From: skunk-works-digest-owner@mail.orst.edu To: skunk-works-digest@mail.orst.edu Subject: Skunk Works Digest V5 #438 Reply-To: skunk-works-digest@mail.orst.edu Errors-To: skunk-works-digest-owner@mail.orst.edu Precedence: bulk Skunk Works Digest Thursday, 28 September 1995 Volume 05 : Number 438 In this issue: The sky is falling ... Re: The sky is falling ... Re: Aurora & Blackbird - exotic materials Lunar Defense [Stealthy Attack] Re: No more chickens! Re: Lunar Defense [Stealthy Attack] Interesting CBD item Metal Alloy v. Ceramic composites See the end of the digest for information on subscribing to the skunk-works or skunk-works-digest mailing lists and on how to retrieve back issues. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: dsm@iti-oh.com (dsm@iti-oh.com) Date: Wed, 27 Sep 95 09:21:59 EDT Subject: The sky is falling ... :: :: But to get back to the point, I'm just about certain that the "using a :: frozen bird in the chicken cannon" story is absolutely apocryphal. I've :: heard it from GE about P&W, P&W about GE, both about RR, and so on. I've :: never ever been able to track it closer than "I heard" or "this retired :: guy told me that he heard", etc. :: Now Mary, if the chicken stories aren't true, then how do you explain the origin of Chicken McNuggets? - - Dan "Makes ya wanna say -- hmmmmmmm" ------------------------------ From: mangan@Kodak.COM (Paul Mangan) Date: Wed, 27 Sep 95 11:11:29 EDT Subject: Re: The sky is falling ... Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please BLACKBIRDS...........NOT CH....... BIRDS > From skunk-works-owner@gaia.ucs.orst.edu Wed Sep 27 10:26:11 1995 > To: skunk-works-digest@gaia.ucs.orst.edu > Subject: The sky is falling ... > Sender: skunk-works-owner@gaia.ucs.orst.edu > Content-Length: 495 > X-Lines: 15 > > :: > :: But to get back to the point, I'm just about certain that the "using a > :: frozen bird in the chicken cannon" story is absolutely apocryphal. I've > :: heard it from GE about P&W, P&W about GE, both about RR, and so on. I've > :: never ever been able to track it closer than "I heard" or "this retired > :: guy told me that he heard", etc. > :: > > Now Mary, if the chicken stories aren't true, then how do you > explain the origin of Chicken McNuggets? > > > - Dan > > "Makes ya wanna say -- hmmmmmmm" > ------------------------------ From: "Paul Heinrich" Date: Wed, 27 Sep 1995 08:19:09 +0000 Subject: Re: Aurora & Blackbird - exotic materials > Reply-to: chosa@chosa.win.net (Byron Weber) > To: skunk-works@gaia.ucs.orst.edu > Date: Tue, 26 Sep 1995 17:14:21 > Subject: Re: Aurora & Blackbird > Way back when, late 40's-early 50's, Battelle Memorial Institute > under a RAND subcontract found titanium was a useful structural > material. I suspect that study prompted the Skunk Works to give > it a try, despite the problems described by Ben Rich. Also > studied was beryllium. Dr. George Hoffman, a RAND engineer, > published "Beryllium as an Aircraft Structural Material," in 1956, > RAND Corporation report RM-1642 and article P-871. Has beryllium > been used to any great extent. I understand it was a successful > material for missles, but what about planes? > > Byron > > Here's a possible clue. Since the biuld-down started aircraft companies have been looking for places to market spin-offs of their technology to consumers. One result of this is that there are many small firms (who I suspect used to make mainly aircraft parts) are producing bicycle parts out of composits or titanium alloies. If you look in the Pedal Pushers/Bike Pro parts cataloge (priduced in Santa Rosa, CA) you'll see many bike parts made of exotic materials (including some in Beryllium ceramic) with super-high price tags. It seems that the bike industry is one of the first to spin-off advanced materials to consumer (read: rich yuppy) markets. Paul (I want a Titanium bike) Heinrich Paul Heinrich Computer Resource Specialist Phone: (707) 875-1937 Bodega Marine Laboratory Fax: (707) 975-2089 University of California - Davis E-mail: PO Box 247 plheinrich@ucdavis.edu Bodega Bay, California 94923-0247 ------------------------------ From: "Terry Colvin" Date: Wed, 27 Sep 95 08:45:17 EST Subject: Lunar Defense [Stealthy Attack] Forwarded from SPACE TECH list: Date: Fri, 22 Sep 1995 18:52:50 +0900 From: "Thomas J. Nugent, Jr." Subject: Lunar Defense PREMISE: Suppose a manned lunar base were built by some nation. Assume that the people on that base, and the nation backing it, have no desire for military or political control of the earth, and that the base is to be used for science and/or manufacturing. But suppose also that certain nations back on earth feel threatened by the implicit strategic military advantage of a human presence on that "high ground" of the moon, and that those certain nations feel sufficiently threatened that they are provoked to attack the lunar base. THE TECHNICAL PROBLEM: The missiles launched toward the moon are "stealthy" in all wavelengths -- i.e., they are "black" in visible light and in all microwave, visible, UV and X-ray frequencies. By what means might the people on the moon detect such stealthy in-coming missiles? Bob Ssmith and Tom Nugent have been discussing this problem. Tom suggested that incoming warheads might be detectable if they occult background stars or, if against a background of the darkside of the earth, warheads might be visible against the earth's radiant IR and reflected starlight. Bob thinks this is feasible, especially if wide-angle, photo- multiplied views of the sky are recorded at about 1-second intervals and compared