From: Patrick Douglas CrispenTo: tourbus@colossus.net Subject: TOURBUS 8/24 -- NASA SHUTTLE WEB ARCHIVE /~~~|~~~~|~~~~|~~~~|~~~~|~~~~|~~~~|~~~~|~~~~|~~~~~/~~~|~\ |____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____/ | \ | /_____|---\ / --T-H-E---I-N-T-E-R-N-E-T---T-O-U-R-B-U-S--> ///////| | | |///////| | ~~~/~~~\~/~~~\~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~/~~~\~~~~ \___/ \___/ "Why Surf When U Can Ride The Bus?" \___/ I want to personally apologize for the double posts that some of you have received from TOURBUS recently. I am not sure what is causing this problem, but I can assure you that steps are being taken to diagnose and fix this problem as quickly as possible. I will do everything in my power to see that this problem is fixed as soon as possible, and I want to thank each of you for your patience and support in the interim. TOURBUS -- AUGUST 24, 1995 TODAY'S STOP: NASA SHUTTLE WEB ARCHIVES TODAY'S ADDRESS: http://shuttle.nasa.gov/ A couple of years ago I was a Simulations Director at the United States Space Camp. My job was to teach high school aged trainees space shuttle orbiter and mission control operations, and then to "test" the trainees' knowlege at the end of the week by staging simulated 24-hour space shuttle missions. The missions, of course, were replete with all sorts of problems and glitches with the orbiter (all caused by me) and the trainees had to use what they had learned during their 10 days at Camp to solve the problems that I threw at them. To be a Simulations Director, I had to know a great deal about the Space Shuttle (if I didn't know how a particular shuttle system worked, how could I expect to be able to break it?). To learn about the shuttle, I had to read mountains of NASA technical manuals (a fate that I would not wish upon my worst enemy). Why was reading NASA technical manuals so difficult? Well, NASA is famous for lines like "Upon completion of the OMS-1 thrusting period, the RCS is used to null any residual velocities, if required." Yeah, whatever. (Actually, if you know what the OMS and RCS are, this makes perfect sense) That's why I am so excited about today's TOURBUS stop: http://shuttle.nasa.gov/ This is NASA's official space shuttle homepage, and it contains enough technical information about the shuttle to keep a former SimGod like me happy for hours. Better still, this page's extensive use of hyperlinks finally gives you the opportunity to decipher NASA's overwhelming sea of acronyms with just a simple click of your mouse. For example, let's learn something about the five aborts that the shuttle can experience (RSLS, RTLS, TAL, AOA, and ATO). From the shuttle homepage, click on "Shuttle Mission Overviews" and then on "51-L" (STS 51-L was the last flight of the Challenger). The 51-L page contains a lot of information that you probably want to read, but for now let's click on the "TAL" hyperlink and see what happens. What appears on your screen is the shuttle flight profile of a Transatlantic Landing (TAL) Abort. This isn't going to make much sense to you, though -- you need to scroll to the top of the TAL page first (up to the part that says "Background and Status" and "Mission Profile."). As you read through this page, notice all of the hyperlinks. If you see a word or concept that you do not understand, just click on the appropriate hyperlink. This page will take you step by step through the flight profile of a routine space shuttle mission, and will even introduce you to the shuttle's five aborts. NASA's writing is a little terse, but the hyperlinks really do help make things easier to understand. By the way, back on the Shuttle homepage (http://shuttle.nasa.gov/) you should also check out "Today@NASA". This page has some GREAT Imax (60 mm motion picture) images from space, as well as links to NASA's latest flight information and press releases. ... that's it for today (I want to keep the posts short until our double post problem is fixed). If you ever wanted to know the difference between OMS and RCS, or if you ever wanted to know about any other piece of shuttle information, today's TOURBUS stop is for you! TODAY'S SOUTHERN WORD OF THE DAY -------------------------------- Y'ALL -- noun. A degree of rotation. Usage: "There are three degrees of Southern rotation: Pitch, Roll, and Y'all." ******************** The WorldWideWeb Handbook ********************** For a good book on how to write your own Web files, see "The WorldWideWeb Handbook" (ITCP ISBN 1-85032-205-8) Details on the Web at http://www.ucc.ie/~pflynn/books/wwwbook.html *********************************************************************** ====================================================================== SUBSCRIBE : Send SUBSCRIBE TOURBUS to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM unSUBSCRIBE: Send UNSUBSCRIBE TOURBUS to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM Web Site : http://csbh.mhv.net/~bobrankin/tourbus (stop in for back issues and the logo contest) Advertising: E-mail BobRankin@MHV.net w/ Subject: SEND TBRATES ====================================================================== TOURBUS - (c) Copyright 1995, Patrick Crispen and Bob Rankin All rights reserved. Redistribution is allowed only with permission.
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