gandalf@pro-electric.cts.com (Ken Hollis) (04/24/91)
Greetings and Salutations: From: mac@idacrd.UUCP (Robert McGwier) >...demonstrate why man needs to be launching satellites and >you knew you could rig the release clamp so that it released >but the spring mechanism could be fouled and that it would >be trivial for a spacewalker to fix it ... I don't think so. If you had read the news, you would have seen that there was attempts to free the stuck antenna by rotating the arm back and forth. Then and only then did they send someone out. Taking space walks is not completely without it's risks. There is also too much chance of damage to the satellite when man gets around it, and there are no protective covers (?someone said something about one of the space walkers saying "WATCH YOUR FEET"?). There also is the possibility of NOT being able to fix the stuck latch, and suffering the great embarrassment of bringing the sucker back home to fix. Nothing is trivial in the environment of space. It is completely unforgiving of mistakes. A man said to the Universe: "Sir, I exist!" "However," replied the Universe, "the fact has not created in me a sense of obligation." -- Stephen Crane From:mikeu@pro-magic >I've watched a number of shuttle take offs at KSC, but I've never seen a >landing there. where is/are the best place(s) to see the shuttle land if >Kennedy is chosen instead of Edwards? What is the orientation of the >runway? Is it likely based on wind that the shuttle could land in one of >the two directions, or is only one of the directions acceptable? Mike Ungerman The runway at KSC is oriented 33/15 (330 Degrees / 150 Degrees), almost North / South. The runway designation for landing is decided according to the winds. Probably the best place to see would be along NASA causeway. Last landing took the shuttle over Orlando, and they used runway 33 (landing from south to north). For runway 15, probably the road to Playalinda beach would be best. I am not sure what security precautions are taken, these roads might be closed. From: shafer@skipper.dfrf.nasa.gov (Mary Shafer) Subject: Re: Nasa select video and the Shuttle globe display >Someone asked about the software to do this. There is available (somewhere) the software called "SPOC" that runs on the laptop that the astronauts use in the cabin. All it shows is the current position of the shuttle. However, you need lots of neat numbers to input like position, speed, launch date & time, etc. If I remember right, it is available on Genie. By the way, someone asked about automatic reentry of the vehicle. From what I understand about the GPC's (General Purpose Computers) about the only human intervention needed is the final flare right at touchdown and the gear drop initiation. When the GPC's are controlling, the adjustments to the flight surfaces are very small, and when the astronauts take over, the oscillations increase noticeably. Ken Hollis ---- ProLine: gandalf@pro-electric Internet: gandalf@pro-electric.cts.com UUCP: crash!pro-electric!gandalf ARPA: crash!pro-electric!gandalf@nosc.mil