating. -- Andrew D Daniel, Video Seven, Inc. Angels fear to tread ..ames!vsi1!v7fs1!add where fools login:
add@v7fs1.UUCP (Andrew D. Daniel) (07/22/89)
In article <138@nwnexus.WA.COM> edm@nwnexus.WA.COM (Ed Morin) writes: >wjc@XN.LL.MIT.EDU (Bill Chiarchiaro) writes: >"Unix Public Access for the Masses!" Now Ed, lets enforce the consitutional separation of church and (solid) state. -- Andrew D Daniel, Video Seven, Inc. Angels fear to tread ..ames!vsi1!v7fs1!add where fools login:
henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) (07/22/89)
In article <3828@portia.Stanford.EDU> joe@hanauma.stanford.edu (Joe Dellinger) writes: >Here's a question I've always wanted to ask: why even bother to shut the >things off? Just ignore them, and if they're still working a few years later >when you change your mind, so much the better. Unfortunately, spectrum space is not in overwhelmingly abundant supply, so it's considered desirable to shut down transmitters that you are no longer listening to. (It is also considered desirable to have a way to shut the transmitters absolutely and permanently off, so they can't reawaken due to static in the receivers and the like.) >If they had shut off the >deep space network, would they have given a command to the Voyagers and >pioneers "make no further broadcasts, accept no further instructions from >Earth"? Very probably. -- 1961-1969: 8 years of Apollo. | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology 1969-1989: 20 years of nothing.| uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu
johnl@gronk.UUCP (John Limpert) (07/25/89)
In article <5951@stiatl.UUCP> john@stiatl.UUCP (John DeArmond) writes: >The question at hand is did NASA leave the transmitter on the moon running? >You could probably answer this as well as anyone. I read a new report in >the local yellow rag that the transmitter had been left on and that only >the tracking station had been shut down. The usual procedure for mothballing a spacecraft is to shut off the transmitter and non-essential systems. The receiver and command decoder are left on so the spacecraft can be reactivated later. I suspect this is what happened to ALSEP. The tracking stations were _not_ shut down. There were plenty of other activities to keep them open. The ISEE (International Sun Earth Explorer) spacecraft replaced ALSEP in the "track it and record telemetry for many hours a day" category. There were a pair of instrumentation recorders at Ascension that had been dedicated to supporting ALSEP. After ALSEP was shutdown, quite a bit of effort was needed to repair all of the circuit boards that hadn't been used in the ALSEP recorder configuration. With the advent of an operational TDRS system, the ground tracking network is finally being reduced to a minimal number of stations. Bermuda and Merrit Island (KSC) are being kept open for launch support. The rest are going to be shutdown, turned over to JPL's Deep Space Network or the Air Force. -- John Limpert johnl@gronk.UUCP uunet!n3dmc!gronk!johnl