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

by Kim Hyatt 14 Jan '04

14 Jan '04

The numbers are a little fuzzy, but if I recall correctly, one space shuttle is worth about less than one week in Iraq. I think the HST is worth maybe ten days. Kim A. Hyatt, AIA SL&A Architects 331 South Rio Grande, Suite 304 Salt Lake City, Utah 84101 Tel: 801.322.5550 x122 Fax: 801.322.5557

1 0

The Speech
by B. Bettilyon 14 Jan '04

14 Jan '04

Every leader, from the Romans on down to today's knows or knew the value of keeping the "governed" entertained. This "new" space initiative, IMHO, is nothing more that an attempt to get our minds off of the falacy of Iraq and its missing WMDs and the equally missing Osama. More worrisome to me is the parallel to what happened to the Russians when they tried to keep up with Ronald Regan as he spent more and more or, at least pretended to spend more and more, on defense. Like it or not, America is broke. We are out of money to spend on stuff like this and China, for one, knows it. As their economy becomes stronger, mostly due to the imbalance of trade, they have announced an aggressive space exploration program and Bush has risen to the bait. As it stands right now, we have saddled our children and grandkids with the unbelievable debt of our social security system and now we are going to bury them with the needless expense of manned space exploration. My .02 Barney Bettilyon

3 2

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

14 Jan '04

Joe, I'm all for the space program. But who is going to pay for it? I say let the illegal aliens that are in this country as "temporary workers" pay for it. Or put a tax on Iraq's oil production. Debbie

3 2

Re: [Utah-astronomy] Ken Croswell
by UTAHDEB＠aol.com 14 Jan '04

14 Jan '04

Ken Croswell gave a talk at the '98 Texas Star Party. He is a great speaker and it sure was interesting. As I recall he gave a talk on extra-solar planets. Debbie

1 0

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

14 Jan '04

My preannouncement thoughts are as follows: I'm surprised how politically polarized we've become as a nation. I belong to several different email lists and I've tried to glean information about this announcement from a number of sources. Sadly, most of the information I've heard seems to be spun (pro and con) in the political direction of the source, reporter or individual. So, I'm anxious to hear the actual talk and find out what he really does and doesn't say. Dale Hooper Hyde Park, UT. > -----Original Message----- > From: Joe Bauman [mailto:bau@desnews.com] > Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2004 7:24 AM > To: utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com > Subject: [Utah-astronomy] President Bush's speech > > > 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 > >

1 0

RE: [Utah-astronomy] ***My thoughts on the HST and ISS Programs
by Lambert, Aaron 14 Jan '04

14 Jan '04

Hello all, I personally am very excited to see changes in the space program. If we build a permanent presence on the moon, it will be able to accomplish most of the things that the ISS is doing, plus much more such as advancing research into new energy and fuel sources. Other research (such as zero-G) can still be accomplished in the capsules during the roughly 6 month flight time (each way) to Mars (for example). Articles in Sky and Telescope I have recently read lead me to believe that the advantage of orbiting telescopes is diminished by recent developments which allow earth-based telescopes to overcome much of the problems of viewing through the atmosphere, and we will most likely have a telescope of some sort on any moon base built. Land scopes (and possibly a moon one) are also cheaper to maintain since they do not require shuttle missions to service. I also believe that we will continue to work with the international community at least on the moon base. Although international cooperation seems to be more of a drag on time and resources it has many intangible benefits such as fostering good will. Certainly I will be sad to see some of the old things go (Space Shuttle, HST, and ISS) but this is mostly for nostalgic reasons. They will be replaced with new things (Moon Base, Mars Lander) that we will learn to be just as fond of. Aaron Lambert -----Original Message----- From: Jim Stitley [mailto:sitf2000@yahoo.com] Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2004 9:04 AM To: Utah Astronomy Cc: Joe Bauman Subject: [Utah-astronomy] ***My thoughts on the HST and ISS Programs I am VERY disappointed that he plans to phase out the ISS and de-orbit HST from what I understand. Both have added greatly to our space experience. I was personally involved in developing the unique rodent feeding system for shuttle flights since the mid 80's and to be used to multi generation studies on ISS. The ISS had purposes in uderstanding zero gravity science and to expand space science into the public and private sector on earth, i.e. new medical developments. The Hubble images and new science speaks for itself!!! We were close to seeing back in distance and time to the beginning of the universe. I cannot see how we could walk away from such far reaching and broad scientific programs that affects many aspects of our lives on earth, as well as in space, for many years to come. Just last night on satellite tv there was a program on ISS and the next generation of yound scientists meeting in Houston - the kids were thrilled about the future for this space program, that may now be going away. How short sighted for both Hubble and the ISS! Jim Stitley 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

