This is the FAQ list from sci.space on Usenet. ---------------------------------------------- CONTACTING NASA, ESA, AND OTHER SPACE AGENCIES/COMPANIES Many space activities center around large Government or International Bureaucracies. In the US that means NASA. If you have basic information requests: (e.g., general PR info, research grants, data, limited tours, and ESPECIALLY SUMMER EMPLOYMENT (typically resumes should be ready by Jan. 1), etc.), consider contacting the nearest NASA Center to answer your questions. EMail typically will not get you any where, computers are used by investigators, not PR people. The typical volume of mail per Center is a multiple of 10,000 letters a day. Seek the Public Information Office at one of the below, this is their job: NASA (The National Aeronautics and Space Administration) is the civilian space agency of of the United States Federal Government. It reports directly to the White House and is not a Cabinet post such as the military Department of Defense. Its 20K+ employees are civil servants and hence US citizens. Another 100K+ contractors also work for NASA. NASA CENTERS NASA Headquarters (NASA HQ) Washington DC 20546 Ask them questions about policy, money, and things of political nature. Direct specific questions to the appropriate center. NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) Moffett Field, CA 94035 Some aeronautical research, atmosphere reentry, Mars and Venus planetary atmospheres. "Lead center" for Helicopter research, V/STOL, etc. Runs Pioneer series of space probes. NASA Ames Research Center Dryden Flight Research Facility [DFRF] P. O. Box 273 Edwards, CA 93523 Aircraft, mostly. Tested the shuttle orbiter landing characteristics. Developed X-1, D-558, X-3, X-4, X-5, XB-70, and of course, the X-15. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Greenbelt, MD 20771 [Outside of Washington DC] Earth orbiting unmanned satellites and sounding rockets. Developed LANDSAT. NASA Lewis Research Center (LeRC) 21000 Brookpark Rd. Cleveland, OH 44135 Aircraft/Rocket propulsion. Space power generation. Materials research. NASA Johnson Manned Space Center (JSC) Houston, TX 77058 JSC manages Space Shuttle, ground control of manned missions. Astronaut training. Manned mission simulators. NASA Kennedy Space Flight Center (KSC) Titusville, FL 32899 Space launch center. You know this one. NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Huntsville, AL 35812 Development, production, delivery of Solid Rocket Boosters, External Tank, Orbiter main engines. Propulsion and launchers. NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) Hampton, VA 23665 [Near Newport News, VA] Original NASA site. Specializes in theoretical and experimental flight dynamics. Viking. Long Duration Exposure Facility. Wallops Flight Center Wallops Island, Virginia 23337 Aeronautical research, sounding rockets, Scout launcher. Jet Propulsion Laboratory [JPL/CIT] California Institute of Technology 4800 Oak Grove Dr. Pasadena, CA 91109 The "heavies" in planetary research probes and other unmanned projects (they also had a lot to do with IRAS). They run Voyager, Magellan, Galileo, and will run Cassini, CRAF, etc. etc.. For images, probe navigation, and other info about unmanned exploration, this is the place to go. JPL is run under contract for NASA by the nearby California Institute of Technology, unlike the NASA centers above. This distinction is subtle but critical. JPL has different requirements for unsolicited research proposals and summer hires. For instance in the latter, an SF 171 is useless. Employees are Caltech employees, contractors, and for the most part have similar responsibilities. They offer an alternative to funding after other NASA Centers. Manager, Technology Utilization Office NASA Scientific and Technical Information Facility Post Office Box 8757 Baltimore, Maryland 21240 Specific requests for software must go thru COSMIC at the Univ. of Georgia, NASA's contracted software redistribution service. You can reach them at cosmic@uga.bitnet. NOTE: Foreign nationals requesting information must go through their Embassies in Washington DC. These are facilities of the US Government and are regarded with some degree of economic sensitivity. Centers cannot directly return information without high Center approval. Allow at least 1 month for clearance. This includes COSMIC. The US Air Force Space Command can be contacted thru the Pentagon along with other Department of Defense offices. They have unacknowledged offices in Los Angeles, Sunnyvale, Colorado Springs, and other locations. They have a budget which rivals NASA in size. EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY 955 L'Enfant Plaza S.W. Washington, D.C. 20024 (202)-488-4158 ARIANESPACE HEADQUARTERS Boulevard de l'Europe B.P. 177 91006 Evry Cedex France ARIANESPACE, INC. 1747 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Suite 875 Washington, DC 20006 (202)-728-9075 SPOT IMAGE CORPORATION 1857 Preston White Drive, Reston, VA 22091 (FAX) (703)-648-1813 (703)-620-2200 NATIONAL SPACE DEVELOPMENT AGENCY (NASDA) 4-1 Hamamatsu-Cho, 2 Chome Minato-Ku, Tokyo 105, JAPAN SOYUZKARTA 45 Vologradsij Pr. Moscow 109125 USSR SPACE COMMERCE CORPORATION (U.S. agent for Soviet launch services) 504 Pluto Drive 69th flr, Texas Commerce Tower Colorado Springs, CO 80906 Houston, TX 77002 (719)-578-5490 (713)-227-9000 SPACE CAMP Alabama Space and Rocket Center U.S. SPACE CAMP 1 Tranquility Base 6225 Vectorspace Blvd Huntsville, AL 35805 Titusville FL 32780 (205)-837-3400 (407)267-3184 Registration and mailing list are handled through Huntsville -- both camps are described in the same brochure. Programs offered at Space Camp are: Space Camp - one week, youngsters completing grades 4-6 Space Academy I - one week, grades 7-9 Aviation Challenge - one week high school program, grades 9-11 Space Academy II - 8 days, college accredited, grades 10-12 Adult Program - 3 days (editorial comment: it's great!) Teachers Program - 5 days OTHER COMMERCIAL SPACE BUSINESSES Vincent Cate maintains a list with addresses and some info for a variety of companies in space-related businesses. This is mailed out on the space-investors list he runs (see the "Network Resources" FAQ) and is also available by anonymous ftp from furmint.nectar.cs.cmu.edu (128.2.209.111) in /usr/vac/ftp/space-companies. SCHEDULES FOR SPACE MISSIONS, AND HOW TO SEE THEM SHUTTLE LAUNCHINGS AND LANDINGS; SCHEDULES AND HOW TO SEE THEM Shuttle operations are discussed in the Usenet group sci.space.shuttle. NASA shuttle status reports are posted in a timely fashion. The Kennedy Space Center Public Affairs Office has a number you can call for a recording which gives launch dates for the year ahead. Call (407) 867-4636. Remember that launches may often be postponed, and plan accordingly. The following schedule was obtained from the January, 1992 NASA shuttle flight manifest. I will try to keep it current, but do not plan trips based on these dates (some of them are likely wrong already). Call the KSC number for up to date information. STS-# Date Orbiter-Flight Payload ----------------------------------------------------- 45 Apr 92 Atlantis-11 ATLAS-1, SSBUV-A1 49 May 92 Endeavour-01 INTELSAT VI Reboost, ASEM 50 Jun 92 Columbis-12 USML-1, EDO 46 Aug 92 Atlantis-12 TSS-1, EURECA-1L 47 Sep 92 Endeavour-02 SL-J, GAS Bridge 52 Sep 92 Columbis-13 LAGEOS II, USMP-1, ASP 53 Dec 92 Discovery-15 DOD-1 (Department of Defence) There are two ways to see shuttle landings at Edwards AFB, listed in order of restrictiveness of access. 1. The public viewing area on the lakebed. Take Hwy 14 to Avenue F and follow the signs. This area is opened about 2 days before the scheduled touchdown. The viewing area is an unimproved area so don't expect many amenities. I think that there are sanitary facilities and that food and drinks can be purchased. It's suggested that you bring food and water Nothing is required for access to this area. (I've never been to this area, so I can't speak from personal knowledge.) 2. The hillside viewing area. This is on the hillside, just above Ames-Dryden, and requires a special pass. This pass is good for one vehicle, with any number of passengers. You can't enter the Ames-Dryden complex but you can walk down the hill to the cafeteria and the giftshop, etc. More amenities, including radio transmissions from the Shuttle and JSC. Some of us believe that this area has the BEST view of the landing. To obtain a hillside pass, write to: NASA Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility Attn: Ms. Cei Kratz, Public Affairs Office P.O. Box 273 Edwards, CA 92523-5000 Do this early, because there is a limited amount of space. If you get these and then discover that you can't attend, please try to pass them on to someone else who can use them. Incidently, there is _no_ charge. Wear warm clothes! Forget the myth that the desert is always hot, it's cool to cold when the sun's down. If it's much warmer, it's because the wind is blowing. Hillside Guests will be sitting up on metal bleachers. The portions of their anatomy in contact with the bleachers (feet and seat) may get _real_ cold. HOW TO RECEIVE THE NASA TV CHANNEL, NASA SELECT NASA SELECT is broadcast by satellite. If you have access to a satellite dish, you can find SELECT on Satcom F2R, Transponder 13, C-Band, 72 degrees West Longitude, Audio 6.8, Frequency 3960 MHz. F2R is stationed over the Atlantic, and is increasingly difficult to receive from California and points west. During events of special interest (e.g. shuttle missions), SELECT is