[First of the more-or-less-current issues, which will run in parallel with my catching up on last autumn.]
JPL is testing Topsar, a topographic synthetic-aperture radar that has better altitude resolution than the stereo-photograpy technique currently used for terrestrial mapping, with an eye on building a mapping satellite that could produce a consistent topographic map of the whole world. The prototype is flying on the NASA DC-8, using antennas supplied by the Italian Consortium for Research and Development of Advanced Remote Sensing Systems. [Can't they make these names short enough to at least fit on one line? :-)]
NASA's contribution to NASP will be $20M, not $5M, with Truly reprogramming funds from other projects (mostly in the aeronautical R&D area). This is in lieu of the original request for $72M. [Prediction: NASP, as a project to produce a specific vehicle, will die within two years. It may join the ranks of the undead by being downgraded to a technology R&D project, but the X-30 will not be built. It costs too much.]
ISAS will flight-test a model spaceplane at Kagoshima Feb 10, launching a rocket-powered model from a high-altitude balloon. The objective is data for attitude-control systems for future space hardware. ISAS tried this once before, in 1988, but lost it when the balloon failed.
SDIO finds allies in the most unexpected places, as leaders of ex-Soviet Asian republics express interest in joint missile defense. They see unpredictable or even hostile neighbors to the south, well within range of tactical missiles.
Pratt&Whitney is working on new RL10 derivatives for near-future needs. The existing operational one is the RL10A-3A, in use on Centaur now, with the RL10A-4 to fly this year on a Centaur and the RL10A-5 being developed for DC-X. The -4 has 25% more thrust and a very slightly higher exhaust velocity than the -3A, thanks to a longer nozzle, higher chamber pressure, higher flow rates, and various small improvements. [No details on the -5.] Two more advanced derivatives are being looked at, the RL10B-X (thrust similar to -4 but with specific impulse of 470 rather than 449) and the RL10C-X (thrust 50% higher). The B-X could be built within three years and the C-X within four. The appeal of the C-X is the possibility of a single-engine Centaur.
P&W is also building the Advanced Expander TestBed for NASA Lewis; this is a test rig for exploring concepts for more advanced RL10-like engines. Major design reviews are starting and hardware delivery will be in 1996 (the original date was 1993: "The program is stretched out more than we or NASA would like... The problem is funds. This program does not grab the headlines like the space station, and there is not enough money for a very fast schedule").
LLNL prepares to test the technique of using a high-power laser to create a "guide star" in Earth's upper atmosphere to control adaptive telescope optics. This could enable ground-based telescopes to duplicate the clarity of view (although not some of the other advantages) of HST.
TsAGI to run wind-tunnel tests on the separation characteristics of the Mriya/Hotol combination, using test hardware developed for Buran. TsAGI is also doing hypersonic tests to decide placement of Hotol's fins. Studies so far say that Mriya will need only minor modifications to carry Hotol, primarily larger fuel tanks and two more engines to give adequate takeoff performance under tropical conditions. (Kourou has been suggested as an operational base.) Contrary to erroneous earlier reports, Mriya's existing engines are adequate for the Hotol launch, but they are marginal for a heavily-loaded takeoff at high air temperatures. Re-engining with Western engines has been examined, but just adding two more of the Russian engines is cheaper. BAe, TsAGI, and Antonov appear very serious about this project despite the chaos in the ex-USSR.
Alan Bond's engine patent for the original ground-launched Hotol has been declassified by the British government (although the detailed design work done by Rolls-Royce is still considered proprietary). Apparently it compresses incoming air and cools it to liquefy it, burning liquid hydrogen and liquid air up to Mach 5.5 and 30km (onboard LOX would be used after that).
SVR4: proving that quantity is | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology not a substitute for quality. | henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry