hitchens@ut-sally.UUCP (Ron Hitchens) (03/20/84)
<squish> I have a couple of questions. Is the data collected by the Russian space program made as freely available to the international scientific community as that from our own? As a non-scietific type (just a citizen interested in space) I know almost nothing about the Russian programs, do they try to keep everything secret or do they share what they learn? For example, I just read on this newsgroup about their lunar mission which returned soil samples, was that data passed on to the rest of the world? Since the current topic is space stations, has there been any serious discussion of a joint US-Russia station? The Russians are the current experts in that area. Such a venture would reduce the likelyhood of use for military purposes, as well as attack by either party. Is such a thing politically possible under the Reagan administration? Would it be desirable? Have you read 2010 yet? I read it this weekend, it's great, read it. Ron Hitchens (Open the pod bay doors Hal...)
clardy@smu.UUCP (04/13/84)
#R:ut-sally:-152100:smu:17700002:000:416 smu!clardy Apr 13 15:21:00 1984 /***** SMU:net.space / ut-sally!hitchens / 12:34 am Mar 21, 1984 */ <squish> > For example, I just read on this newsgroup about their lunar mission which > returned soil samples, was that data passed on to the rest of the world? The Russians have *NEVER* returned soil samples from the moon. Yes, I did read the note that said they did, but whoever wrote it was either misinformed or simply ignorant.
ix241@sdccs6.UUCP (05/18/84)
line-eater If this is a repeat posting, my apologies. >The Russians have *NEVER* returned soil samples from the moon. >Yes, I did read the note that said they did, but whoever wrote it >was either misinformed or simply ignorant. Sorry, that is misinformation. The soviets returned at least two small (kilogram size range) samples from the moon. This is a very small fraction of what the Apollo program returned but valuable because they are from other places on the moon. What was cute and normally political for the soviet government was how our lunar scientists got a sample so we could work with it. NASA and the NSF(I think) offered several grams of lunar soil from a couple of Apollo missions in exchange for roughly 200-300 milligrams of Lunokod sample. The US side thought this was fair because we knew and the relevant soviet scientists knew that it would take larger samples for the soviets to get a comparable amount of information to what the US would get from 100 milligrams or less. The soviet government would have none of that. "The Americans are not better!!! We give the same as we get." So we got a couple of grams of theirs and they got a couple of grams of ours. I refer you all to James Oberg's Red Star in Orbit. If you think Kennedy was grandstanding with Apollo, you don't know what grandstanding really is. John Testa UCSD Chemistry sdcsvax!sdccs6!ix241
arlan@inuxd.UUCP (A Andrews) (05/18/84)
Seems to me that indeed the Russians DID retrieve lunar samples with one of their probes, and that it amounted to a few ounces of lunar soil. Anyone who did not know this fact before reading it here is either (1) ill-read on the history of space probes; or (2) just ignorant. --arlan andrews, at&t, indy (home of the colts)
kcarroll@utzoo.UUCP (Kieran A. Carroll) (05/23/84)
* In reply to "The Russians Have *NEVER* returned soil samples from the moon...whoever (said they did) was either misinformed or simply ignorant." Well, I was the one that said they did. I'm not sure if I'm misinformed; if so, then I was misinformed by a usually reliable source: to wit, "Jane's Pocket Book of Space Exploration", by T.M. Wilding-White, which I have open on the desk in front of me. The entry for the "USSR Luna Sample Collector" definitely claims that Luna 16 obtained a 3.5 oz. sample, and strongly indicates that this sample was returned to earth. I could type in the text for the entry, if you wish. Let me know. Now, why do you say the soviets definitely have not returned soil samples from the moon? I agree that the lunar surface isn't made up of soil, but of crushed lunar rock, with an admixture of micro-meteorites, solar particles, cosmic-ray particles, etc. Is this what you meant? -Kieran A. Carroll ...decvax!utzoo!kcarroll
dgd@ukc.UUCP (05/25/84)
>The Russians have *NEVER* returned soil samples from the moon. >Yes, I did read the note that said they did, but whoever wrote it >was either misinformed or simply ignorant. > > smu!clardy Perhaps you know something the rest of us don't. I will give you a reference at the end of this message and then you may assess the last line of your message and judge exactly to whom it might conceivably apply. In 1970 a SOVIET unmanned lander ( LUNA-16) collected and returned to earth some lunar soil fines from the Mare Fecunditas. LUNA-20 landed near Appollinus C. Results have been published and the lunar material has been sent to laboratories around the world (including the lab here at ukc). In case you do not trust the Soviet literature, refer to NASA SP-370 1974 Part II ed.s J.H. Pomeroy and N.J. Hubbard Proceedings of The Soviet-American Conference on Cosmochemistry of the Moon and Planets. Held in Moscow June 4-8 1974. Published by NASA in 1977 With Best Wishes, dgd@ukc