sometimes broadcast on a second satellite for these viewers. If you can't get a satellite feed, some cable operators carry SELECT. It's worth asking if yours doesn't. The SELECT schedule is found in the NASA Headline News which is frequently posted to sci.space. Generally it carries press conferences, briefings by NASA officials, and live coverage of shuttle missions and planetary encounters. SELECT has recently begun carrying much more secondary material (associated with SPACELINK) when missions are not being covered. DIAL-A-SHUTTLE AND HOW TO USE IT Dial-A-Shuttle is a pay-per-call (900) service run by the National Space Society during shuttle missions. Call (909)-909-6272 24 bours a day from two hours before launch to the post-landing press conference. Include live communications between the astronauts and Mission Control and special updates and interviews. Cost is $2/first minute + $0.45/additional minutes. Limited to US and maybe Canada. NASA SELECT offers better coverage (for free) if you can get it. AMATEUR RADIO FREQUENCIES FOR SHUTTLE MISSIONS The following are believed to rebroadcast space shuttle mission audio: W6FXN - Los Angeles K6MF - San Francisco Bay Area WA3NAN - Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, Maryland. W5RRR - Johnson Space Center (JSC), Houston, Texas W6VIO - Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, California. W1AW Voice Bulletins Station VHF 10m 15m 20m 40m 80m ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ----- ----- W6FXN 145.46 K6MF 145.58 7.165 3.840 WA3NAN 147.45 28.650 21.395 14.295 7.185 3.860 WA3NAN 147.46 W5RRR 146.64 28.400 21.350 14.280 7.227 3.850 W6VIO 224.04 21.340 14.270 W6VIO 224.04 21.280 14.282 7.165 3.840 W1AW 28.590 21.390 14.290 7.290 3.990 Frequencies in the 10-20m bands require USB and frequencies in the 40 and 80m bands LSB. Use FM for the VHF frequencies. PLANETARY PROBES - HISTORICAL MISSIONS This section was lightly adapted from an original posting by Larry Klaes (klaes@verga.enet.dec.com), mostly minor formatting changes. Matthew Wiener (weemba@libra.wistar.upenn.edu) contributed the section on Voyager, and the section on Sakigake was obtained from ISAS material posted by Yoshiro Yamada (yamada@yscvax.ysc.go.jp). US PLANETARY MISSIONS MARINER (VENUS, MARS, & MERCURY FLYBYS AND ORBITERS) MARINER 1, the first U.S. attempt to send a spacecraft to Venus, failed minutes after launch in 1962. The guidance instructions from the ground stopped reaching the rocket due to a problem with its antenna, so the onboard computer took control. However, there turned out to be a bug in the guidance software, and the rocket promptly went off course, so the Range Safety Officer destroyed it. Although the bug is sometimes claimed to have been an incorrect FORTRAN DO statement, it was actually a transcription error in which the bar (indicating smoothing) was omitted from the expression "R-dot-bar sub n" (nth smoothed value of derivative of radius). This error led the software to treat normal minor variations of velocity as if they were serious, leading to incorrect compensation. MARINER 2 became the first successful probe to flyby Venus in December of 1962, and it returned information which confirmed that Venus is a very hot (800 degrees Farenheit, now revised to 900 degrees F.) world with a cloud-covered atmosphere composed primarily of carbon dioxide (sulfuric acid was later confirmed in 1978). MARINER 3, launched on November 5, 1964, was lost when its protective shroud failed to eject as the craft was placed into interplanetary space. Unable to collect the Sun's energy for power from its solar panels, the probe soon died when its batteries ran out and is now in solar orbit. It was intended for a Mars flyby with MARINER 4. MARINER 4, the sister probe to MARINER 3, did reach Mars in 1965 and took the first close-up images of the Martian surface (22 in all) as it flew by the planet. The probe found a cratered world with an atmosphere much thinner than previously thought. Many scientists concluded from this preliminary scan that Mars was a "dead" world in both the geological and biological sense. MARINER 5 was sent to Venus in 1967. It reconfirmed the data on that planet collected five years earlier by MARINER 2, plus the information that Venus' atmospheric pressure at its surface is at least 90 times that of Earth's, or the equivalent of being 3,300 feet under the surface of an ocean. MARINER 6 and 7 were sent to Mars in 1969 and expanded upon the work done by MARINER 4 four years earlier. However, they failed to take away the concept of Mars as a "dead" planet, first made from the basic measurements of MARINER 4. MARINER 8 ended up in the Atlantic Ocean in 1971 when the rocket launcher autopilot failed. MARINER 9, the sister probe to MARINER 8, became the first craft to orbit Mars in 1971. It returned information on the Red Planet that no other probe had done before, revealing huge volcanoes on the Martian surface, as well as giant canyon systems, and evidence that water once flowed across the planet. The probe also took the first detailed closeup images of Mars' two small moons, Phobos and Deimos. MARINER 10 used Venus as a gravity assist to Mercury in 1974. The probe did return the first close-up images of the Venusian atmosphere in ultraviolet, revealing previously unseen details in the cloud cover, plus the fact that the entire cloud system circles the planet in four Earth days. MARINER 10 eventually made three flybys of Mercury from 1974 to 1975 before running out of attitude control gas. The probe revealed Mercury as a heavily cratered world with a mass much greater than thought. This would seem to indicate that Mercury has an iron core which makes up 75 percent of the entire planet. PIONEER (MOON, SUN, VENUS, JUPITER, and SATURN FLYBYS AND ORBITERS) PIONEER 1 through 3 failed to meet their main objective - to photograph the Moon close-up - but they did reach far enough into space to provide new information on the area between Earth and the Moon, including new data on the Van Allen radiation belts circling Earth. All three craft had failures with their rocket launchers. PIONEER 1 was launched on October 11, 1958, PIONEER 2 on November 8, and PIONEER 3 on December 6. PIONEER 4 was a Moon probe which missed the Moon and became the first U.S. spacecraft to orbit the Sun in 1959. PIONEER 5 was originally designed to flyby Venus, but the mission was scaled down and it instead studied the interplanetary environment between Venus and Earth out to 36.2 million kilometers in 1960, a record until MARINER 2. PIONEER 6 through 9 were placed into solar orbit from 1965 to 1968: PIONEER 6, 7, and 8 are still transmitting information at this time. PIONEER E (would have been number 10) suffered a launch failure in 1969. PIONEER 10 became the first spacecraft to flyby Jupiter in 1973. PIONEER 11 followed it in 1974, and then went on to become the first probe to study Saturn in 1979. Both vehicles should continue to function through 1995 and are heading off into interstellar space, the first craft ever to do so. PIONEER Venus 1 (1978) (also known as PIONEER Venus Orbiter, or PIONEER 12) is still orbiting Venus and returning data to Earth. It is expected to enter the Venusian atmosphere and burn up in 1992. PVO made the first radar studies of the planet's surface via probe. PIONEER Venus 2 (also known as PIONEER 13) sent four small probes into the atmosphere in December of 1978. The main spacecraft bus burned up high in the atmosphere, while the four probes descended by parachute towards the surface. Though none were expected to survive to the surface, the Day probe did make it and transmitted for 67.5 minutes on the ground before its batteries failed. RANGER (LUNAR LANDER AND IMPACT MISSIONS) RANGER 1 and 2 were test probes for the RANGER lunar impact series. They were meant for high Earth orbit testing in 1961, but rocket problems left them in useless low orbits which quickly decayed. RANGER 3, launched on January 26, 1962, was intended to land an instrument capsule on the surface of the Moon, but problems during the launch caused the probe to miss the Moon and head into solar orbit. RANGER 3 did try to take some images of the Moon as it flew by, but the camera was unfortunately aimed at deep space during the attempt. RANGER 4, launched April 23, 1962, had the same purpose as RANGER 3, but suffered technical problems enroute and crashed on the lunar farside, the first U.S. probe to reach the Moon, albeit without returning data. RANGER 5, launched October 18, 1962 and similar to RANGER 3 and 4, lost all solar panel and battery power enroute and eventually missed the Moon and drifted off into solar orbit. RANGER 6 through 9 had more modified lunar missions: They were to send back live images of the lunar surface as they headed towards an impact with the Moon. RANGER 6 failed this objective in 1964 when its cameras did not operate. RANGER 7 through 9 performed well, becoming the first U.S. lunar probes to return thousands of lunar images through 1965. LUNAR ORBITER (LUNAR SURFACE PHOTOGRAPHY) LUNAR ORBITER 1 through 5 were designed to orbit the Moon and image various sites being studied as landing areas for the manned APOLLO missions of 1969-1972. The probes also contributed greatly to our understanding of lunar surface features, particularly the lunar farside. All five probes of the series, launched from 1966 to 1967, were essentially successful in their missions. They were the first U.S. probes to orbit the Moon. All LOs were eventually crashed into the lunar surface to avoid