henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer) (12/01/87)
[Aviation Week & Space Technology subscription address is PO Box 1505,
Neptune NJ 07754 USA. Rates depend on whether you are an "unqualified" or
"qualified" subscriber, 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 rates are $55 qualified, $70 unqualified at present.
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. -- HS]
Editorial quoting chunks from a NASA Advisory Council task force on
international cooperation/competition. "`US leadership in important space
areas is eroding in both absolute and relative terms...' [The Soviets]
are in a position to offer exciting cooperative possibilities to nations
that once had little choice but to deal with thh US, too often on whatever
terms the US chose to dictate... A recitation of opportunities frittered
away while other nations have moved steadily into the vacuum left by the
US's inaction runs through the report... Potential partners around the
world view the US as less than dependable over the long term, and this has
stimulated numerous multinational space projects that specifically exclude
the US." Recommendations include clear leadership from above, long-term
plans with broad support, and an absence of infighting and off-again-on-again
funding.
ESA looking at sites for a fourth pad at Kourou, not because of immediate
need but to ensure that room is available when the time comes.
USN is looking at launching small satellites from submarines, given that
subs would be expected to survive the early stages of a nuclear war while
land facilities probably would not.
NASA asks Interior Dept to remove 13 NASA facilities from the official list
of National Historic Landmarks; while they are indeed historic, official
NHL status makes it illegal to modify them without elaborate review, and
this is decidedly painful for still-operational facilities.
SDI negotiating with Amroc to supply payloads for Amroc's first suborbital
launches. [It has been obvious for quite a while that Amroc is in bed with
DoD.] First launch tentatively Feb. The suborbital launcher will be one
of Amroc's motor modules. Amroc's latest orbital launcher looks a bit like
a Titan 3, with a main unit and two big strap-ons. Payload is 600 lbs to
low orbit. Amroc is now giving this configuration priority over its earlier
bigger designs. The motor modules are identical except that the main unit
has a higher-expansion-ratio nozzle. The modules are bigger than Amroc's
original designs, mostly because Amroc has had trouble getting the desired
mass ratio with the smaller units. [It has been reported that Amroc is in
deep financial trouble, so these plans must be considered uncertain.]
Post-firing checks of an SSME have revealed a possible heat-exchanger leak.
This is one of the engines meant for STS-26; if the leak is confirmed, this
will mean replacing the engine with a backup (tearing down an SSME for
repairs to such problems takes months), which may mean a schedule slip due
to the need to test the backup.
SDI Starlab shuttle mission, tentatively April 1990, will use a low-powered
laser to track various objects, ultimately including sounding rockets.
DoD astronauts LaCombe and Puz will fly with it.
British government officially repeats its refusal to increase its space
budget, on the grounds that ESA's Ariane-5/Hermes/Columbus plans are too
ambitious. Other European representatives tend to agree with the latter,
but say that British handling of the issue has been heavy-handed at best.
British Aerospace is looking at bidding its multirole recoverable capsule
design as a crew-escape vehicle for the space station.
Martin Marietta picks Dornier to supply the satellite-carrier unit for
commercial Titan; it will be based on the one Dornier is doing for Ariane 5.
Soviets to launch replacement for malfunctioning ice-monitoring radar
satellite early next year. Cosmos 1869's antenna failed to deploy properly.
The USSR ultimately wants three of them in orbit simultaneously (currently
the operational total is one, Cosmos 1766) as an operational system.
Tight budgets threaten the lightweight-satellite programs. Lightsat
conference nevertheless raises some interesting issues, including the high
relative cost of launch vehicles and ground terminals, the "chicken or egg"
problem of no customers because of no satellites and launchers because of
no customers, and the problem of limited power sources (of significance to
materials-processing work in particular).
Globesat Inc designing small-satellite system for Unisys Corp, aimed at
experiments in store-and-forward data collection from remote sites. Unisys
has a modest government contract for this. The plan is to launch Globesat's
GS-100 satellite bus, with a suitable payload, on an Amroc launcher in mid-89.
USAF Consolidated Space Test Center in Sunnyvale considers commercial
marketing of its satellite-control facilities. Of particular note is the
CSTC's ability to do timely radar tracking, since NASA typically has a
turnaround time of a week on such things.
Hughes to announce development of a new three-axis-stabilized comsat design,
optimized for launch on expendables (Hughes now builds spin-stabilized
comsats designed with a strong eye on Shuttle launch).
Soviet biosat lands 2000 miles off target, cause not entirely clear.
Result is some delay in analysis of its payload.
Mir crew's workload reduced a bit; the crew is tired. They are finishing
unloading of Progress 32, doing work with new materials-processing
equipment, and observing the LMC supernova with Kvant's gamma-ray instruments.
Ball Aerospace is developing a relay-mirror satellite for launch next August
on an SDI Delta. It will examine accuracy and stability of reflecting a
laser beam from one ground station to another.
Pictures of Soviet cosmonaut-training facilities in Star City.
USSR considers setting up international advisory committee to help select
experiments for its 1990s Mars missions; there has been extensive interest
from outside the Soviet Union, and it is felt that outside advice could be
helpful in selection. The first of the missions will probably slip from
1992 to 1994 to give more time for payload development. It will include
an orbiter, an atmospheric balloon, and a small rover. "Our resolve is to
go to Mars in a big way, and we are working very hard to bring this to
reality." "It's not too late for the US to join... Some of our American
friends say it's too early for them. But if they wait much longer, then
they may find that it is too late."
Pictures of Soviet spacesuits, displayed at Star City. Unlike the complex
assembly procedure for donning a US suit, in the Soviet suits the backpack
simply hinges to one side and the cosmonaut slides in from the rear. They
have the same problems with stiff gloves as the US designs.
Soviets confident that one-year manned missions are practical, given routine
measures to counteract free-fall effects. Romanenko is still doing well,
partly because he is firm about his exercise routine; he is at 245 days now.
Laveikin, who was brought down early because of heart irregularities, is in
good health but is still under observation.
USAF Astronautics Lab is looking again at the idea of a solar-powered
rocket, using large mirrors to heat liquid hydrogen. Space demonstration
possible in mid-90s. Off-axis collectors, permitting pointing the rocket
in any direction, are crucial. A demonstration inflatable collector will
fly as a Getaway Special payload in about 1991. The solar rocket potentially
has double the performance of an oxyhydrogen rocket. Also being looked at
is a flat reflector using a holographic film to make it act (optically) like
a curved surface; the basic idea works, but the necessary concentration
ratio has not yet been demonstrated. One interesting aspect is that the
holographic reflector focuses different wavelengths at different points,
which might be used to focus infrared on the engine and ultraviolet on
solar panels.
--
Those who do not understand Unix are | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
condemned to reinvent it, poorly. | {allegra,ihnp4,decvax,utai}!utzoo!henry