1 0

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

14 Jan '04

Yes. -----Original Message----- From: Joe Bauman [mailto:bau@desnews.com] Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2004 8:05 AM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: RE: [Utah-astronomy] President Bush's speech Kim, you live in SLC, right? -- 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

1 0

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

14 Jan '04

Joe: I can offer a few thoughts even before we hear from Mr. Bush. I recall as a child (late 50's - early 60's) that space "dreamers" envisioned a methodical, step-by-step exploration and colonization scenario that would first put a space station in earth orbit and from there shuttle missions to the Moon and perhaps beyond. The Cold-War-inspired "space race" killed any appropriate (emphasis on appropriate) manned space program. This is the first time that I have heard of anything in over 40 years that even approaches what had been envisioned by sensible, rational people in the beginning. [Kim Hyatt] -----Original Message----- From: Joe Bauman [mailto:bau@desnews.com] Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2004 7:24 AM To: utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com Subject: [Utah-astronomy] President Bush's speech 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

2 1

Ken Croswell
by Kim Hyatt 14 Jan '04

14 Jan '04

Some of you may remember that a few years ago SLAS sponsored a visit and presentation from astronomer and science writer Ken Croswell. Ken has been invited to Salt Lake once again; this time his talk will be "Magnificent Mars." Ken has recently completed a new book by the same title to commemorate the recent Mars closest approach and (at least one) successful Mars missions. The U of U College of Science and the U of U Astronomical Society are co-sponsoring this event, to be held on Tuesday, February 24, in the U of U Fine Arts Auditorium, at 7:30 PM. Parking and admission are both free. Please plan to join us for what promises to be a thoughtful and timely presentation on what we know and what we hope to learn about Mars. We will be posting more information, such as how to get to the Fine Arts Auditorium and where to park, in the coming weeks. In the mean time, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me directly. Kim A. Hyatt, AIA SL&A Architects 331 South Rio Grande, Suite 304 Salt Lake City, Utah 84101 Tel: 801.322.5550 x122 Fax: 801.322.5557

1 0

Fwd: (astro) Star/Fog Party with Coffee
by Chuck Hards 13 Jan '04

13 Jan '04

Dan Burn of the U of U club sent me this, thought some list members might be interested. See the stars with the next generation of scientists! The South Physics building is accessible from either the Circle, or First South. Best bet for parking might be the big lot north of Merrill engineering, but I think there is streetside parking on the Circle. C. > Wednesday, January 14th might produce the first of > our 2004 Star Parties. > Keep an eye on the clouds and the fog. If the stars > shine through them > then from 5:45 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. the South Physics > Observatory will open > its doors. > > Jason Sills has arranged for some free Starbucks > Coffee to be served to > warm the body as the stars and planets warm the > mind. Saturn and the > Orion Nebula are looking really good these days. We > are about a month > away from seeing our old friend Jupiter. > > Fogily, > > Dan Burn > Jason Sills > Dave Pawlowski > Liz Gauthier > www.utah.edu/astro > > __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Hotjobs: Enter the "Signing Bonus" Sweepstakes http://hotjobs.sweepstakes.yahoo.com/signingbonus

1 0