interference with the manned APOLLO missions. SURVEYOR (LUNAR SOFT LANDERS) The SURVEYOR series were designed primarily to see if an APOLLO lunar module could land on the surface of the Moon without sinking into the soil (before this time, it was feared by some that the Moon was covered in great layers of dust, which would not support a heavy landing vehicle). SURVEYOR was successful in proving that the lunar surface was strong enough to hold up a spacecraft from 1966 to 1968. Only SURVEYOR 2 and 4 were unsuccessful missions. The rest became the first U.S. probes to soft land on the Moon, taking thousands of images and scooping the soil for analysis. APOLLO 12 landed 600 feet from SURVEYOR 3 in 1969 and returned parts of the craft to Earth. SURVEYOR 7, the last of the series, was a purely scientific mission which explored the Tycho crater region in 1968. VIKING (MARS ORBITERS AND LANDERS) VIKING 1 was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida on August 20, 1975 on a TITAN 3E-CENTAUR D1 rocket. The probe went into Martian orbit on June 19, 1976, and the lander set down on the western slopes of Chryse Planitia on July 20, 1976. It soon began its programmed search for Martian micro-organisms (there is still debate as to whether the probes found life there or not), and sent back incredible color panoramas of its surroundings. One thing scientists learned was that Mars' sky was pinkish in color, not dark blue as they originally thought (the sky is pink due to sunlight reflecting off the reddish dust particles in the thin atmosphere). The lander set down among a field of red sand and boulders stretching out as far as its cameras could image. The VIKING 1 orbiter kept functioning until August 7, 1980, when it ran out of attitude-control propellant. The lander was switched into a weather-reporting mode, where it had been hoped it would keep functioning through 1994; but after November 13, 1982, an errant command had been sent to the lander accidentally telling it to shut down until further orders. Communication was never regained again, despite the engineers' efforts through May of 1983. An interesting side note: VIKING 1's lander has been designated the Thomas A. Mutch Memorial Station in honor of the late leader of the lander imaging team. The National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. is entrusted with the safekeeping of the Mutch Station Plaque until it can be attached to the lander by a manned expedition. VIKING 2 was launched on September 9, 1975, and arrived in Martian orbit on August 7, 1976. The lander touched down on September 3, 1976 in Utopia Planitia. It accomplished essentially the same tasks as its sister lander, with the exception that its seisometer worked, recording one marsquake. The orbiter had a series of attitude-control gas leaks in 1978, which prompted it being shut down that July. The lander was shut down on April 12, 1980. The orbits of both VIKING orbiters should decay around 2025. VOYAGER (OUTER PLANET FLYBYS) VOYAGER 1 was launched September 5, 1977, and flew past Jupiter on March 5, 1979 and by Saturn on November 13, 1980. VOYAGER 2 was launched August 20, 1977 (before VOYAGER 1), and flew by Jupiter on August 7, 1979, by Saturn on August 26, 1981, by Uranus on January 24, 1986, and by Neptune on August 8, 1989. VOYAGER 2 took advantage of a rare once-every-189-years alignment to slingshot its way from outer planet to outer planet. VOYAGER 1 could, in principle, have headed towards Pluto, but JPL opted for the sure thing of a Titan close up. Between the two probes, our knowledge of the 4 giant planets, their satellites, and their rings has become immense. VOYAGER 1&2 discovered that Jupiter has complicated atmospheric dynamics, lightning and aurorae. Three new satellites were discovered. Two of the major surprises were that Jupiter has rings and that Io has active sulfurous volcanoes, with major effects on the Jovian magnetosphere. When the two probes reached Saturn, they discovered over 1000 ringlets and 7 satellites, including the predicted shepherd satellites that keep the rings stable. The weather was tame compared with Jupiter: massive jet streams with minimal variance (a 33-year great white spot/band cycle is known). Titan's atmosphere was smoggy. Mimas' appearance was startling: one massive impact crater gave it the Death Star appearance. The big surprise here was the stranger aspects of the rings. Braids, kinks, and spokes were both unexpected and difficult to explain. VOYAGER 2, thanks to heroic engineering and programming efforts, continued the mission to Uranus and Neptune. Uranus itself was highly monochromatic in appearance. One oddity was that its magnetic axis was found to be highly skewed from the already completely skewed rotational axis, giving Uranus a peculiar magnetosphere. Icy channels were found on Ariel, and Miranda was a bizarre patchwork of different terrains. 10 satellites and one more ring were discovered. In contrast to Uranus, Neptune was found to have rather active weather, including numerous cloud features. The ring arcs turned out to be bright patches on one ring. Two other rings, and 6 other satellites, were discovered. Neptune's magnetic axis was also skewed. Triton had a canteloupe appearance and geysers. (What's liquid at 38K?) The two VOYAGERs are expected to last for about two more decades. Their on-target journeying gives negative evidence about possible planets beyond Pluto. Their next major scientific discovery should be the location of the heliopause. SOVIET PLANETARY MISSIONS Since there have been so many Soviet probes to the Moon, Venus, and Mars, I will highlight only the primary missions: SOVIET LUNAR PROBES LUNA 1 - Lunar impact attempt in 1959, missed Moon and became first craft in solar orbit. LUNA 2 - First craft to impact on lunar surface in 1959. LUNA 3 - Took first images of lunar farside in 1959. ZOND 3 - Took first images of lunar farside in 1965 since LUNA 3. Was also a test for future Mars missions. LUNA 9 - First probe to soft land on the Moon in 1966, returned images from surface. LUNA 10 - First probe to orbit the Moon in 1966. LUNA 13 - Second successful Soviet lunar soft landing mission in 1966. ZOND 5 - First successful circumlunar craft. ZOND 6 through 8 accomplished similar missions through 1970. The probes were unmanned tests of a manned orbiting SOYUZ-type lunar vehicle. LUNA 16 - First probe to land on Moon and return samples of lunar soil to Earth in 1970. LUNA 20 accomplished similar mission in 1972. LUNA 17 - Delivered the first unmanned lunar rover to the Moon's surface, LUNOKHOD 1, in 1970. A similar feat was accomplished with LUNA 21/LUNOKHOD 2 in 1973. LUNA 24 - Last Soviet lunar mission to date. Returned soil samples in 1976. SOVIET VENUS PROBES VENERA 1 - First acknowledged attempt at Venus mission. Transmissions lost enroute in 1961. VENERA 2 - Attempt to image Venus during flyby mission in tandem with VENERA 3. Probe ceased transmitting just before encounter in February of 1966. No images were returned. VENERA 3 - Attempt to place a lander capsule on Venusian surface. Transmissions ceased just before encounter and entire probe became the first craft to impact on another planet in 1966. VENERA 4 - First probe to successfully return data while descending through Venusian atmosphere. Crushed by air pressure before reaching surface in 1967. VENERA 5 and 6 mission profiles similar in 1969. VENERA 7 - First probe to return data from the surface of another planet in 1970. VENERA 8 accomplished a more detailed mission in 1972. VENERA 9 - Sent first image of Venusian surface in 1975. Was also the first probe to orbit Venus. VENERA 10 accomplished similar mission. VENERA 13 - Returned first color images of Venusian surface in 1982. VENERA 14 accomplished similar mission. VENERA 15 - Accomplished radar mapping with VENERA 16 of sections of planet's surface in 1983 more detailed than PVO. VEGA 1 - Accomplished with VEGA 2 first balloon probes of Venusian atmosphere in 1985, including two landers. Flyby buses went on to become first spacecraft to study Comet Halley close-up in March of 1986. SOVIET MARS PROBES MARS 1 - First acknowledged Mars probe in 1962. Transmissions ceased enroute the following year. ZOND 2 - First possible attempt to place a lander capsule on Martian surface. Probe signals ceased enroute in 1965. MARS 2 - First Soviet Mars probe to land - albeit crash - on Martian surface. Orbiter section first Soviet probe to circle the Red Planet in 1971. MARS 3 - First successful soft landing on Martian surface, but lander signals ceased after 90 seconds in 1971. MARS 4 - Attempt at orbiting Mars in 1974, braking rockets failed to fire, probe went on into solar orbit. MARS 5 - First fully successful Soviet Mars mission, orbiting Mars in 1974. Returned images of Martian surface comparable to U.S. probe MARINER 9. MARS 6 - Landing attempt in 1974. Lander crashed into the surface. MARS 7 - Lander missed Mars completely in 1974, went into a solar orbit with its flyby bus. PHOBOS 1 - First attempt to land probes on surface of Mars' largest moon, Phobos. Probe failed enroute in 1988 due to human/computer error. PHOBOS 2 - Attempt to land probes on Martian moon Phobos. The probe did enter Mars orbit in early 1989, but signals ceased one week before scheduled Phobos landing. While there has been talk of Soviet Jupiter, Saturn, and even interstellar probes within the next thirty years, no major steps have yet been taken with these projects. More intensive studies of the Moon, Mars, Venus, and various comets have been planned for the 1990s, and a Mercury mission to orbit and land probes on the tiny world has been planned for 2003. How the many changes in the former Soviet Union (now the Commonwealth of Independent States) will affect the future of their space program remains to be seen. JAPANESE PLANETARY MISSIONS SAKIGAKE (MS-T5) was launched from the Kagoshima Space Center by ISAS on January 8 1985, and approached Halley's Comet within about 7 million km on March 11, 1986. The spacecraft is carrying three instru- ments to measure interplanetary magnetic field/plasma waves/solar wind, all of which work normally now, so ISAS made an Earth swingby by Sakigake on January 8, 1992 into an orbit similar to the earth's. The closest approach was at 23h08m47s (JST=UTC+9h) on January 8, 1992. The geocentric distance was 88,997 km. This is the first planet-swingby for a Japanese spacecraft. During the approach, Sakigake observed the geotail. Some geotail passages will be scheduled in some years hence. The second Earth-swingby will be on June 14, 1993 (at 40 Re(Earth's radius)), and the third October 28, 1994 (at 86 Re). PLANETARY MISSION REFERENCES I also recommend reading the following works, categorized in three groups: General overviews, specific books on particular space missions, and periodical sources on space probes. This list is by no means complete; it is primarily designed to give you places to start your research through generally available works on the subject. If anyone can add pertinent works to the list, it would be greatly appreciated. Though naturally I recommend all the books listed below, I think it would be best if you started out with the general overview books, in order to give you a clear idea of the history of space exploration in this area. I also recommend that you pick up some good, up-to-date general works on astronomy and the Sol system, to give you some extra background. Most of these books and periodicals can be found in any good public and university library. Some of the more recently published works can also be purchased in and/or ordered through any good mass- market bookstore. General Overviews (in alphabetical order by author): J. Kelly Beatty et al, THE NEW SOLAR SYSTEM, 1990. Merton E. Davies and Bruce C. Murray, THE VIEW FROM SPACE: PHOTOGRAPHIC EXPLORATION OF THE PLANETS, 1971 Kenneth Gatland, THE ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SPACE TECHNOLOGY, 1990 Kenneth Gatland, ROBOT EXPLORERS, 1972 R. Greeley, PLANETARY LANDSCAPES, 1987 Douglas Hart, THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SOVIET SPACECRAFT, 1987 Nicholas L. Johnson, HANDBOOK OF SOVIET LUNAR AND PLANETARY EXPLORATION, 1979 Clayton R. Koppes, JPL AND THE AMERICAN SPACE PROGRAM: A HISTORY OF THE JET PROPULSION LABORATORY, 1982 Richard S. Lewis, THE ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE UNIVERSE, 1983 Mark Littman, PLANETS BEYOND: DISCOVERING THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM, 1988 Eugene F. Mallove and Gregory L. Matloff, THE STARFLIGHT HANDBOOK: A PIONEER'S GUIDE TO INTERSTELLAR TRAVEL, 1989 Frank Miles and Nicholas Booth, RACE TO MARS: THE MARS FLIGHT ATLAS, 1988 Bruce Murray, JOURNEY INTO SPACE, 1989 Oran W. Nicks, FAR TRAVELERS, 1985 (NASA SP-480) James E. Oberg, UNCOVERING SOVIET DISASTERS: EXPLORING THE LIMITS OF GLASNOST, 1988 Carl Sagan, COMET, 1986 Carl Sagan, THE COSMIC CONNECTION, 1973 Carl Sagan, PLANETS, 1969 (LIFE Science Library) Arthur Smith, PLANETARY EXPLORATION: THIRTY YEARS OF UNMANNED SPACE PROBES, 1988 Andrew Wilson, (JANE'S) SOLAR SYSTEM LOG, 1987 Specific Mission References: Charles A. Cross and Patrick Moore, THE ATLAS OF MERCURY, 1977 (The MARINER 10 mission to Venus and Mercury, 1973-1975) Joel Davis, FLYBY: THE INTERPLANETARY ODYSSEY OF VOYAGER 2, 1987 Irl Newlan, FIRST TO VENUS: THE STORY OF MARINER 2, 1963 Margaret Poynter and Arthur L. Lane, VOYAGER: THE STORY OF A SPACE MISSION, 1984 Carl Sagan, MURMURS OF EARTH, 1978 (Deals with the Earth information records placed on VOYAGER 1 and 2 in case the probes are found by intelligences in interstellar space, as well as the probes and planetary mission objectives themselves.) Other works and periodicals: NASA has published very detailed and technical books on every space probe mission it has launched. Good university libraries will carry these books, and they are easily found simply by knowing which mission you wish to read about. I recommend these works after you first study some of the books listed above. Some periodicals I recommend for reading on space probes are NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, which has written articles on the PIONEER probes to Earth's Moon Luna and the Jovian planets Jupiter and Saturn, the RANGER, SURVEYOR, LUNAR ORBITER, and APOLLO missions to Luna, the MARINER missions to Mercury, Venus, and Mars, the VIKING probes to Mars, and the VOYAGER missions to Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. More details on American, Soviet, European, and Japanese probe missions can be found in SKY AND TELESCOPE, ASTRONOMY, SCIENCE, NATURE, and SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN magazines. TIME, NEWSWEEK, and various major newspapers can supply not only general information on certain missions, but also show you what else was going on with Earth at the time events were unfolding, if that is of interest to you. Space missions are affected by numerous political, economic, and climatic factors, as you probably know. Depending on just how far your interest in space probes will go, you might also wish to join The Planetary Society, one of the largest space groups in the world dedicated to planetary exploration. Their periodical, THE PLANETARY REPORT, details the latest space probe missions. Write to The Planetary Society, 65 North Catalina Avenue, Pasadena, California 91106 USA. Good luck with your studies in this area of space exploration. I personally find planetary missions to be one of the more exciting areas in this field, and the benefits human society has and will receive from it are incredible, with many yet to be realized. Larry Klaes klaes@advax.dec.com UPCOMING PLANETARY PROBES - MISSIONS AND SCHEDULES This covers only NASA and Japanese (ISAS, NASDA) missions. Hard data on other nations' (ESA, CIS) plans and updates due to the usual delays and budget cuts would be welcome. Source: NASA fact sheets, CRAF/Cassini Mission Design team, ISAS/NASDA launch schedules. GALILEO - Jupiter orbiter and atmosphere probe. Has returned the first resolved images of an asteroid, Gaspra, while in transit to Jupiter. Efforts to unfurl the stuck High-Gain Antenna (HGA) are continuing, and prospects for success seem to be improving. If the HGA cannot be unfurled, science return at Jupiter will be severly limited. Galileo Schedule ---------------- 10/18/89 - Launch from Space Shuttle 02/09/90 - Venus Flyby 10/**/90 - Venus Data Playback 12/08/90 - 1st Earth Flyby 05/01/91 - High Gain Antenna Unfurled 07/91 - 06/92 - 1st Asteroid Belt Passage 10/29/91 - Asteroid Gaspra Flyby 12/08/92 - 2nd Earth Flyby 05/93 - 11/93 - 2nd Asteroid Belt Passage 08/28/93 - Asteroid Ida Flyby 07/02/95 - Probe Separation 07/09/95 - Orbiter Deflection Maneuver 12/95 - 10/97 - Orbital Tour of Jovian Moons 12/07/95 - Jupiter/Io Encounter 07/18/96 - Ganymede 09/28/96 - Ganymede 12/12/96 - Callisto 01/23/97 - Europa 02/28/97 - Ganymede 04/22/97 - Europa 05/31/97 - Europa 10/05/97 - Jupiter Magnetotail Exploration MAGELLAN - Venus radar mapping mission. Has mapped almost the entire surface at high resolution. Funding for continuing operations into mapping cycle 4 and beyond has been cut from the proposed NASA budget. MARS OBSERVER - Mars orbiter including 1.5 m/pixel resolution camera. Launch scheduled 9/16/1992 aboard Titan III; arrival in 8/93, operations start 11/93 for one martian year (687 days). CRAF (Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby) will meet with the Comet Kopff near the orbit of Jupiter and travel along side it for at least three years. Typical Kopff studies will include mass harmonics determination orbits, a long period of close (79 km) observation orbits and tail excursions at perihelion. Budgetary constraints resulted in the elimination of the planned penetrator probe, and a 6 year delay in arrival at Kopff. These dates are valid as of 12/17/91. As of 2/11/92, CRAF is not funded in the Bush administration's proposed NASA budget, though this may change. Key Scheduled Dates for the CRAF Mission -------------------------------------------- 04/09/97 - Titan IV/Centaur Launch 07/04/98 - Mars Flyby (alt. 1805km, v=8.25 km/s) 07/18/00 - Earth Flyby 1 (alt. 4208km, v=9.11 km/s) 06/07/01 - Thisbe Flyby (alt. 8480km, v=5.2 km/s, 80 radii) 10/25/02 - Fortuna Flyby (alt. 8000km, v=12.57 km/s, 80 radii) 07/18/03 - Earth Flyby 2 (alt. 1176km, v=9.27 km/s) 01/26/06 - Rendezvous Kopff 05/25/09 - Perihelion 09/30/09 - Nominal End of Mission CASSINI - Saturn orbiter and Titan atmosphere probe. Key Scheduled Dates for the Cassini Mission (EJGA Trajectory) ------------------------------------------------------------- 08/22/96 - Titan IV/Centaur Launch 03/29/97 - 66 Maja Asteroid Flyby 06/08/98 - Earth Gravity Assist 02/06/00 - Jupiter Gravity Assist 12/06/02 - Saturn Arrival 03/27/03 - Titan Probe Release 03/29/03 - Orbiter Deflection Maneuver 04/18/03 - Titan Probe Entry 06/30/03 - Iapetus Flyby 05/20/04 - Dione Flyby 09/12/04 - Enceladus Flyby 08/14/05 - Iapetus Flyby 12/31/06 - End of Primary Mission OTHER SPACE SCIENCE MISSIONS (note: this is based on a posting by Ron Baalke in 11/89, with ISAS/NASDA information contributed by Yoshiro Yamada (yamada@yscvax.ysc.go.jp). I'm attempting to track changes based on updated shuttle manifests; corrections and updates are welcome. 