January 2004 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

Google pays homage to Spirit
by Scott Catron 15 Jan '04

15 Jan '04

Check it out: http://www.google.com/

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Orion 80mm ED apo
by Chuck Hards 14 Jan '04

14 Jan '04

Thanks to Jim Gibson for the "heads up": For once I'm ahead of the curve- Orion has raised the price on the 80mm ED OTA to $499.00, a $70 increase. They also now offer the tube assembly on the Sky View Pro EQ mount, $819 with a "free" RA drive, or $868 with a dual-axis drive. A polar alignment scope is $49.95 additional. There is NO mention of finderscope on-line, that I could see, but a straight-through, 25mm-class scope is pictured in the on-line photo. telescope.com Once at the Orion site, using the search term "80mm ED" you will get both items on the same page. C. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Hotjobs: Enter the "Signing Bonus" Sweepstakes http://hotjobs.sweepstakes.yahoo.com/signingbonus

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RE: [Utah-astronomy] President Bush's speech
by Dale Hooper 14 Jan '04

14 Jan '04

I agree that everything you've said, in general, is true. That is why it needs to be broken up into several major milestones - as proposed. Also, I don't mean to advocate pork barrel spending, but there is a way that can help NASA achieve fairly stable political support for a sustained mission and that is to learn the lesson of the supercollider. Initially, most of the politicians thought the supercollider was a great idea - as long as their state had a chance of winning the big bucks. But, once most of the money was awarded to Texas - support evaporated everywhere else. So, the lesson is for NASA to spread money (hopefully wisely) to as many states as is reasonably possible. Spread out the contracts and you increase the political support. > -----Original Message----- > From: Brent Watson [mailto:brentjwatson@yahoo.com] > Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2004 3:21 PM > To: Utah Astronomy > Subject: RE: [Utah-astronomy] President Bush's speech > > > --- Kim Hyatt <khyatt(a)smithlayton.com> wrote: > > > > > Yes, Dale, that's pretty much what I had in mind. I > > also don't care if it > > takes 5, 10 or 50 years to get to the Moon (and > > beyond) - I just would like > > to see a commitment that includes a rational > > approach to manned space > > exploration and steady progress. Both are difficult > > to maintain in our > > culture, but not impossible. > > This is exactly the reason we need to push. This > country has no stomach for long projects. We are too > driven by today, and short term results. Long term > projects have no chance of completion. Even if this > plan is maintained by Pres. Bush, it will be > changed/modified/cancelled/ignored by the next > president who has better places to spend the money. > > >Perhaps more success > > with missions such as > > Spirit will gain support for the process. > > The Apollo missions were cancelled in spite of the > successes they were having. The feeling was that we > were spending too much money on space, and not enough > on social programs. Our push to the Moon lasted a > mere 12+ years, and was cancelled. President > Kennedy's speech was in January of 1960. The project > was cancelled before the flight of Apollo 17 in > December of 1972. > > CNN yesterday morning was already making fun of the > Spirit with comments like "We now know that Mars is > made of dirt and rocks." "The rover will now scoop up > some dirt." The chuckles heard in the background > illustrated the tolerance we have for space projects > even as short as our current Mars probes. > > It is spectacle, and rapid fire achievement that > inspire America. > > > __________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Hotjobs: Enter the "Signing Bonus" Sweepstakes > http://hotjobs.sweepstakes.yahoo.com/signingbonus > > _______________________________________________ > Utah-Astronomy mailing list > Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy > Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com > >

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RE: [Utah-astronomy] President Bush's speech
by Kim Hyatt 14 Jan '04

14 Jan '04

Dale wrote: "...I think building up an infrastructure by achieving mileposts along the way holds the most promise for a sustained lunar (and beyond) presence, which I believe is in agreement with what Kim said." Yes, Dale, that's pretty much what I had in mind. I also don't care if it takes 5, 10 or 50 years to get to the Moon (and beyond) - I just would like to see a commitment that includes a rational approach to manned space exploration and steady progress. Both are difficult to maintain in our culture, but not impossible. Perhaps more success with missions such as Spirit will gain support for the process.

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RE: [Utah-astronomy] President Bush's speech
by Dale Hooper 14 Jan '04

14 Jan '04

We are missing one of the major motivators from the previous push - fear. Certainly as a nation there are still many things that are feared but none of them is a motivator to explore space. Perhaps if the Chinese race to the moon and kick over one of our flags then things would be accelerated. Aside from that, I think building up an infrastructure by achieving mileposts along the way holds the most promise for a sustained lunar (and beyond) presence, which I believe is in agreement with what Kim said. > -----Original Message----- > From: Brent Watson [mailto:brentjwatson@yahoo.com] > Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2004 2:27 PM > To: Utah Astronomy > Subject: RE: [Utah-astronomy] President Bush's speech > > > Bush's time frame is longer than the Apollo time > frame, and we had to develop several > technologies/spacecraft to do it last time. It should > go faster this time - no? We already have a leg up on > the reusable technology. > > Perhaps I don't see the whole picture, but the plan > lacks vision and urgency. The absebce of these items > and the demonstrated lack of stick-to-it-ivness we as > a nation demonstrate, I, sadly, am less than > optimistic that the plan will be accomplished. Too > bad - we need to do this for advancementof our race > IMHO. >

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RE: [Utah-astronomy] President Bush's speech
by Kim Hyatt 14 Jan '04

