Conference 7.286::space

    	That is along the lines I am stating in Note 222.
    
    	If the United States and Soviet Union would work together on
    space projects, we'd be colonizing the Solar System by now.
                         
    	Larry
    

  Remember Nostradamus?  The guy who so accurately has predicted future
history (he got Hitler's general role as maniacal tyrant correct - and his
name down to one letter).  Well, anyway, Nostradamus said that in the next
couple of years the two world powers which have been at each other's throats
will reconcile their differences - a new threat is supposed to form.

  Hey, Larry, maybe you're in tune with the universe...

John

    	I don't know if I'm in "tune" with the Universe - many have
    said just the opposite :^) - but I know what is needed for the human
    race to not just survive, but thrive; and so do a lot of other people.
    
    	I seriously believe that exploring and colonizing space is the
    answer - we literally have a whole Universe right at our doorstep
    (well, maybe not the whole Universe, if there are any alien
    civilizations out there), and not to use it to our benefit is to
    never mature and end up stagnating; Earth cannot take care of us
    forever.
    
    	Remember the Russian rocket pioneer Tsilovsky's famous quote:
    "Earth is the cradle of mankind, but one cannot live in the cradle
    forever."
    
    	Larry
    

    Regarding the technical feasibility:  I imagine it depends on how
    flexible the guidance computers are.  I should think that by reducing
    the payload, one should be able increase the delta-v enough to get
    into orbit.  
    
    Also, the Atlas and Titan boosters that we still use were originally
    ICBMs.  Some Titan ICBMs are still active in silos, in fact.  Note,
    however, that the Titans which we know today that have a fairly
    large payload capacity are augmented by solid boosters that are
    not on the ICBM versions.
    
    As I understand it, current nuclear weapons are smaller and lighter
    than those of a couple decades ago, thus the missles that launch
    them need less payload capacity (although MIRVing brings the
    requirements back up).  Thus it may be that Minutemen and MXes and
    Polarises and Posiedens et al would not have enough payload capacity
    to be useful.  I suppose the "throw weight" is classified, but whether
    or not it is, I don't know it.
    
    Perhaps the Soviet's ICBMs would be more useful.  I understand that
    many of their boosters and ICBMS are all just varients of the same
    basic design that sent Yuri Gagarin into orbit in 1961.
    
    Burns

    re .4
    
    None of the Titans currently in use are ex-ICBMs. All of the Titan
    IIIs and Titan 34s were purpose built using technology and parts
    developed for the Titan II ICBM. Primary differences are in the
    engines and the instrumentation unit although I think the tanks
    are a little larger in the Titan 34.
    
    The only production Titan II ICBM used as a launch vehicle was for
    Gemini 2 as a 'proof of concept' for the USAF Blue Gemini program
    (later cancelled).
    
    Martin have a contract to refurbish Titan IIs as they are
    decommissioned for use as launch vehicles. There is quite a difference
    in performance between the Titan II and the Titan 34, ignoring the
    solid strapons.
    
    The Atlas Fs that are being used for weather satellites are ex-ICBMs.
    
    The Soviet A-2 (the launcher for the Soyuz, Progress etc) is derived
    from the original SS-6 'Sapwood' ICBM that launched Sputnik (as
    the A launcher), Vostok and Voskhod (as the A-1) and lots of other
    satellites. It is the only booster the Soviets have used for manned
    missions to date. It is quite functional, reliable and can no doubt
    be mass produced very cheaply. This seems to be a basic Soviet
    philosophy (if it aint broke, don't fix it).
    
    Compare this with the number of launchers the US has man-rated over
    the years. A lot of this stems from the decision the US made to
    wait for the lighter warheads promised by the AEC while the Soviets
    built something to carry what they had at the time.
    
    The Soviets still launch film recon sats that use the Vostok airframe.
    
    The Soviet B and C launchers are derived from IRBMs, the F launcher
    from the SS-9 heavy ICBM (a little larger than the Titan II) and the D
    launcher is not directly linked to any weapon system although there is
    a theory that it is based on a 'city buster' (100mt single warhead)
    that was never deployed after a change in targetting priorities (target
    missile silos instead of cities). The D launcher is also called
    the Proton launcher and is the one the Soviets are offering for
    commercial use. It also launches Salyut and Mir (Titan III class
    vehicle).
    
    It is not correct to say that the Soviet ICBMs are variants of the
    SS-6. Most of their ICBM fleet consists of smaller missiles, but
    they have maintained development of the heavies as well.
    
    The MX could be useful as a small launch vehicle, but probably not
    for comsats or other commercial use. The Minuteman and Polaris/Poseidon
    are too small also. Of course, if you take three MX first stages
    and cluster them...
    
    gary 
             

    I knew I could provoke Gary to come out with the real data if I said
    something vague and general!
    
    Burns

I once read a book called "The Greening of Mars" that used old ICBMs 
to terraform Mars.  The premise was that as missiles becames more 
accurate, missile silos became hopelessly vulnerable to surprise attacks.
Their contents were decommisioned and sold almost as scrap.  An 
enterprising group bought them up by the thousands, and filled their 
warheads with chloro-fluoro-carbons (e.g. freon).  They launched them 
at Mars, where they crash-landed and formed a dust cloud that 
enveloped the entire planet.  The dust coated the ice caps, which 
caused them to darken, heat up, and sublime into carbon dioxide vapor.

The CO2 and the chloro-fluoro-carbons together caused a greenhouse effect.
The ice caps never did condense again, and the entire planet slowly 
warmed up to the point where Antarctic lichens could survive.  Spores 
of the lichens had also been put into the warheads, and they spread 
out across the planet.  Since the lichens were black, they caused 
still more sunlight to be absorbed.  After a couple of centuries, the 
overall temperature was up to freezing, and the partial pressure of 
the atmosphere was up to the point where one could walk around outside
without a spacesuit.  There was hardly any oxygen in the air, though, 
so a compressor was needed to get breathable air.  More and more 
plant species had been introduced, and real agriculture was underway.

Don't know if any of it is plausible, but the author is a fairly 
well-known environmental scientist, James Lovelock.

/jlr

VNS TECHNOLOGY WATCH:                           [Mike Taylor, VNS Correspondent]
=====================                           [Nashua, NH, USA               ]

    US and Soviet negotiators have agreed on a new space pact that
    will set in motion cooperative exploration of Mars and
    coordinated work in broad international research areas, once
    signed by leaders of the two countries.  The agreement would
    start 16 US/Soviet cooperative space activities. Negotiators
    from both nations expect it to be signed by President Reagan
    and General Secretary Gorbachev during a summit in Washington
    in early 1987. 

    {AW&ST Nov 10, 1986}