1992 Missions o Atmospheric Lab for Applications and Science (ATLAS) [Apr, STS-45] Shuttle, this manned lab will study variations in the solar spectrum and Earth's atmosphere. o Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer [May, Delta II rocket] This satellite will study the evolution and population of stars and galaxies. o US Microgravity Laboratory [Jun, STS-50 USML-01] o TOPEX/Poseidon [Jun, Ariane 4 V52 rocket] TOPEX will study the relationship of ocean systems to climate. (Someone want to fill in the lineage of this mission? Presumably it's primarily ESA.) o Tethered Satellite System [Aug, STS-46 TSS-1] Shuttle, attached by tether to the shuttle bay, system will study electrical fields and gas clouds in space while demonstrating the capabilities of deploying and retrieving a tethered satellite. o Spacelab Japan [Sep, STS-47 SL-J] o Laser Geodynamics Satellite [Sep, STS-52 LAGEOS II] o Mars Observer [Sep, Titan III rocket] September by rocket, to study Mars' climate and surface. o ASTRO-D (Astronomy Satellite-D) [ISAS] Conducting precise observations of the X-ray images and X-ray spectra of various heavenly bodies. o GEOTAIL (Geophysical Tail) [ISAS/NASA, July, Delta II rocket] The Geomagnetic Tail Observation Satellite for engaging in observations of the structure and dynamics of the solar wind and extending from the night side of the earth. This spacecraft is to be launched by the United States. GEOTAIL is a collaborative program with NASA and of USA. 1993 Missions o Wind [Aug, Delta II rocket] Satellite to measure solar wind input to magnetosphere. o Space Radar Lab [Sep, STS-60 SRL-01] Gather radar images of Earth's surface. o Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer [Dec, Pegasus rocket] Study of Stratospheric ozone. o SFU (Space Flyer Unit) [ISAS] Conducting space experiments and observations and this can be recovered after it conducts the various scientific and engineering experiments. SFU is to be launched/retrieved by the U.S. Space Shuttle. 1994 o Polar Auroral Plasma Physics [May, Delta II rocket] June, measure solar wind and ions and gases surrounding the Earth. o IML-2 (STS) [NASDA, Jul 1994 IML-02] International Microgravity Laboratory. o ADEOS [NASDA] Advanced Earth Observing Satellite. o MUSES-B (Mu Space Engineering Satellite-B) [ISAS] Conducting research on the precise mechanism of space structure and in-space astronomical observations of electromagnetic waves. 1995 LUNAR-A [ISAS] Elucidating the crust structure and thermal construction of the moon's interior. Proposed Missions: o Advanced X-ray Astronomy Facility (AXAF) Possible launch from shuttle in 1995, AXAF is a space observatory with a high resolution telescope. It would orbit for 15 years and study the mysteries and fate of the universe. o Earth Observing System (EOS) Possible launch in 1997, 1 of 6 US orbiting space platforms to provide long-term data (15 years) of Earth systems science including planetary evolution. o Mercury Observer Possible 1997 launch. o Lunar Observer Possible 1997 launch, would be sent into a long-term lunar orbit. The Observer, from 60 miles above the moon's poles, would survey characteristics to provide a global context for the results from the Apollo program. o Space Infrared Telescope Facility Possible launch by shuttle in 1999, this is the 4th element of the Great Observatories program. A free-flying observatory with a lifetime of 5 to 10 years, it would observe new comets and other primitive bodies in the outer solar system, study cosmic birth formation of galaxies, stars and planets and distant infrared-emitting galaxies o Mars Rover Sample Return (MRSR) Robotics rover would return samples of Mars' atmosphere and surface to Earch for analysis. Possible launch dates: 1996 for imaging orbiter, 2001 for rover. o Fire and Ice Possible launch in 2001, will use a gravity assist flyby of Earth in 2003, and use a final gravity assist from Jupiter in 2005, where the probe will split into its Fire and Ice components: The Fire probe will journey into the Sun, taking measurements of our star's upper atmosphere until it is vaporized by the intense heat. The Ice probe will head out towards Pluto, reaching the tiny world for study by 2016. CONTROVERSIAL QUESTIONS These issues periodically come up with much argument and few facts being offered. The summaries below attempt to represent the position on which much of the net community has settled. Please DON'T bring them up again unless there's something truly new to be discussed. The net can't set public policy, that's what your representatives are for. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SATURN V PLANS Despite a widespread belief to the contrary, the Saturn V blueprints have not been lost. They are kept at Marshall Space Flight Center on microfilm. The problem in re-creating the Saturn V is not finding the drawings, it is finding vendors who can supply mid-1960's vintage hardware (like guidance system components), and the fact that the launch pads and VAB have been converted to Space Shuttle use, so you have no place to launch from. By the time you redesign to accommodate available hardware and re-modify the launch pads, you may as well have started from scratch with a clean sheet design. WHY DATA FROM SPACE MISSIONS ISN'T IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE Investigators associated with NASA missions are allowed exclusive access for one year after the data is obtained in order to give them an opportunity to analyze the data and publish results without being "scooped" by people uninvolved in the mission. However, NASA frequently releases examples (in non-digital form, e.g. photos) to the public early in a mission. RISKS OF NUCLEAR (RTG) POWER SOURCES FOR SPACE PROBES There has been extensive discussion on this topic sparked by attempts to block the Galileo and Ulysses launches on grounds of the plutonium thermal sources being dangerous. Numerous studies claim that even in worst-case scenarios (shuttle explosion during launch, or accidental reentry at interplanetary velocities), the risks are extremely small. Two interesting data points are (1) The May 1968 loss of two SNAP 19B2 RTGs, which landed intact in the Pacific Ocean after a Nimbus B weather satellite failed to reach orbit. The fuel was recovered after 5 months with no release of plutonium. (2) In April 1970, the Apollo 13 lunar module reentered the atmosphere and its SNAP 27 RTG heat source, which was jettisoned, fell intact into the 20,000 feet deep Tonga Trench in the Pacific Ocean. The corrosion resistant materials of the RTG are expected to prevent release of the fuel for a period of time equal to 10 half-lives of the Pu-238 fuel or about 870 years [DOE 1980]. To make your own informed judgement, some references you may wish to pursue are: A good review of the technical facts and issues is given by Daniel Salisbury in "Radiation Risk and Planetary Exploration-- The RTG Controversy," *Planetary Report*, May-June 1987, pages 3-7. Another good article, which also reviews the events preceding Galileo's launch, "Showdown at Pad 39-B," by Robert G. Nichols, appeared in the November 1989 issue of *Ad Astra*. (Both magazines are published by pro-space organizations, the Planetary Society and the National Space Society respectively.) Gordon L Chipman, Jr., "Advanced Space Nuclear Systems" (AAS 82-261), in *Developing the Space Frontier*, edited by Albert Naumann and Grover Alexander, Univelt, 1983, p. 193-213. "Hazards from Plutonium Toxicity", by Bernard L. Cohen, Health Physics, Vol 32 (may) 1977, page 359-379. NUS Corporation, Safety Status Report for the Ulysses Mission: Risk Analysis (Book 1). Document number is NUS 5235; there is no GPO #; published Jan 31, 1990. NASA Office of Space Science and Applications, *Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Ulysses Mission (Tier 2)*, (no serial number or GPO number, but probably available from NTIS or NASA) June 1990. [DOE 1980] U.S. Department of Energy, *Transuranic Elements in the Environment*, Wayne C. Hanson, editor; DOE Document No. DOE/TIC-22800; Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., April 1980.) IMPACT OF THE SPACE SHUTTLE ON THE OZONE LAYER From time to time, claims are made that chemicals released from the Space Shuttle's Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) are responsible for a significant amount of damage to the ozone layer. Studies indicate that they in reality have only a minute impact, both in absolute terms and relative to other chemical sources. The remainder of this item is a response from the author of the quoted study, Charles Jackman. The atmospheric modelling study of the space shuttle effects on the stratosphere involved three independent theoretical groups, and was organized by Dr. Michael Prather, NASA/Goddard Institute for Space Studies. The three groups involved Michael Prather and Maria Garcia (NASA/GISS), Charlie Jackman and Anne Douglass (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center), and Malcolm Ko and Dak Sze (Atmospheric and Environmental Research, Inc.). The effort was to look at the effects of the space shuttle and Titan rockets on the stratosphere. The following are the estimated sources of stratospheric chlorine: Industrial sources: 300,000,000 kilograms/year Natural sources: 75,000,000 kilograms/year Shuttle sources: 725,000 kilograms/year The