gandalf@pro-canaveral.cts.com (Ken Hollis) (09/28/90)
Greetings and Salutations: I have heard the argument over & over about what would happen if NASA (or any other agency / contractor) actually built a $300 / Lb launcher. The argument for NASA usually goes, if there wasn't a manned space program, then they could work on projects like this. Please consider this. I will agree that there is currently a backlog of launch items, but after those are placed in orbit, what is left? The economics of the situation sez that to make it truly cheap, alot of launches must take place, or else you have to up the price. Who wants to put tons of stuff in orbit? If they do have it to launch, where do they want to put it? Once again with Space Station Freedom, Congress is trying to cut the budget and get NASA to promise more for less money. Would you like to sit in an inflatable module, knowing that there are pieces of meteors flying around outside that have chipped & scarred the heavy windows on the shuttle? I am sure that the studies have been done on these modules as to safety factor, etc, but I guess that I am just old-fashioned. Now for flames from the audience : >From: roberts@cmr.local (John Roberts) >Subject: Re: RTGs >>From: agate!agate!jym@apple.com (Jym Dyer) >>Subject: Re: anti-Ulysses=anti-enviroment >>|F|un fact: The next shuttle after the Challenger was slated to >>`-' carry plutonium into space. For some reason, this did not >> happen. Presumably they thought it was "safe enough" to do >> so before the explosion, but not afterwards. How do we know >> they're right this time? >> <_Jym_> >You're starting from a false premise - that an RTG on Challenger would have >been unacceptably unsafe. RTGs would not be approved for shuttle launch if >it was thought that a shuttle explosion (which was known to >be a possibility...<Rest Deleted>... SURPRISE ! ! ! Galileo & Ulysses were the next TWO launches after Challenger to be launched. Last I Checked (See Mr. Ron Baalke Notes) Gallileo is cruzing somewhere around 1.25 AU from Earth, and doing very nicely launched from the shuttle. The next mission is OV-103, Discovery, with Ulysses in the bay. They both use RTG's as a power source (Nuclear protesters extra...). There has never been any hesitation from NASA as to whether or not sending RTG's up on the shuttle was safe or not. In fact some of the anti-nuke groups have already (for the second time) petitioned federal court to stop the launch. They have a whole two inches of reasoning for this. Knowing NASA, that would just be the index to thier reference material. Ken Hollis
henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) (09/30/90)
In article <4687@crash.cts.com> gandalf@pro-canaveral.cts.com (Ken Hollis) writes: >... Would you like to sit in an >inflatable module, knowing that there are pieces of meteors flying around >outside that have chipped & scarred the heavy windows on the shuttle? I am >sure that the studies have been done on these modules as to safety factor, >etc, but I guess that I am just old-fashioned. You're not just old-fashioned, but actively misinformed, I'm afraid. Any space station will rely substantially on internal pressure for structural strength, and any space station will have walls thin enough to need external protection against debris. The difference between Fred and Livermore's inflatables is a matter of degree, not kind. >SURPRISE ! ! ! Galileo & Ulysses were the next TWO launches after Challenger >to be launched.... Surprise yourself! No they weren't; this is a vulgar Luddite myth. Challenger was launched late in January, and G+U were going into the Jupiter launch window around the beginning of June. There were several intervening flights scheduled. And by the way, launching in June rather than January, Galileo and Ulysses were quite unlikely to experience a Challenger-type accident. The O-ring design wasn't completely immune to problems when warm, but the odds were much better. -- Imagine life with OS/360 the standard | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology operating system. Now think about X. | henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry