Space FAQ 02/13 - Network Resources
Jon Leech
Archive-name: space/net
Last-modified: $Date: 96/09/17 15:40:29 $
Compilation copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by Jonathan P. Leech. This
document may be redistributed in its complete and unmodified form. Other
use requires written permission of the author.
NETWORK RESOURCES
OVERVIEW
You may be reading this document on many types of computers, so much of
the material below may not apply to you. In general, however, systems
connected to 'the net' fall in one of three categories: Internet,
Usenet, or BITNET. Electronic mail may be sent between these networks,
and other resources available on one of these networks are sometimes
accessible from other networks by email sent to special 'servers'.
The space and astronomy discussion groups actually are composed of
several mechanisms with (mostly) transparent connections between them.
One mechanism is the mailing list, in which mail is sent to a central
distribution point which relays it to all recipients of the list. In
addition to the general lists for space (called SPACE Digest for
Internet users, and SPACE on BITNET), there are a number of more
specialized mailing lists described below.
A second mechanism is Usenet 'netnews'. This is somewhat like a bulletin
board operating on each system which is a part of the net. Netnews
separates contributions into hundreds of different categories based on a
'group name'. The groups dealing most closely with space topics are
called:
sci.astro - astronomy, general.
sci.astro.amateur - amateur astronomy equipment, techniques, info
sci.astro.research - moderated, for discussion of current research
in astronomy and astrophysics.
sci.astro.{fits,hubble,planetarium} - topic-specific subgroups.
sci.geo.eos - discussion of the Earth Observing System
alt.sci.planetary - planetary science. sci.space.science is a better
group for most purposes.
talk.politics.space - obsolete; replaced by sci.space.policy.
sci.space.news - moderated, for mission status reports, news
announcements, etc.
sci.space.policy - space policy and politics.
sci.space.science - moderated, space & planetary science.
sci.space.shuttle - discussion specific to the space shuttle,
including launch/landing schedules and mission activities.
sci.space.tech - moderated, technical/hardware issues.
Contributors 'post' submissions (called 'articles' in netnews
terminology) on their local machine, which sends it to other nearby
machines. Similarly, articles sent from nearby machines are stored
locally and may be forwarded to other systems, so that an article is
posted locally and eventually reaches all the Usenet sites interested in
receiving the news group to which the article was posted.
Gateway machines redirect several of the Usenet sci.space groups into
Internet and BITNET mailing lists and vice versa; the other Usenet
groups are not accessible as mailing lists. If you can receive netnews,
its more flexible interface and access to a wider range of material
usually make it the preferred option.
MAILING LISTS
SPACE Digest has been broken up into 5 separate digests to mirror the
Usenet split of sci.space. To submit messages, the addresses are:
To submit to: Send email to:
-------------------- -------------------------------------
space space...@isu.isunet.edu
spacepol space-...@isu.isunet.edu
spacesci space-...@isu.isunet.edu
space-sh space-...@isu.isunet.edu
spacenws NO SUBMISSIONS ALLOWED
To subscribe or unsubscribe to any of these lists (rather than to submit
postings to them), email
The message body should be one of
help (get help document)
info genintro (get intro document)
subscribe <listname> <your name> (add yourself to a list)
signoff <listname> (remove yourself from a list)
e.g.
subscribe space John Public
signoff spacesci
If you need to communicate with a human list maintainer rather than the
listserv, email space-...@isu.isunet.edu.
Old copies of SPACE Digest since its inception in 1981 are in
http://www.music.qub.ac.uk:80/~amon/IslandOne/SpaceDigest/
ftp://ftp.music.qub.ac.uk/pub/SpaceDigestArchive/
The Shuttle Elements Mailing List is a moderated list for fast
distribution of Space Shuttle Keplerian Elements before and during
Shuttle flights. NASA two-line elements are sent out to the list
frequently with the most up-to-date data available from several sources.
See
http://www.cts.com/browse/garym/elements
or to get subscription information by email, send "info elements" to
list...@thomsoft.com. The list maintainer is Gary Morris
(elements...@thomsoft.com).
GPS Digest is a (currently inactive, for lack of a system to run it on)
moderated list for discussion of the Global Positioning System and other
satellite navigation positioning systems. Email
gps-r...@esseye.si.com to join. A Usenet group,
sci.geo.satellite-nav, has been established to deal with terrestrial
applcations of satellite navigation.
Space-investors is a list for information relevant to investing in
space-related companies. Email space-inves...@lunacity.com to
join. The list maintainer is Michael Wallis (mwa...@lunacity.com).
Space-tech is a list for more technical discussion of space topics;
discussion has included esoteric propulsion technologies, asteroid
capture, starflight, orbital debris removal, etc. Email to
space-tec...@cs.cmu.edu to join. Some archives (now somewhat
out of date, but still interesting) are in
ftp://ftp.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/usr/mnr/st
or by email to space-tech-request if you don't have FTP access.
Ssi-mail is a discussion group covering the Space Studies Institute.
Email to list...@link.com with a message saying "subscribe ssi_mail
First Name Last Name".
SEDS-L is a BITNET list for members of Students for the Exploration and
Development of Space and other interested parties. Email
LIST...@TAMVM1.BITNET with a message saying "SUBSCRIBE SEDS-L your
name". Email saying "INDEX SEDS-L" to list the archive contents.
SEDSNEWS is a BITNET list for news items, press releases, shuttle status
reports, and the like. This duplicates material which is also found in
Space Digest, sci.space.news, sci.space.shuttle, and sci.astro. Email
LIST...@TAMVM1.BITNET saying "SUBSCRIBE SEDSNEWS your name" to join.
Email saying "INDEX SEDSNEWS" to list the archive contents.
Ron Baalke (baa...@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov) runs a mailing list which
carries the contents of the sci.space.news Usenet group. Email him to
join the list.
As a general note, please mail to the *request* address to get off a
mailing list. SPACE Digest, for example, relays many inappropriate
'please remove me from this list' messages which are sent to the list
address rather than the request address.
PERIODICALLY UPDATED INFORMATION
In addition to this FAQ list, a broad variety of topical information is
posted to the net (unless otherwise noted, in the group sci.space.news
created for this purpose). Please remember that the individuals posting
this information are performing a service for all net readers, and don't
take up their time with frivolous requests.
AVIATION WEEK
Henry Spencer (he...@zoo.toronto.edu) posts summaries of
space-related stories in the weekly _Aviation Week and Space
Technology_.
BUYING TELESCOPES
Ronnie Kon (ron...@cisco.com) posts a guide to buying telescopes to
sci.astro.
COMMERCIAL SPACE RESOURCES
Bobby Weaver (bobby...@aol.com) posts "Resource List of
Commercial Space Material," which describes reference works,
magazines/newletters and online resources (including commercial
services, BBSs and the Internet). Also at
http://tanelorn.ncsa.uiuc.edu/si/space_inv.html
ftp://isu.isunet.edu/pub/misc/space_resource
ELECTRONIC JOURNAL OF THE ASA
Editor Larry Klaes (lkl...@aol.com) posts the monthly Electronic
Journal of the Astronomical Society of the Atlantic to sci.astro,
sci.misc, sci.space, and sci.space.news.
The EJASA Volume Lists for ordering back issues may be requested
from him, and back issues are also available from the ASA site
FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL
Swaraj Jeyasingh (sjey...@axion.bt.co.uk) posts summaries of
space-related news from _Flight International_. This focuses more on
non-US space activities than Aviation Week.
IAU CIRCULARS
The IAUCs are copyrighted, and should NOT be posted to the net
without the express permission of the director of the Central
Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams, Brian Marsden. IAUCs should
also not be made available on ftp or Web sites (astronomy
departments may run IAUC servers as long as access is restricted
to the department). Circulars are not, contrary to reports on
sci.astro, freely available for posting anywhere six weeks (or
any other time interval) after publication. The best way to get
all the IAUCs is to subscribe--the majority of CBAT/MPC funding
comes from subscriptions!
A subscription is $6.00 per month for e-mail and $9.00 per month
for hardcopy delivery. E-mail version includes log-in privileges
to collect missing Circulars, as well as orbits from the MPC
files, a facility for computing ephemerides, and other related
services.
Enquiries (and checks) should be sent to
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.
Email: iau...@cfa.harvard.edu
with checks (in U.S. dollars) made out to "Central Bureau for
Astronomical Telegrams". A more complete description of CBAT/MPC
services, which include catalogs of cometary and minor planet
orbits, is available from the email contact given above or at
http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/cfa/ps/cbat.html
http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/cfa/ps/mpc.html
LARGE ASTRONOMICAL PROJECTS
Robert Bunge (rbu...@access.digex.com) posts a list describing many
"Large Telescope Projects Either Being Considered or in the Works"
to sci.astro.