shuttle source assumes 9 space shuttles and 6 Titan rockets are launched yearly. Thus the launches would add less than 0.25% to the total stratospheric chlorine sources. The effect on ozone is minimal: global yearly average total ozone would be decreased by 0.0065%. This is much less than total ozone variability associated with volcanic activity and solar flares. The influence of human-made chlorine products on ozone is computed by atmospheric model calculations to be a 1% decrease in globally averaged ozone between 1980 and 1990. The influence of the space shuttle and Titan rockets on the stratosphere is negligible. The launch schedule of the Space Shuttle and Titan rockets would need to be increased by over a factor of a hundred in order to have about the same effect on ozone as our increases in industrial halocarbons do at the present time. Theoretical results of this study have been published in _The Space Shuttle's Impact on the Stratosphere_, MJ Prather, MM Garcia, AR Douglass, CH Jackman, M.K.W. Ko and N.D. Sze, Journal of Geophysical Research, 95, 18583-18590, 1990. Charles Jackman, Atmospheric Chemistry and Dynamics Branch, Code 916, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 HOW LONG CAN A HUMAN LIVE UNPROTECTED IN SPACE If you *don't* try to hold your breath, exposure to space for half a minute or so is unlikely to produce permanent injury. Holding your breath is likely to damage your lungs, something scuba divers have to watch out for when ascending, and you'll have eardrum trouble if your Eustachian tubes are badly plugged up, but theory predicts -- and animal experiments confirm -- that otherwise, exposure to vacuum causes no immediate injury. You do not explode. Your blood does not boil. You do not freeze. You do not instantly lose consciousness. Various minor problems (sunburn, possibly "the bends", certainly some [mild, reversible, painless] swelling of skin and underlying tissue) start after ten seconds or so. At some point you lose consciousness from lack of oxygen. Injuries accumulate. After perhaps one or two minutes, you're dying. The limits are not really known. USING THE SHUTTLE BEYOND LOW EARTH ORBIT You can't use the shuttle orbiter for missions beyond low Earth orbit because it can't get there. It is big and heavy and does not carry enough fuel, even if you fill part of the cargo bay with tanks. Furthermore, it is not particularly sensible to do so, because much of that weight is things like wings, which are totally useless except in the immediate vicinity of the Earth. The shuttle orbiter is highly specialized for travel between Earth's surface and low orbit. Taking it higher is enormously costly and wasteful. A much better approach would be to use shuttle subsystems to build a specialized high-orbit spacecraft. [Yet another concise answer by Henry Spencer.] THE "FACE ON MARS" There really is a big rock on Mars that looks remarkably like a humanoid face. It appears in two different frames of Viking Orbiter imagery: 35A72 (much more facelike in appearance, and the one more often published, with the Sun 10 degrees above western horizon) and 70A13 (with the Sun 27 degrees from the west). Science writer Richard Hoagland has championed the idea that the Face is artificial, intended to resemble a human, and erected by an extraterrestrial civilization. Most other analysts concede that the resemblance is most likely accidental. Other Viking images show a smiley-faced crater and a lava flow resembling Kermit the Frog elsewhere on Mars. There exists a Mars Anomalies Research Society (sorry, don't know the address) to study the Face. The Mars Observer mission will carry an extremely high-resolution camera, and better images of the formation will hopefully settle this question in a few years. In the meantime, speculation about the Face is best carried on in the altnet group alt.alien.visitors, not sci.space or sci.astro. V. DiPeitro and G. Molenaar, *Unusual Martian Surface Features*, Mars Research, P.O. Box 284, Glen Dale, Maryland, USA, 1982. [Apparently the first lengthy consideration of the Face published. Does anybody know what it costs?] R.R. Pozos, *The Face of Mars*, Chicago Review Press, 1986. [Account of an interdisciplinary speculative conference Hoagland organized to investigate the Face] R.C. Hoagland, *The Monuments of Mars: A City on the Edge of Forever*, North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, California, USA, 1987. [Elaborate discussion of evidence and speculation that formations near the Face form a city] M.J. Carlotto, "Digital Imagery Analysis of Unusual Martian Surface Features," *Applied Optics*, 27, pp. 1926-1933, 1987. [Extracts three-dimensional model for the Face from the 2-D images] M.J. Carlotto & M.C. Stein, "A Method of Searching for Artificial Objects on Planetary Surfaces," *Journal of the British Interplanetary Society*, Vol. 43 no. 5 (May 1990), p.209-216. [Uses a fractal image analysis model to guess whether the Face is artificial] B. O'Leary, "Analysis of Images of the `Face' on Mars and Possible Intelligent Origin," *JBIS*, Vol. 43 no. 5 (May 1990), p. 203-208. [Lights Carlotto's model from the two angles and shows it's consistent; shows that the Face doesn't look facelike if observed from the surface] SPACE ACTIVIST/INTEREST/RESEARCH GROUPS AND SPACE PUBLICATIONS GROUPS NSS - the National Space Society, formed by the merger of the L-5 Society and the National Space Institute founded by Von Braun. NSS is a pro-space group distinguished by its network of local chapters. Supports a general agenda of space development and man-in-space, including the NASA space station. Publishes _Ad Astra_, a monthly glossy magazine, and runs Shuttle launch tours, Dial-A-Shuttle and Space Hotline telephone services. A major sponsor of the annual space development conference. Associated with Spacecause and Spacepac, political lobbying organizations. Membership $18 (youth/senior) $35 (regular). National Space Society Membership Department 922 Pennsylvania Avenue, S.E. Washington, DC 20003-2140 (202)-543-1900 SSI - the Space Studies Institute, founded by Dr. Gerard O'Neill. Publishes _SSI Update_, a bimonthly newsletter describing work-in-progress. Conducts a research program including mass-drivers, lunar mining processes and simulants, composites from lunar materials, solar power satellites. Runs the biennial Princeton Conference on Space Manufacturing. Developing a Lunar Polar Probe for 1992 launch to geochemically map the entire moon and search for volatiles which may be frozen at the poles. Membership $25/year. Senior Associates ($100/year and up) fund most SSI research. Space Studies Institute 258 Rosedale Road PO Box 82 Princeton, NJ 08540 Planetary Society - founded by Carl Sagan. The largest space advocacy group. Publishes _Planetary Report_, a monthly glossy, and has supported SETI hardware development financially. Agenda is primarily support of space science, recently amended to include an international manned mission to Mars. The Planetary Society 65 North Catalina Avenue Pasadena, California 91106 Membership $35/year. BIS - British Interplanetary Society. Probably the oldest pro-space group, BIS publishes two excellent journals: _Spaceflight_, covering current space activities, and the _Journal of the BIS_, containing technical papers on space activities from near-term space probes to interstellar missions. BIS has published a design study for an interstellar probe called _Daedalus_. British Interplanetary Society 27/29 South Lambeth Road London SW8 1SZ ENGLAND No dues information available at present. SPACEPAC - A political action committee part of the NSS Family of Organizations. Spacepac researches issues, policies, and candidates. Each year, updates _The Space Activist's Handbook_. Current Handbook price is $25. While Spacepac does not have a membership, it does have regional contacts to coordinate local activity. Spacepac primarily operates in the election process, contributing money and volunteers to pro-space candidates. Spacepac 922 Pennsylvania Ave. S.E. Washington, D.C. 20003 (202)543-1900 SPACECAUSE - A political lobbying organization and part of the NSS Family of Organizations. Publishes a bi-monthly newsletter, Spacecause News. Annual dues is $25. Members also receive a discount on _The Space Activist's Handbook_. Activities to support pro-space legislation include meeting with political leaders and interacting with legislative staff. Spacecause primarily operates in the legislative process. National Office West Coast Office Spacecause Spacecause 922 Pennsylvania Ave. S.E. 3435 Ocean Park Blvd. Washington, D.C. 20003 Suite 201-S (202)543-1900 Santa Monica, CA 90405 AMSAT - develops small satellites (since the 1960s) for a variety of uses by amateur radio enthusiasts. Has various publications, supplies QuickTrak satellite tracking software for PC/Mac/Amiga etc. Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) P.O. Box 27 Washington, DC 20044 (301)-589-6062 UNITED STATES SPACE FOUNDATION - a public, non-profit organization supported my member donations and dedicated to promoting international education, understanding and support of space. The group hosts an annual conference for teachers and others interested in education. Other projects include developing lesson plans that use space to teach other basic skills such as reading. Publishes "Spacewatch," a monthly B&W glossy magazine of USSF events and general space news. Annual dues: Charter $50 ($100 first year) Individual $35 Teacher $29 College student $20 HS/Jr. High $10 Elementary $5 Founder & $1000+ Life Member United States Space Foundation P.O. Box 1838 Colorado Springs, CO 80901 (719) 550-1000 SEDS - Students for the Exploration and Development of Space. Founded in 1980 at MIT and Princeton. SEDS is a chapter-based pro-space organization at high schools and universities around the world. Entirely student run. Each chapter is independent and coordinates its own local activities. Nationally, SEDS runs a scholarship competition, design contests, and holds an annual international conference and meeting in late summer. Students for the Exploration and Development of Space MIT Room W20-445 77 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02139 (617) 253-8897 email: odyssey@athena.mit.edu Dues determined by local chapter. PUBLICATIONS Air & Space / Smithsonian (bimonthly magazine) Box 53261 Boulder, CO 80332-3261 $18/year US, $24/year international Final Frontier (mass-market bimonthly magazine) - history, book reviews, general-interest articles (e.g. "The 7 Wonders of the Solar System", "Everything you always wanted to know about military space programs", etc.) Final Frontier Publishing Co. PO Box 534 Mt. Morris, IL 61054-7852 $14.95/year US, $19.95 Canada, $23.95 elsewhere Space News (weekly magazine) - covers US civil and military space programs. Said to have good political and business but spotty technical coverage. Space News Springfield VA 22159-0500 703-642-7330 $75/year, may have discounts for NSS/SSI members Space Flight News (monthly magazine) - covers current space activities (all nations) in depth and has good historical series on topics like early space capsules, cosmonauts, etc. Available by newsstand in the US (with several months shipping delay), only by mail elsewhere. Subscription Dept. Space Flight News Ltd. PO Box 100 Stamford, Lincs, PE9IXQ ENGLAND #16.20 pounds/year UK and international (surface) airmail: #25/year (Europe) #26 (Middle East) #29 (North America) #31 (Australia, NZ, Japan) Journal of the Astronautical Sciences and Space Times - publications of the American Astronautical Society. No details. AAS Business Office 6352 Rolling Mill Place, Suite #102 Springfield, Va. 22152 703-866-0020 GPS World (semi-monthly) - reports on current and new uses of GPS, news and analysis of the system and policies affecting it, and technical and product issues shaping GPS applications. GPS World 859 Willamette St. P.O. Box 10460 Eugene, OR 97440-2460 503-343-1200 Free to qualified individuals; write for free sample copy. Planetary Encounter - in-depth technical coverage of planetary missions, with diagrams, lists of experiments, interviews with people directly involved. World Spaceflight News - in-depth technical coverage of near-Earth spaceflight. Mostly covers the shuttle: payload manifests, activity schedules, and post-mission assessment reports for every mission. Box 98 Sewell, NJ 08080 $30/year US/Canada $45/year elsewhere UNDOCUMENTED GROUPS Anyone who would care to write up descriptions of the following groups (or others not mentioned) for inclusion in the answer is encouraged to do so. AAS - American Astronautical Society AIAA - American Institute of Astronautics & Aeronautics World Space Foundation Other groups not mentioned above HOW TO BECOME AN ASTRONAUT First the short form, authored by Henry Spencer, then an official NASA announcement. Q. How do I become an astronaut? A. We will assume you mean a NASA astronaut, since it's probably impossible for a Westerner to get into the Soviet program, and the other nations have so few astronauts (and fly even fewer) that you're better off hoping to win a lottery. Becoming a shuttle pilot requires lots of fast-jet experience, which means a military flying career; forget that unless you want to do it anyway. So you want to become a shuttle "mission specialist". If you aren't a US citizen, become one; that is a must. After that, the crucial thing to remember is that the demand for such jobs vastly exceeds the supply. NASA's problem is not finding qualified people, but thinning the lineup down to manageable length. It is not enough to be qualified; you must avoid being *dis*qualified for any reason, many of them in principle quite irrelevant to the job. Get a Ph.D. Specialize in something that involves getting your hands dirty with equipment, not just paper and pencil. Forget computer programming entirely; it will be done from the ground for the fore- seeable future. Degree(s) in one field plus work experience in another seems to be a frequent winner. Be in good physical condition, with good eyesight. (DO NOT get a radial keratomy or similar hack to improve your vision; nobody knows what sudden pressure changes would do to RKed eyes, and long-term effects are poorly understood. For that matter, avoid any other significant medical unknowns.) If you can pass a jet-pilot physical, you should be okay; if you can't, your chances are poor. Practise public speaking, and be conservative and conformist in appearance and actions; you've got a tough selling job ahead, trying to convince a cautious, conservative selection committee that you are better than hundreds of other applicants. (And, also, that you will be a credit to NASA after you are hired: public relations is a significant part of the job, and NASA's image is very prim and proper.) The image you want is squeaky-clean workaholic yuppie. Remember also that you will need a security clearance at some point, and Security considers everybody guilty until proven innocent. Keep your nose clean. Get a pilot's license and make flying your number one hobby; experienced pilots are known to be favored even for non-pilot jobs. Work for NASA; of 45 astronauts selected between 1984 and 1988, 43 were military or NASA employees, and the remaining two were a NASA consultant and Mae Jemison (the first black female astronaut). If you apply from outside NASA and miss, but they offer you a job at NASA, ***TAKE IT***; sometimes in the past this has meant "you do look interesting but we want to know you a bit better first". Think space: they want highly motivated people, so lose no chance to demonstrate motivation. Keep trying. Many astronauts didn't make it the first time. NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center Houston, Texas Announcement for Mission Specialist and Pilot Astronaut Candidates ================================================================== Astronaut Candidate Program --------------------------- The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has a need for Pilot Astronaut Candidates and Mission Specialist Astronaut Candidates to support the Space Shuttle Program. NASA is now accepting on a continuous basis and plans to select astronaut candidates as needed. Persons from both the civilian sector and the military services will be considered. All positions are located at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, and will involved a 1-year training and evaluation program. Space Shuttle Program Description --------------------------------- The numerous successful flights of the Space Shuttle have demonstrated that operation and experimental investigations in space are becoming routine. The Space Shuttle Orbiter is launches into, and maneuvers in the Earth orbit performing mission lastly up to 30 days. It then returns to earth and is ready for another flight with payloads and flight crew. The Orbiter performs a variety of orbital missions including deployment and retrieval of satellites, service of existing satellites, operation of specialized laboratories (astronomy, earth sciences, materials processing, manufacturing), and other operations. These missions will eventually include the development and servicing of a permanent space station. The Orbiter also provides a staging capability for using higher orbits than can be achieved by the Orbiter itself. Users of the Space Shuttle's capabilities are both domestic and foreign and include government agencies and private industries. The crew normally consists of five people - the commander, the pilot, and three mission specialists. On occasion additional crew members are assigned. The commander, pilot, and mission specialists are NASA astronauts. Pilot Astronaut Pilot astronauts server as both Space Shuttle commanders and pilots. During flight the commander has onboard responsibility for the vehicle, crew, mission success and safety in flight. The pilot assists the commander in controlling and operating the vehicle. In addition, the pilot may assist in the deployment and retrieval of satellites utilizing the remote manipulator system, in extra-vehicular activities, and other payload operations. Mission Specialist Astronaut Mission specialist astronauts, working with the commander and pilot, have overall responsibility for the coordination of Shuttle operations in the areas of crew activity planning, consumables usage, and experiment and payload operations. Mission specialists are required to have a detailed knowledge of Shuttle systems, as well as detailed knowledge of the operational characteristics, mission requirements and objectives, and supporting systems and equipment for each of the experiments to be conducted on their assigned missions. Mission specialists will perform extravehicular activities, payload handling using the remote manipulator system, and perform or assist in specific experimental operations. Astronaut Candidate Program =========================== Basic Qualification Requirements -------------------------------- Applicants MUST meet the following minimum requirements prior to submitting an application. Mission Specialist Astronaut Candidate: 1. Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics. Degree must be followed by at least three years of related progressively responsible, professional experience. An advanced degree is desirable and may be substituted for part or all of the experience requirement (master's degree = 1 year, doctoral degree = 3 years). Quality of academic preparation is important. 2. Ability to pass a NASA class II space physical, which is similar to a civilian or military class II flight physical and includes the following specific standards: Distant visual acuity: 20/100 or better uncorrected, correctable to 20/20, each eye. Blood pressure: 140/90 measured in sitting position. 3. Height between 60 and 76 inches. Pilot Astronaut Candidate: 1. Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics. Degree must be followed by at least three years of related progressively responsible, professional experience. An advanced degree is desirable. Quality of academic preparation is important. 2. At least 1000 hours pilot-in-command time in jet aircraft. Flight test experience highly desirable. 3. Ability to pass a NASA Class I space physical which is similar to a military or civilian Class I flight physical and includes the following specific standards: Distant visual acuity: 20/50 or better uncorrected correctable to 20/20, each eye. Blood pressure: 140/90 measured in sitting position. 4. Height between 64 and 76 inches. Citizenship Requirements Applications for the Astronaut Candidate Program must be citizens of the United States. Note on Academic Requirements Applicants for the Astronaut Candidate Program must meet the basic education requirements for NASA engineering and scientific positions -- specifically: successful completion of standard professional curriculum in an accredited college or university leading to at least a bachelor's degree with major study in an appropriate field of engineering, biological science, physical science, or mathematics. The following degree fields, while related to engineering and the sciences, are not considered qualifying: - Degrees in technology (Engineering Technology, Aviation Technology, Medical Technology, etc.) - Degrees in Psychology (except for Clinical Psychology, Physiological Psychology, or Experimental Psychology which are qualifying). - Degrees in Nursing. - Degrees in social sciences (Geography, Anthropology, Archaeology, etc.) - Degrees in Aviation, Aviation Management or similar fields. Application Procedures ---------------------- Civilian The application package may be obtained by writing to: NASA Johnson Space Center Astronaut Selection Office ATTN: AHX Houston, TX 77058 Civilian applications will be accepted on a continuous basis. When NASA decides to select additional astronaut candidates, consideration will be given only to those applications on hand on the date of decision is made. Applications received after that date will be retained and considered for the next selection. Applicants will be notified annually of the opportunity to update their applications and to indicate continued interest in being considered for the program. Those applicants who do not update their applications annually will be dropped from consideration, and their applications will not be retained. After the preliminary screening of applications, additional information may be requested for some applicants, and person listed on the application as supervisors and references may be contacted. Active Duty Military Active duty military personnel must submit applications to their respective military service and not directly to NASA. Application procedures will be disseminated by each service. Selection --------- Personal interviews and thorough medical evaluations will be required for both civilian and military applicants under final consideration. Once final selections have been made, all applicants who were considered will be notified of the outcome of the process. Selection rosters established through this process may be used for the selection of additional candidates during a one year period following their establishment. General Program Requirements Selected applicants will be designated Astronaut Candidates and will be assigned to the Astronaut Office at the Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas. The astronaut candidates will undergo a 1 year training and evaluation period during which time they will be assigned technical or scientific responsibilities allowing them to contribute substantially to ongoing programs. They will also participate in the basic astronaut training program which is designed to develop the knowledge and skills required for formal mission training upon selection for a flight. Pilot astronaut candidates will maintain proficiency in NASA aircraft during their candidate period. Applicants should be aware that selection as an astronaut candidate does not insure selection as an astronaut. Final selection as an astronaut will depend on satisfactory completion of the 1 year training and evaluation period. Civilian candidates who successfully complete the training and evaluation and are selected as astronauts will become permanent Federal employees and will be expected to remain with NASA for a period of at least five years. Civilian candidates who are not selected as astronauts may be placed in other positions within NASA depending upon Agency requirements and manpower constraints at that time. Successful military conadidates will be detailed to NASA for a specified tour of duty. NASA has an affirmative action program goal of having qualified minorities and women among those qualified as astronaut candidates. Therefore, qualified minorities and women are encouraged to apply. Pay and Benefits ---------------- Civilians Salaries for civilian astronaut candidates are based on the Federal Governments General Schedule pay scales for grades GS-11 through GS-14, and are set in accordance with each individuals academic achievements and experience. Other benefits include vacation and sick leave, a retirement plan, and participation in group health and life insurance plans. Military Selected military personnel will be detailed to the Johnson Space Center but will remain in an active duty status for pay, benefits, leave, and other similar military matters. ORBITAL AND PLANETARY LAUNCH SERVICES If anyone has more accurate or more complete information, please post it and copy jim@pnet01.cts.com (Jim Bowery), who maintains the primary copy of this item. Don't forget to include the source of the information. PAYLOAD(LBS) DELIVERED TO COMPANY/VEHICLE $M LEO GTO GEO ESCAPE U.STAGE LAUNCHFAIL(1) MM/Titan4[H] 296 47000 .... 10300 .... Centaur .... .... MM/Titan4 277 49000 15000 5800 .... IUS .... .... MM/Titan3 160 32500 12474 4100 .... TOS .... .... AS/Arian44L[H] 110 21164 9259 5500 .... none .... .... GD/Atlas2 80 15700 6200 3000 .... Centaur .... .... MD/Delta2 52 11100 4010 2000 2816[S] PAMD[H] .... .... GW/LongMarch3 45 6614 2866 1433 .... none .... .... EPAC/EagleS2[E] 30 10000(2)5128 3374 ....(4) USTM(3) 0 0 OSC/Taurus[S] 17 2703 .... .... 374 .... 0 0 EPAC/EagleS1[E] 15 6000 .... .... ....(4) USTM 0 0 AMROC/Aquila[S] 10 2000 1467 .... .... none 0 0 SSI/Conestoga 10 1500(5) 900(6) 550(7) .... 0 0 OSC/Pegasus[H] 9.7 750 .... .... .... none 2 1 EPAC/Eagle[E] 6.7 3000 .... .... .... USTM 0 0 (1) For launches where reflight insurance is issued, the fraction of the launch cost indemnified is the failure level for that flight. For launches where reflight insurance is not issued, a rough estimate is made as to the fraction of the launch cost that would have been indemnified. (2) LEO given is 300nmi altitude [S]. (3) The bipropellant (Isp=323) USTM has a dry weight of approximately 1600LBS which must be subtracted from the total weight to determine weight available for electronics, power, communication and fuel. The USTM provides station-keeping and course correction in addition to transfer and apogee burns. (4) According to [S] escape requires 170kg MMH/NTO fuel with USTM. (5) 200nmi altitude 37.9d inclination [S]. (6) 400nmi altitude [S]. (7) Includes Conestoga apogee kick stage weight. REFLIGHT VEHICLE POLARLBS(9) INSURANCE(%) ACCURACY PAD WEIGHT MM/Titan4[H] .... .... .... 1910449 MM/Titan4 .... .... .... 1885525 MM/Titan3 .... .... .... 1492200 AS/Arian44L .... .... .... 1033000 GD/Atlas2 12400 .... .... 360600 MD/Delta2 8401 .... .... 450000 GW/LongMarch3 .... .... .... 444400 EPAC/EagleS2[E] .... 18 1.4km(9) 268145 OSC/Taurus[S] 2140 .... .... .... EPAC/EagleS1[E] .... 18 1.4km(9) .... AMROC/Aquila[S] 1467 .... .... .... SSI/Conestoga 900 .... 9.3km(10) .... OSC/Pegasus[S] 649 .... .... .... EPAC/Eagle .... 18 .... 99134 (9) For unknown data, conservative figures for polar orbit can be estimated by dividing LEO weight by 2. (10) Circular orbit and <0.02d inclination error to 3 sigma [S]. (11) Reduced payload for upper stage with thrust vector control. 1 sigma [S]. Figures given as "...." are to be included in a future release. Information sources are indicated by a source code within square brackets. For example [H] means the associated information and subsequent information comes from the 1989 Hughes Corp. Survey with dollars given in 1989 dollars. Source codes: H = 1989 Hughes Corp. Survey E = 9/1991 E'Prime Aerospace Corp. report S = "A Status Report on the Availability of Expendable Launch Vehicles for Small Solar System Exploration Payloads", Jim McAdams, Science Applications International Corp. 3/31/1991 NEXT: FAQ #16/16 - Things to do to the FAQ list / questions to be answered