space faq introduction archive name space intro last modified date frequently asked questions on sci space sci astro introduction this series of linked messages is periodically posted to the usenet groups sci space and sci astro in an attempt to provide good answers to frequently asked questions and other reference material which is worth preserving if you have corrections or answers to other frequently asked questions that you would like included in this posting send email to leech cs unc edu jon leech if you don t want to see the faq add frequently asked questions to your kill file for this group if you re not reading this with a newsreader that can kill articles by subject you re out of luck the faq volume is excessive right now and will hopefully be trimmed down by rewriting and condensing over time the faq postings are available in the ames space archive in faq faq good summaries will be accepted in place of the answers given here the point of this is to circulate existing information and avoid rehashing old answers better to build on top than start again nothing more depressing than rehashing old topics for the th time references are provided because they give more complete information than any short generalization questions fall into three basic types where do i find some information about space try your local public library first the net is not a good place to ask for general information ask individuals by email if you must there are other sources use them too the net is a place for open ended discussion i have an idea which would improve space flight hope you aren t surprised but out of have usually been thought of before again contact a direct individual source for evaluation nasa fields thousands of these each day miscellanous queries these are addressed on a case by case basis in the following series of faq postings suggestions for better netiquette read news announce newusers if you re on usenet minimize cross references do you really need to edit subject lines especially if you re taking a tangent send mail instead avoid posting follow ups mail message worth posts internet mail readers send requests to add drop to space request not space read all available articles before posting a follow up check all references cut down attributed articles leave only the points you re responding to remove signatures and headers summarize put a return address in the body signature of your message mail or article state your institution etc don t assume the reply function of mailers will work use absolute dates post in a timely way don t post what everyone will get on tv anyway some editors and window systems do character count line wrapping keep lines under characters for those using ascii terminals use carriage returns index to linked postings i ve attempted to break the postings up into related areas there isn t a keyword index yet the following lists the major subject areas in each posting only those containing astronomy related material are posted to sci astro indicated by following the posting number contents introduction suggestions for better netiquette index to linked postings notes on addresses phone numbers etc contributors network resources overview mailing lists periodically updated information warning about non public networks online and some offline sources of images data etc introduction viewing images online archives nasa ames nasa astrophysics data system nasa jet propulsion lab mission information and images nasa langley technical reports nasa spacelink national space science data center space telescope science institute electronic info service starcat astronomical databases astronomy programs orbital element sets space digest landsat nasa photos planetary maps cometary orbits performing calculations and interpreting data formats computing spacecraft orbits and trajectories computing planetary positions computing crater diameters from earth impacting asteroids map projections and spherical trignometry performing n body simulations efficiently interpreting the fits image format sky unix ephemeris program three dimensional star galaxy coordinates references on specific areas publishers of space astronomy material careers in the space industry dc x single stage to orbit ssto program how to name a star after a person llnl great exploration lunar prospector lunar science and activities orbiting earth satellite histories spacecraft models rocket propulsion spacecraft design esoteric propulsion schemes solar sails lasers fusion spy satellites space shuttle computer systems seti computation signal processing amateur satellies weather satellites tides constants and equations for calculations astronomical mnemonics contacting nasa esa and other space agencies companies nasa centers arianespace esa nasda soyuzkarta space camp space commerce corporation spacehab spot image other commercial space businesses space shuttle answers launch schedules tv coverage shuttle launchings and landings schedules and how to see them why does the shuttle roll just after liftoff how to receive the nasa tv channel nasa select amateur radio frequencies for shuttle missions solid rocket booster fuel composition planetary probes historical missions us planetary missions mariner venus mars mercury flybys and orbiters pioneer moon sun venus jupiter and saturn flybys and orbiters ranger lunar lander and impact missions lunar orbiter lunar surface photography surveyor lunar soft landers viking mars orbiters and landers voyager outer planet flybys soviet planetary missions soviet lunar probes soviet venus probes soviet mars probes japanese planetary missions planetary mission references upcoming planetary probes missions and schedules cassini galileo magellan mars observer topex poseidon ulysses other space science missions proposed missions controversial questions what happened to the saturn v plans why data from space missions isn t immediately available risks of nuclear rtg power sources for space probes impact of the space shuttle on the ozone layer how long can a human live unprotected in space how the challenger astronauts died using the shuttle beyond low earth orbit the face on mars space activist interest research groups and space publications groups publications undocumented groups how to become an astronaut orbital and planetary launch services notes on addresses phone numbers etc unless otherwise specified telephone numbers addresses and so on are for the united states of america non us readers should remember to add the country code for telephone calls etc credits eugene miya started a series of linked faq postings some years ago which inspired and was largely absorbed into this set peter yee and ron baalke have and continue to spend a lot of their own time setting up the space archives at nasa ames and forwarding official nasa announcements many other people have contributed material to this list in the form of old postings to sci space and sci astro which i ve edited please let me know if corrections need to be made contributors i ve managed to keep track of are mcimail com francis reddy map projections ad yfn ysu edu steven fisk publication refs akerman bill phy queensu ca richard akerman crater diameters alweigel athena mit edu lisa weigel seds info aoab emx utexas edu srinivas bettadpur tides awpaeth watcgl waterloo edu alan wm paeth map projections aws iti org allen w sherzer great exploration baalke kelvin jpl nasa gov ron baalke planetary probe schedules bankst rata vuw ac nz timothy banks map projections variable star analysis archive bern uni trier de jochen bern german mnemonic translation brosen pioneer arc nasa gov bernie rosen space camp bschlesinger nssdca gsfc nasa gov barry schlesinger fits format cew venera isi edu craig e ward space group contact info chapin cbnewsc att com tom chapin planetary positions cunnida tenet edu d alan cunningham nasa spacelink cyamamot kilroy jpl nasa gov cliff yamamoto orbital elements datri convex com anthony datri pds vicar viewing software daver sjc mentorg com dave rickel orbit formulae dlbres pc usl edu phil fraering propulsion eder hsvaic boeing com dani eder saturn v plans srbs eugene eos arc nasa gov eugene n miya introduction nasa contact info started faq postings french isu isunet edu patrick m french space group contact info g telesoft com gary morris amateur radio info gaetz cfa harvard edu terry gaetz n body calculations orbital dynamics grandi noao edu steve grandi planetary positions greer utd dnet utadnx utspan span nasa gov dale m greer constants henry zoo toronto edu henry spencer survival in vacuum astronaut how to challenger disaster publication refs dc x higgins fnal bitnet william higgins rtgs publishers shuttle landings spysats propulsion face on mars hmueller cssun tamu edu hal mueller map projections orbital dynamics jbh uxa cso uiuc edu josh hopkins launch services jim pnet cts com jim bowery propulsion launch services jnhead pirl lpl arizona edu james n head atmospheric scale heights jscotti lpl arizona edu jim scotti planetary positions kcarroll zoo toronto edu kieran a carroll refs for spacecraft design ken orion bitnet kenneth ng rtgs kjenks gothamcity jsc nasa gov ken jenks shuttle roll manuever klaes verga enet dec com larry klaes planetary probe history leech cs unc edu jon leech crater diameters lfa ssi com lou adornato orbital dynamics maury markowitz egsgate fidonet org maury markowitz propulsion max west darkside com erik max francis equations mbellon mcdurb urbana gould com n body calculations mcconley phoenix princeton edu marc wayne mcconley space careers msb sq com mark brader mariner info mwm cmu edu mark maimone space digest nickw syma sussex ac uk dr nick watkins models spysats ohainaut eso org olivier r hainaut publishers starcat oneil aio jsc nasa gov graham o neil lunar prospector panama cup portal com kenneth w durham cometary orbits iau paul blase nss fidonet org paul blase propulsion pjs plato jpl nasa gov peter scott rtgs pschleck unomaha edu paul w schleck amsat arrl contact info rdb mel cocam oz au rodney brown propulsion refs rja m phil cs virginia edu ran atkinson ftpable astro programs rjungcla ihlpb att com r michael jungclas models roelle sigi jhuapl edu curt roelle german mnemonic translation seal leonardo jpl nasa gov david seal cassini mission schedule shafer skipper dfrf nasa gov mary shafer photos shuttle landings smith sndpit enet dec com willie smith photos stephen gpwd gp co nz stephen dixon shuttle audio frequencies sterner warper jhuapl edu ray sterner planetary positions stooke vaxr sscl uwo ca phil stooke planetary maps ted anderson transarc com ted anderson propulsion terry astro as utexas edu terry hancock nasa center info thorson typhoon atmos colostate edu bill thorson fits info tm b andrew cmu edu todd l masco space digest tom ssd csd harris com tom horsley refs for algorithms veikko makela helsinki fi veikko makela orbital element sets wales larrison ofa fidonet org wales larrison groups publications wayne csri utoronto ca wayne hayes constants weemba libra wistar upenn edu matthew p wiener voyager history yamada yscvax ysc go jp yoshiro yamada isas nasda missions yee ames arc nasa gov peter yee ames archive server propulsion in net memoriam ted flinn next faq network resources
