Xref: utzoo sci.space:5974 sci.space.shuttle:823
Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!think!ames!pacbell!cogent!uop!todd
From: todd@uop.edu (Dr. Nethack is back)
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Re: advance space news from June 6 AW&ST -- Pegasus!
Summary: agree in part
Message-ID: <1574@uop.edu>
Date: 22 Jun 88 14:46:08 GMT
References: <1988Jun17.053132.5314@utzoo.uucp>, <3361@phri.UUCP> <1176@thumper.bellcore.com>
Organization: Wise Guise of the Net Inc.
Lines: 37

In article <1176@thumper.bellcore.com>, karn@thumper.bellcore.com (Phil R. Karn) writes:
> > Man is the best computer we can put aboard a spacecraft. --Von Braun
> 
> Last week's successful Ariane-4 launch put AMSAT Phase 3-C and two other
> satellites into the following orbit:
> 
> perigee 221 km (nominal: 220 km)
> apogee 36,359 km (nominal: 36,294 km)
> inclination 10.01 deg (nominal: 10 deg)
> 
> I'd like to see some fighter jock/astronaut do as well by flying a
> launch manually.  Perhaps you should limit the scope of this statement
> somewhat.

Computer operations can, at times be more efficient, perhaps his claim
was more philosophic.. when a computer breaks, or malfunctions, or
(at times) performs its task, it still is not capable of the intuitive
things a human is.

And there is the kicker.  Has nothing to do with jockness. And everything
to do with improvisation.. Computers *helped* bring back Apollo 13,
as a tool to devise various probabilties, etc.  But Men brought her
home, both ground crew, and otherwise.

Now are you going to say, she should have never flown?  That would be
as absurd as saying you can tell me whenever a jet should never take
to the skies.

You can't predict everything...at least a human is flexible enough to
*try* different things.

Voyager's computers had to be re-tweaked from the ground due to damage,
could it do that itself?

(Maybe we are finally getting close enough in technology for self corrections
but there is still the cause and effect of needing a human in the chain
somewhere.. if only to look at the images!)