Xref: utzoo sci.space:6097 sci.space.shuttle:869
Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!bellcore!faline!thumper!karn
From: karn@thumper.bellcore.com (Phil R. Karn)
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Re: Von Braun quote
Summary: semantics and anecdotes
Message-ID: <1219@thumper.bellcore.com>
Date: 12 Jul 88 08:08:39 GMT
References: <1988Jun17.053132.5314@utzoo.uucp>, <3361@phri.UUCP> <1988Jul10.003611.16575@utzoo.uucp>
Organization: Bell Communications Research, Inc
Lines: 31

Henry, I'm impressed. You *have* been reading up on us, haven't you!

But since you like to quote anecdotes, let's pick the Solar Max rescue
mission. Remember how George ("Pinky") Nelson grabbed one of the solar
arrays in an attempt to stop the satellite from spinning? Not only did
he not stop the spin, but he precessed it so much that the solar arrays
were shadowed and the spacecraft was nearly lost when the batteries
almost ran down.  And I won't even mention the strong likelihood that
the rescue mission cost more than a simple replacement would have.

I've never understood why it's so necessary to put humans into space in
order to benefit from their ability to react to unforseen circumstances.
In many situations, it makes far more sense to keep such people on the
ground instead of sending them along with the payload, especially since
the state of the communications art has gotten so good. Keeping your
human "crew" on the ground has many advantages. The payload is
enormously simpler, because it doesn't have to provide man-rated life
support and a means to return the crew. Your human "crew" can be much
bigger, and you can easily change them after launch. They need not be
prime physical specimens; they can be chosen solely for their technical
skills and perhaps even their understanding of the basic physics of
rotating bodies (unlike Pinky Nelson).

Your arguments represent a convincing case for versatile remote control,
not for manned spaceflight. In the case of Oscar-10, those of us on the
ground had plenty of opportunity to exercise our ability to react to
unforseen circumstances. With the help of a versatile on-board computer
that can be completely reprogrammed from the ground,  we were able to
save the mission.

Phil