eugene@statvax.UUCP (Eugene miya) (02/12/84)
It surprises me to read this Bboard sometimes. Today I see yet-another failed attempt private attempt to get into space. I think they can appreciate how difficult it is to scale technology when physics does not scale as well. It surprises me that I haven't seen more about private space ventures in this Bboard. I wish them all the luck in the world. I choose to work for NASA because it gets past many of the hurtles that private space ventures have to overcome, but I wonder if my talents would not be better served by ESSA or the Japanese space agency. Any discussion of this would be appreciated (as well as private space). Lastly, the infamous shuttle tiles were developed here (I have learned). I know that are lots of reject tiles. I have a friend with lots of money. For $50,000 starting funding, he would be interested in making a `model' reentry vehicle with the use of student labor. We have made informal approaches to the physics Depts at Caltech and UC Santa Barbara. The idea is taken from model airplanes. The idea would be to `crack' the ionization reentry communications problem on a small scale. Current NASA procedures does not allow reentry craft to leave the Shuttle, but this will eventually change. To assist my friend, I gave him a contact at NASA HQ where we obtained the payload contact list (This list is not an open list, sorry). Anyway, getting back to the tiles: remember Paul MacCready and the Gossamer Penguin (solar powered airplane). The solar cells used to power that plane were reject JPL solar cells. Our thinking is to use reject shuttle title material for re-entry craft. This is totally in the realm of capability. The U of Utah is doing a solar sail project entirely on private funding. Interested parties should contact me directly as my friend is not on the net. This isn't enough to take me out of NASA, but it is an interesting idea that I would put some personal time into it. --eugene miya NASA ARC