henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) (01/23/89)
[Aviation Week & Space Technology subscription address is 1221 Ave. of the Americas, New York NY 10020 USA. Rates depend on whether you're "qualified" or not, which basically means whether you look at the ads for cruise missiles out of curiosity, or out of genuine commercial or military interest. Best write for a "qualification card" and try to get the cheap rate. US rate is $58 qualified, higher for unqualified. It's weekly, it's thicker than Time or Newsweek, and most of it has nothing to do with space, so consider whether the price is worth it to you.] Soviet radarsat reactors pose yet another problem: they are interfering with astronomical gamma-ray detectors on other satellites. Solar Max's gamma-ray spectrometer has been encountering temporary interference for quite a while, and there is real concern about possible effects on the Gamma Ray Observatory (now being built). The problem has been recognized for several years but was classified until now. Mitsubishi test-fires the LE-7 engine for the H-2 launcher. Successful. ALS contract awards delayed by a bid protest from a tiny Canadian company, much to the disgust of the major bidders. USSR is ground-testing the first expansion module for Mir, for launch in April. It is nearly the size of the original basic Mir module, and will carry two large solar panels. It will be a "service module", carrying various facilities including a large airlock (which will include at least one Soviet MMU). Another add-on module will go up later this year, as soon as can be managed (because attitude control will be difficult with an asymmetric configuration). France and USSR agree to a long-term space cooperation plan, including French equipment aboard Mir modules. A French cosmonaut will visit Mir for a month or so about every two years. These will be paying flights. (France reportedly is trying to get at least one more free flight like the current one, but Glavcosmos is adamant about its no-more-freebies policy.) Soviets prepare to test the An-225 heavylift cargo aircraft, an enlarged An-124 Ruslan that will be by far the heaviest aircraft in the world. One of its missions will be transportation of Energia and/or Buran parts. The first manned flight of Buran (tentatively expected to be the third flight) will have modified MiG-25 ejection seats for the crew. USSR continues to develop upgraded versions of Soyuz (better visibility for docking) and Progress (a cargo-return capability -- current versions burn up on reentry and are used for Mir's garbage disposal). Hardware construction is already underway, although the Soviets decline to give a schedule for first launches. US and Chinese officials meet in Washington to discuss putting a quota on Long March launches of US-built satellites. China proposed 4/year; the US proposed a six-year average of 1/year, a clause increasing the quota if substantial launch backlogs develop, and a requirement that China price "on a par" (the precise meaning of this was not defined) with Western launch services. [A pity that US anti-trust laws aren't applicable, this would certainly violate them...] Issues of technology transfer and third-party liability are also being negotiated, but no real problems are seen there. NASA names crews for four more missions, nothing particularly notable except that two civilian mission specialists have been assigned to STS-35, a military flight, and DoD is not too happy about that. Hughes signs contract with AsiaSat to refurbish the former Westar 6 (retrieved by shuttle in 1984) for launch on Long March next year. The automatic landing of Buran was done by a system closely resembling the Microwave Landing System which is the new international standard for civil aviation. DARPA is exploring use of small Navstar receivers on spacecraft for automatic orbit control, reducing workload on ground stations. -- Allegedly heard aboard Mir: "A | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology toast to comrade Van Allen!!" | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu