Aucbvax.6255 fa.space utcsrgv!utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!space Mon Feb 22 03:40:11 1982 SPACE Digest V2 #112 >From OTA@S1-A Mon Feb 22 03:04:55 1982 SPACE Digest Volume 2 : Issue 112 Today's Topics: Administrivia Honest Ron's Surplus Spaceships... twisting of orbital platforms ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 21 Feb 1982 2108-PST From: Ted Anderson Subject: Administrivia To: space at MIT-MC CC: rem at MIT-MC As most of you probably noticed another totally batshit set of digests emanated from this site over the weekend. This time the problem was that Friday's digest was recursively included in Saturday's digest which inexplicably got mailed out twice, the two copies comming about 30 minutes apart. This was caused by (or perhaps was the cause of), at least in part, the mailer task looping for about 24 hours over the weekend. Basically this system SUX. I'm working on a replacement but it will be some while in the construction. Please bear with me. Thanks, Ted Anderson [The Moderator] ------------------------------ Date: 21 Feb 1982 1426-PST From: Tom Wadlow Subject: Honest Ron's Surplus Spaceships... To: space at MIT-MC I wonder what the orbit cost per pound is on a *second-hand* Titan? If all they do is scrap them at the end of their ''tour of duty'' as ICBMs, would the cost be just the price of transport, checkout and launch? (Presumably people would frown on launches directly from the silos). Are there any existing Titan launch complexes in use today, or would one have to be built? I would think that you could adapt an old missle base if you wanted to but an existing,tested site would sure make life easier. I like REMs idea of putting cheap canisters of raw material into orbit for future use. I would guess that the cans just need some small orbital correction devices and a radio beacon. That means that even NASA could be expected to develop them in a reasonably short time. ------------------------------ Date: 21 February 1982 20:54-EST From: Robert Elton Maas Subject: twisting of orbital platforms To: VaughanW at HI-MULTICS cc: SPACE at MIT-MC Hmmm, putting weight at end of rope doesn't help at all for moment arm because ropes pull longitudinally only (except for some dynamic damping), but does help in terms of gravity difference that generates the tital force in the first place. Maybe a short supported column to create a decent moment arm, with a weight on a long rope attached to it to create large tidal differences, would be optimal. ------------------------------ Date: 22 February 1982 03:52-EST From: Robert Elton Maas To: SPACE at MIT-MC It seems almost a shame that the great reptiles were exterminated by that comet. Just think if they had survived and developed space travel, they could save lots of money inhabiting space by sending up eggs and having a nursary up in space instead of having to send up fullsize people like we mammals have to do presently. By the way, "Life on Earth" is a really good program of interest to those who like to understand evolution. The episode on amphibians just ended, and this next week comes the episode on reptiles. ------------------------------ End of SPACE Digest ******************* ----------------------------------------------------------------- gopher://quux.org/ conversion by John Goerzen of http://communication.ucsd.edu/A-News/ This Usenet Oldnews Archive article may be copied and distributed freely, provided: 1. There is no money collected for the text(s) of the articles. 2. The following notice remains appended to each copy: The Usenet Oldnews Archive: Compilation Copyright (C) 1981, 1996 Bruce Jones, Henry Spencer, David Wiseman.