ESG7@DFVLROP1.BITNET (11/22/86)
Paul Dietz is right (as usual) about the ATF being seriously compromised
by mounting it on the Space Station. The thing is designed to be a free
flyer and **not** man tended. Also its whole mission is based on high
precision pointing which is completely compromised by mounting it on the
Station. I see this as a classic example of engineering ethics being
compromised for the sake of flakey, short term politics. This is the
same sort of stupidity that NASA Headquarters was doing with the
Shuttle and ELVs. If they can't find enough legitimate projects to
justify the Space Station then they need to reevaluate why they're
building the thing in the first place. Paul did have one minor
glitch in his last posting (probably his source was faulty). Paul
claimed that the ATF can detect earth-like worlds. However the AIAA
1986 report "Astrometric Telescope Facility: Status Report" written by
the NASA Ames people running the project states: The ATF can "detect
Uranus/Neptune-class planets (i.e. masses as small as 15 Earth masses)
through astrometric measurement of the star's motion." ATF doesn't have
the resolution for earth-like worlds. My own opinion is that the ATF
may actually be redundant, since the HST could in principle be
retrofitted with astrometry equipment after it has performed its primary
mission as currently configured. Since the HST is designed to be
recovered, returned to Earth and easily modified, this strikes me as
a much more cost effective approach to the important work of astrometry.
Gary Allen