NASA HEADLINE NEWS & SHUTTLE REPORTS
Peter Yee (y...@ames.arc.nasa.gov) posts a variety of NASA material,
including NASA Headline News (with the schedule for NASA SELECT),
shuttle payload briefings and flight manifests, and KSC shuttle
status reports. For Usenet users, much of this material appears in
the group sci.space.shuttle.
NASA UPDATES
Ron Baalke (baa...@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov) posts frequent updates from
JPL, Ames, and other centers on the Ulysses, Gailileo, Pioneer,
Magellan, Landsat, and other missions.
ORBITAL ELEMENT SETS
TS Kelso (tke...@blackbird.afit.af.mil) posts orbital elements from
NASA Prediction Bulletins.
Mike Rose (mr...@stsci.edu) posts orbital elements for the Hubble
Space Telescope to sci.astro.
Andreas Doppler(a.do...@uriela.in-berlin.de) posts ephemerides for
close conjunctions between asteroids and objects of the NGC2000
catalogue.
SATELLITE LAUNCHES
Richard Langley (la...@unb.ca) posts SPACEWARN Bulletin, which
describes recent launch/orbital decay information and satellites
which are useful for scientific activities. Recent bulletins are in
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/spacewarn/spacewarn.html
ftp://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/active/spx/
SHUTTLE MANIFEST
Steven S. Pietrobon (ste...@spri.levels.unisa.edu.au) posts a
compressed version of the Space Shuttle launch manifest to
sci.space.shuttle. This includes dates, times, payloads, and
information on how to see launches and landings. These files are in
ftp://explorer.arc.nasa.gov/pub/SPACE/MANIFEST/
SOLAR ACTIVITY
Cary Oler (ol...@hg.uleth.ca) posts Solar Terrestrial reports
(describing solar activity and its effect on the Earth) to
sci.space. The report is issued in part from data released by the
Space Enviroment Services Center, Boulder Colorado. The intro
document needed to understand these reports is in
ftp://solar.stanford.edu/pub/understanding_solar_terrestrial_reports
ftp://nic.funet.fi/pub/misc/rec.radio.shortwave/solarreports
nic.funet.fi is an archive site for the reports (please note this
site is in Europe, and the connection to the US is only 56KB). A new
primary archive site,
has been established and will be actively supported.
SOVIET SPACE ACTIVITIES
Glenn Chapman (gle...@cs.sfu.ca) posts summaries of Soviet space
activities.
SPACE ACTIVIST NEWSLETTER
Allen W. Sherzer (she...@netcom.com) posts a newsletter, "One Small
Step for a Space Activist," to sci.space.policy. It describes
current legislative activity affecting NASA and commercial space
activities.
SPACE EVENTS CALENDAR
Ron Baalke (baa...@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov) posts a calendar including
anniversaries, conferences, launch dates, meteor showers and
eclipses, and other space-related events; also available as
http://newproducts.jpl.nasa.gov/calendar
SPACE NEWS
John Magliacane (kd...@ka2qhd.UUCP) posts "SpaceNews" (covering
AMSATs, NOAA and other weather satellites, and other ham
information) to rec.radio.amateur.misc and sci.space.
SPACE REPORT
Jonathan McDowell (j...@urania.harvard.edu) posts "Jonathan's Space
Report" covering launches, landings, reentries, status reports,
satellite activities, etc.
TOWARD 2001
Bev Freed (fr...@nss.fidonet.org) posts "Toward 2001", a weekly
global news summary reprinted from _Space Calendar_ magazine.
WARNING ABOUT NON-PUBLIC NETWORKS
(Included at the suggestion of Eugene Miya, who wrote the item)
NASA has an internal system of unclassified electronic mail and bulletin
boards. This system is not open for public use. Specifically, NASA
personnel and procurement operations are regarded with some sensitivity.
Contractors must renegotiate their contracts. The Fair and Open
Procurement Act does not look kindly to those having inside information.
Contractors and outsiders caught using this type of information can
expect severe penalities. Unauthorized access attempts may subject you
to a fine and/or imprisonment in accordance with Title 18, USC, Section
1030. If in fact you should should learn of unauthorized access, contact
NASA personnel.
Claims have been made on this news group about fraud and waste. None
have ever been substantiated to any significant degree. Readers
detecting Fraud, Waste, Abuse, or Mismanagement should contact the NASA
Inspector General (24-hours) at 800-424-9183 (can be anonymous) or write
NASA
Inspector General
P.O. Box 23089
L'enfant Plaza Station
Washington DC 20024
NEXT: FAQ #3/13 - Online (and some offline) sources of images, data, etc.