July 2005 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

Shunning the shuttle
by Patrick Wiggins 21 Jul '05

21 Jul '05

Soem food for thought (and possible discussion) from MSNBC. Shunning the shuttle: What's wrong with the shuttle? http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3217961/ Patrick

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Re: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Shunning the shuttle
by astrodeb＠charter.net 21 Jul '05

21 Jul '05

Is it better for "single" men or women to go up in space rather than married men or women? I remember back when the Challenger disaster happened Christa's (the teacher) little girl begged her not to go. Where do you draw the line between family and science? Hot and smoky here in St. George, Debbie > > From: Chuck Hards <chuckhards(a)yahoo.com> > Date: 2005/07/21 Thu PM 01:06:01 MDT > To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> > Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Shunning the shuttle > > Hopefully both are better than once per 100 > "missions"! > > --- diveboss(a)xmission.com wrote: > > > > I don't know. What IS the loss rate for Boeing and > > Winnebago? > > > > > ____________________________________________________ > Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page > http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs > > > _______________________________________________ > 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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Apollo 11
by Michael Carnes 21 Jul '05

21 Jul '05

Guy just shared quite a short reminiscence of his own Apollo 11 memories (great story, Guy), so it seems appropriate to share mine. ...... In those days, I worked and traveled as a musician. It just so happens that in the summer of 1969, I was working in Titusville and Cocoa Beach, Florida. My rented apartment was on U.S. 1(?), a two- lane highway directly across from the Cape. In the days leading up to the launch, I just had to stand in my yard to watch the Saturn rollout from the V.A.B. Even at a distance of 10 miles, that rocket was enormous. The crowds began to pour in about a day before launch time. By nightfall, they were parked 3-deep on each side of the highway for the entire 20 miles between Titusville and Cocoa. The road was closed and became the biggest block party I've ever seen. People set their grills up in the middle of the highway, sharing meals and wandering around meeting other people from around the country. They slept in their cars, in the road and in yards. It was a very different America in those days. Not perfect by any means, but certainly less suspicious of itself. I didn't see anything but happy, excited behavior. Focus was not on the war, not on politics, but on one hell of a ride that three brave men were about to take. On launch day, the largest-ever gathering of lawn chairs in history was facing the Cape. Small televisions popped up and were plugged into drop cords up and down the strip. The launch ritual proceeded and the Saturn V gradually rose into the air--in silence. It took nearly a minute for the sound to reach the highway. When it finally got to us, the ground shook underfoot. The day had a bit of overcast, so the rocket was nearly out of sight by then. The rumble continue for a while, and then the party was over. I sat in my yard over the next several hours and watched the largest traffic jam I've ever seen. Then it was over. The remainder of the mission was played out with scratchy audio and grainy video images. But what a show. What a show. Michael Carnes home.earthlink.net/~MichaelCarnes

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Apollo 11
by Michael Carnes 21 Jul '05

21 Jul '05

>So, any bets on when the US will put someone on Mars? Not before 2030 (and I think that's optimistic). Bet you a beer (er, diet pepsi) on that one. The parallel question is when will the Chinese land someone on Mars.

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Scottie
by Michael Carnes 21 Jul '05

21 Jul '05

By now, most of you are aware that Jimmy Doohan (Scotty from Star Trek) died this morning. Most of us in the engineering profession can trace some amount of inspiration to his over-the-top character. Of course, the reality of engineering is a bit different. Scotty would insist that a problem required a day to solve. Kirk would give him five minutes and Scotty would always come through. In real engineering, we tell management that a project will take 6 months. Management insists that we complete it in three weeks. But it still takes us 6 months. You gotta hope that Jimmy Doohan's last words were "Beam me up". Michael Carnes MichaelCarnes(a)earthlink.net home.earthlink.net/~MichaelCarnes

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Very confident (I hope so)
by Patrick Wiggins 21 Jul '05

21 Jul '05

Watching NASA TV a few minutes ago I heard something that really got my attention. All of us space geeks on this list probably know that during a shuttle launch the SMEs light first and then there is a few seconds delay before they light the SRBs. What I did not know is that after they light the SMEs but BEFORE they light the SRBs the explosive bolts that hold the whole shuttle stack in place on the ground are detonated. Made me wonder what would happen if the SRBs did not light. The guy conducting the briefing must have guessed people were wondering that as he quickly noted they are very confident the SRBs will light. Patrick

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sunspots
by Chuck Hards 20 Jul '05

20 Jul '05

The sun is featureless. No spots at all, at least none large enough to see at 16X. 101F outdoors 88F shop 67F office ;) 1:30 PM MDT NSL ____________________________________________________ Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

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Launch tomorrow (Thursday) morning
by Patrick Wiggins 20 Jul '05

20 Jul '05

An unarmed Minuteman III missile is scheduled for launch from Vandenberg tomorrow morning. The launch window is from 2:01 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. MDT. The missile's single unarmed re-entry vehicle is expected to travel approximately 6,800 kilometers in about 30 minutes, hitting a pre-determined target near Joe Bauman's old home at the Kwajalein Missile Range in the Marshall Islands. I mention this because these launches are sometimes visible (sometimes VERY visible) from northern Utah. I saw one launch from the Midvale Harmons and another from SPOC. Patrick

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] sunspots
by Michael Carnes 20 Jul '05

20 Jul '05

Yeah I saw it. Pretty impressive. Anyone catch the sun last night just as it was setting? It can't recall ever seeing the sun that red, or, that sharp and clear without any visual aids. Those fires do make for nice sunsets... Quoting Chuck Hards <chuckhards(a)yahoo.com>: > The sun is featureless. No spots at all, at least > none large enough to see at 16X. > > 101F outdoors 88F shop 67F office ;) 1:30 PM MDT NSL > > > > ____________________________________________________ > Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page > http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs > > > _______________________________________________ > 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 > _______________________________________________ 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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Attention SPOC Users
by Patrick Wiggins 19 Jul '05

19 Jul '05

SPOC Observatory Director Bruce Grim has asked me to get the word out about a problem that came up at SPOC during last Saturday's star party. Complete details in today's issue of News, but here are the highlights: The guy in charge of the property on which SPOC sits noticed several vehicles entering the site by driving around the back side of the ball fields. He was not amused. And someone apparently made matters worse by arguing with him. 1) If you need to drive onto the site PLEASE use the gate located by the skateboard park. Since not everyone had a key to the old lock Bruce has replaced it with a combination lock. The combination is 1357. 2) If you are at SPOC and anyone with the organization that owns the land approaches you PLEASE don't argue. If there is a problem please refer them to Bruce. Patrick

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