14 Jan '04

Brent: Perhaps the reasons for the time are (1) $$$$$, and (2) the use of reusable technologies instead of the throwaway technologies of the Apollo program, none of which have been yet developed that can support a return to the Moon. -----Original Message----- From: Brent Watson [mailto:brentjwatson@yahoo.com] Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2004 2:06 PM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] President Bush's speech We have already sent men to the Moon eight times, and landed six of those times. Why is it going to take so long (11 years) to return? As far as "abandoning" the space station, the shuttle, and and HST, this is a natural part of progressing. Spend less time supporting old technology and more developing new technology makes sense. Brent --- Joe Bauman <bau(a)desnews.com> wrote: > Hi Friends, This is the big day. President Bush is > to announce the > country's new space initative at 1 p.m., and I will > be writing a > story about it. If someone wants a comment included > in my article, > pro or con, concerns, encouragement, etc., please > send me a note as > soon as possible after the talk. Please give me your > name as you'd > like it in the paper as well as your city of > residence. As always, I > can't promise that everything I write will get in, > and keep it short > is the newspaper mantra. Thank you, Joe > > _______________________________________________ > Utah-Astronomy mailing list > Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy > Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Hotjobs: Enter the "Signing Bonus" Sweepstakes http://hotjobs.sweepstakes.yahoo.com/signingbonus _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com

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RE: [Utah-astronomy] President Bush's speech
by Dale Hooper 14 Jan '04

14 Jan '04

I also heard: 2008 - Robotic missions to moon 2015 - Extended missions to moon - which I think are the first manned (back to the moon) missions. I think 2020 was a permanent human presence on the moon. I heard the $1 billion earlier as a YEARLY increase. So, I think its unclear whether that is each year or spread out over five years. He welcomed international involvement - but it didn't sound like a main driver. > -----Original Message----- > From: Cynthia Blue [mailto:cynweb@cynthiablue.net] > Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2004 2:16 PM > To: Utah Astronomy > Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] President Bush's speech > > > Okay so nutshell he has 3 goals (correct me if I got it wrong): > > Goal 1: to finish ISS by 2010 and to retire the shuttle in > that same year > > Goal 2: to create this Crew Exploration Vehicle. Get it developed by > 2008 and then flown by 2014 (brief overview provided by NPR) > The main > pupose of this CEV is to have it travel beyond orbit, so it'd > be like a > Moon to Earth and back shuttle craft. > > Goal 3: Return to the moon by 2020. The Moon would then > become a sort > of a launching point for further space exploration including putting > humans on Mars. One of the reasons is because the Moon has > less gravity > and it'd be easier to build, provision, and launch spacecraft > from the > Moon than from Earth. This would include humans living and > working on > the Moon. > > Budget Info: > So currently NASA's budget is $86 Billion. Bush wants to > reallocate $11 > Billion to his new plan, and increase NASAs budget by $1 billion over > the next 5 years. Sounds like he may not want to get too much more > money.. ( $1 billion is a tiny figure compared to...) > > My Input: > I heard on... oh was it the Nova? That it might be a good > idea for Nasa > to have more research funding, for things such as propulsion, as our > current propulsion is just not all that great yet. Also, my own > personal question, would it be advantageous to have more > research into > gravity? I might sound silly here but it seems that it'd be a huge > advantage to determine how to get off of Earth (and all other > planets) > fighting less with gravity. > > It sounds like a pretty good plan to me. I still have my doubts that > it'll actually happen. I look forward to other input from > yous guys. ;) > Cyn > > > -- > http://www.cynthiablue.net > http://www.utahdogs.com > http://www.animalfoster.com > > > _______________________________________________ > Utah-Astronomy mailing list > Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy > Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com > >

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] President Bush's speech
by UTAHDEB＠aol.com 14 Jan '04

14 Jan '04

Joe, Seriously, the American people are concerned about jobs, taxes, health care, and education. We need a better health care system, better education for our kids, and we need to clean up the environment. I'm also concerned about rising budget deficits, the national debt, and inflation. I think if we don't put a stop to this, we are going to be in serious trouble down the road. Congress keeps raising the debt ceiling and pretty soon we are going to have to use astronomical units for the national debt. Politicians spend money like there is no tomorrow. On the other hand, if they can find an innovative way to pay for space exploration without additional taxes I'm all for it. It would be nice to watch a man land on the moon again. But we need to be careful. Debbie

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President Bush's speech
by Joe Bauman 14 Jan '04

14 Jan '04

Hi Friends, This is the big day. President Bush is to announce the country's new space initative at 1 p.m., and I will be writing a story about it. If someone wants a comment included in my article, pro or con, concerns, encouragement, etc., please send me a note as soon as possible after the talk. Please give me your name as you'd like it in the paper as well as your city of residence. As always, I can't promise that everything I write will get in, and keep it short is the newspaper mantra. Thank you, Joe

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C brackets
by Chuck Hards 14 Jan '04

14 Jan '04

I'm planning on cutting some C-brackets next week, if you want one (or two), please let me know. The cutting process isn't fun, so I only want to make as many as needed. Due to the large variety of reflex-type finders on the market, the top platform will be left blank so you can drill holes yourself to accomodate your particular finder (unless we have spoken privately). Thanks to Jim Gibson for finding the 6" aluminum channel for this project! C. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Hotjobs: Enter the "Signing Bonus" Sweepstakes http://hotjobs.sweepstakes.yahoo.com/signingbonus

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