to one another by means of high-speed computers. When certain criteria indicate a moving object might be in the field of view, verification would be done by using a beam of positrons or high-energy neutrons. High-speed neutrons could have enough energy to induce fissioning of nuclei heavier then, say, cobalt in the structure of the in-coming warhead. Positrons, when they interact with electrons, would produce characteristic 0.511 Mev gamma rays. Positrons, however, would have the disadvantage of being deflected by magnetic fields in the inner solar system, which means that the accurate directing of a beam would be difficult. Either way, using positrons or neutrons, the particle beams could be used to determine range and trajectory of the object. QUESTION: Is occultation of the background sky (stars, or Earth, or more likely, the background radiation itself) a theoretically feasible way to detect in-coming stealthy warheads, and would positron or high-energy neutron probing be a plausible way to verify the range and velocity of suspicious objects? Bob and Tom are interested in feedback on that final question and on related considerations. Tom Nugent: Interning through U. Pittsburgh JSTM program at Ishikawajima- Harima Heavy Industries, Yokohama Research Institute, Japan. But just because I'm associated with them doesn't mean I speak for them. email: nugent@gol.com URL: http://www2.gol.com/users/nugent Join the JapanSpace mailing list by sending me email w/ your email address ------------------------------ From: sschaper@pobox.com (Steve Schaper) Date: Wed, 27 Sep 1995 10:49:35 -0500 Subject: Re: No more chickens! At 11:22 PM 9/26/95, Daga1@aol.com wrote: >Yes, indeed. Enough with the chickens already. More titanium, please. > >Thanks. > >Andy Hmm. Is this the post, perchance, of a member of _fuzzy fuzzy halloway_? ------------------------------ From: Gerald.Welch@Corp.Sun.COM (Gerald Welch) Date: Wed, 27 Sep 1995 09:28:21 -0700 Subject: Re: Lunar Defense [Stealthy Attack] I'm not an expert, but it appears to me that taking out a moon base would be like shooting fish in a barrel. Sophisticated missiles need not be used, kinetic energy weapons would do just fine. Heck, any kind of space junk raining down on an (unhardened) moon base would depressurize the thing. Particle beams, shmarticle beams, how are you going to target and knock-out a half dozen kinetic energy projectiles. Just by design these things are very hardy and offer little area for targeting. ------------------------------ From: TRADER@cup.portal.com Date: Wed, 27 Sep 95 11:11:52 PDT Subject: Interesting CBD item Here's an interesting piece I found in the Commerce Business Daily, which is a US government publication listing available government contracts. One wonders what these guys are flying -- it's pretty heavy... (more than 2 million pounds of a classified cargo requiring 2 military couriers with each flight.) Also, does anyone know anything about the US government's Building 1500 Security Compound at Misawa Air Base, Japan, and why it is considered a Top Secret Facility by the US Army? - ------------------------- CBD item --------------------------------- COMMERCE BUSINESS DAILY Issue No. PSA-1435 Date: 09/20/95 Services Transportation, Travel and Relocation Svcs Synopsis# 0071 HQ AMC/DOKAS, 402 Scott Dr Unit 3A1, Scott AFB IL 62225-5302 V -- AIR TRANSPORTATION SERVICES Sol F11626-95-R0092. Due 110295. Contact John J. Sheahan, Contract Specialist, (618)256-3737/Carol J. Fritch, AF Contracting Officer, (618)256-3737. Air transportation services utilizing contractor furnished, IFR-equipped, multi-engine, pressurized aircraft. Carrier will move an estimated 2,331,000 lbs of containerized classified material per year with two military couriers accompanying each shipment. Material originates at 15 locations with sorting accomplished at a secure, 6,600 sq. ft. facility at the contractor's hub. At the time of award the carrier is required to participate in the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) and possess a current Federal Aviation Administration Part 121 air carrier operating certificate. The period of performance is 29 Feb 96 thru 28 Feb 97, with two-one year options and a 6 month extension as authorized by FAR 52.217-8. The solicitation will close on or about 2 Nov 95. (258) - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Paul McGinnis / TRADER@cup.portal.com / PaulMcG@aol.com http://www.portal.com/~trader/secrecy.html Anonymous FTP access to files dealing with excessive military secrecy is available from Internet host ftp.shell.portal.com (IP address 156.151.3.4) in the /pub/trader directory. Read the 00readme files for descriptions of the files. Writings from Glenn Campbell, author of the "Area 51 Viewer's Guide" are available in /pub/trader/secrecy/psychospy. (America Online users can use Keyword:FTP, and Web users can use URL ftp://ftp.shell.portal.com/pub/trader/ ) ------------------------------ From: wizard@friday.houston.net Date: Wed, 27 Sep 1995 13:29:51 -0700 Subject: Metal Alloy v. Ceramic composites I thought the days of metal alloys to build jet engine turbine blades was dead, and the future is the use of ceramic and plastic composite material is now the direction the powerplant industry is heading. Comments? ------------------------------ End of Skunk Works Digest V5 #438 ********************************* To subscribe to skunk-works-digest, send the command: subscribe skunk-works-digest in the body of a message to "majordomo@mail.orst.edu". 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