Re: TC vs Electron Gun

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "Jim Lux by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <jimlux-at-earthlink-dot-net>

Or, probably more to the point, if something goes wrong (not even from your
TC running), you're going to be standing up in front of a review board
explaining and attempting to prove that your box had absolutely nothing, no
sir, not a thing, to do with the "anomaly".  This is particularly so on a
manned flight.

It's the fear of a board of inquiry, not actual assessment of risk, that
causes these sorts of decisions to be made.  BUT, if anyone is seriously
interesting in running a TC in outer space (an interesting experiment), and
can come up with some sort of useful science to be gained, let me know.
There is funding available for such "wild" ideas.  You never know...

For background, check out the specs for a "GAS can" (GAS == Get away
special).. a fairly self contained thing that can be put in the Shuttle
cargo bay, at fairly low cost (<$50K-100K.. which is well within the funding
limit for wild ideas..).  A google search should find the specs and the
several hundred page safety manual that goes with it.

For an unmanned flight, it's a lot easier... There are a variety of launch
opportunities, particularly if you could get your "stuff" to fit in a cube
about 6-7" on a side (it can get bigger after deployment).

For a general idea of what sorts of requirements there are for flight
equipment::
D - 17868
http://acquisition.jpl.nasa.gov/rfp/OVWM_TWTA/exhibit1/D-17868.pdf - the
current "bible" for flight projects with design principles, guidelines, etc.

D- 8208
ttp://acquisition.jpl.nasa.gov/rfp/OVWM_TWTA/exhibit1/D-8208_I.pdf  - all
about packaging, etc. (read this one at bedtime when you have trouble
falling asleep)

http://acquisition.jpl.nasa.gov/rfp/OVWM_TWTA/exhibit1.pdf has a list of
typical documents applicable for a flight hardware procurement

But seriously, if someone has some good ideas on how to do the experiment,
I'm willing to help write the proposal, etc.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
To: <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
Sent: Sunday, August 04, 2002 7:22 PM
Subject: Re: TC vs Electron Gun


> Original poster: "Ed Phillips by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>"
<evp-at-pacbell-dot-net>
>
> Tesla list wrote:
> >
> > Original poster: "davep by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>"
> <davep-at-quik-dot-com>
>
> > >       It sure would be interesting to see what would happen if a large
> TC was
> > > run in a vacuum!  However, I suspect no one would want to install one
on
> > > a spacecraft with all sorts of mission-critical semiconductor
equipment.
> >         Put one on the outside, add some filtering on the antennas.
> >
> >         The pressure hull is a dandy Faraday Cage...
> >
> > --
> >         best
> >         dwp
>
> Yes, but is it good enough?  There are all sorts of antennas sticking
> through it and I'm not sure I'd want to stick my neck out by performing
> the experiment.  One form of Murphy's law says "if it can happen it
> will" and another form says "all bad things happen at the worst point in
> space and time"!
>
> Ed
>
>
>