Aucbvax.5525 fa.space utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!space Tue Dec 22 03:35:52 1981 SPACE Digest V2 #67 >From OTA@S1-A Tue Dec 22 03:25:59 1981 SPACE Digest Volume 2 : Issue 67 Today's Topics: Flywheels Private manufacturing of satelites -- News clipping radiation Electric Satellites ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 21 Dec 1981 1201-CST From: John Otken Subject: Flywheels To: space at MIT-MC They have a flywheel as a power source for the Tokamac here at U.T. also. Although the numbers I recall for it are 160V @ 400KA, what is important is that this was suppose to be peanuts for flywheel industry. So don't buy a nuke (unless it is on sale) or an SPS, rather buy a gigawatt worth of flywheel(s) and purchase power at night . Ready for a morning launch.... What's not very obvious to me is the receiving end of this thing. It has to absorb a gigawatt over a period of ninety seconds. Could someone give a sketch of this device? ------- ------------------------------ Date: 21 Dec 1981 1452-PST Sender: BILLW at SRI-KL Subject: Private manufacturing of satelites -- News clipping From: William "Chops" Westfield To: space-enthusiasts at MC Message-ID: <[SRI-KL]21-DEC-81 14:52:36.BILLW> e617 12:21 21-Dec-81 -u.s. firms plans to build its own satellites washington -(dj)--the american satellite co., a pioneer in the development of high-speed satellite communication networks for businesses, asked regulatory permission monday to build and launch its own satellites. the proposal, filed with the federal communications commission (fcc), asks permission to build three satellites. one would be launched in 1985; the second in 1986, and the third held as an on-ground spare. the project will cost more than 225 million dlrs if approved, the company said. american satellite, a joint venture between the continental telephone corp. and fairchild industries, based in rockville, maryland, has become one of the largest satellite operators in the u.s. by leasing or buying space on satellites built by other firms and then building specialized networks for its customers. most recently, the company purchased a 20 pc ownership position in western union's westar satellite system. through its parent companies, it also has the right to use up to 50 pc of the commercial capacity of two new advanced westar satellites now under construction. in its application to the fcc, american satellite said it intended to build special 'hybrid satellites,' which have the capability of operating on two different bands of radio frequencies. the satellites will have a 10-year design life instead of the 7-year life that is now the industry norm, and will be capable of being launched by either the space shuttle, an american delta rocket or the european space agency's ariane rocket. if approved, the satellites will be controlled through new facilities to be built at america satellite's existing operations center in vernon valley, new jersey, the firm added. the fcc's response to the application filed monday may be governed in part by a proceeding launched recently to explore the technical problems that might arise if the orbital spacing between existing satellites is reduced. the commission has said it may have difficulty authorizing new satellites without such a reduction. -0- -(dj-12-21-81 2021gmt *************** ------------------------------ Date: 21 December 1981 1706-cst From: Bill Vaughan Subject: radiation To: JPM at SAIL Cc: SPACE at MC Gee, sorry you don't like electromagnetic radiation. I tend to be a little more fussy about the kinds of EM radiation I don't like. E.g.: Gamma rays: NO! X-rays: only under my doctor's orders. Short-wave ultraviolet: only to erase EPROMs with, thanks. Long-wave UV: good in moderation for suntans, special effects at parties. Visible: enough to read by, thanks. Short-wave infrared: good for radiant heat; the sun puts out a lot. Long-wave IR: as long as I'm not dead, I emit a lot of that myself. Microwaves: please keep them in the oven! (And don't walk in front of big radars.) UHF, VHF: I like my television, telephone, & marine radios to work. HF, MF, LF: Ditto for broadcast (except for a few stations) etc. VLF on down: Not enough information (though lightning generates a lot of VLF, so it probably isn't too bad for me). Saying "I don't like radiation" sounds nice, but it's either demagogic or ignorant. BTW - was it an infrared, visible or UV laser you didn't like the EM radiation from? ------------------------------ Redistributed-Date: 21 December 1981 17:42 cst Redistributed-By: VaughanW.REFLECS at HI-Multics Redistributed-To: Space at MIT-MC Date: 15 December 1981 12:37 cst From: Bibbero.PMSDMKT at HI-Multics Subject: Electric Satellites To: {mbx >udd>reflecs>bv>ARPA_fwd} at HI-Multics (Space-Enthusiasts at MIT-MC) I don't recall hearing about a space elevator until reading Arthur Clarke's book, but there was a joke going around missile circles circa 1956 about the "electric satellite -- they haven't gotten around to inventing the extension cord yet." This joke inspired me to calculate the feasibility of such an extension cord from earth to synchronous altitude, using a tapered construction. With steel, I recollect the diameter at apex was several thousand feet. The calculations are long gone but my results are more in line with Hans Moravec's message of 11 December than those of wildbill ("several times the diameter of earth.") ------------------------------ 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.