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Aalice.140 net.columbia utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!ihnss!cbosg!harpo!research!alice!sjb Sat Nov 7 10:16:54 1981 shuttle update/Venus environment [Note: My putting two articles on completely different subjects into this one submission in no way should suggest a digest. I will hold fast to our indigestion (sorry)]

----------------------------------- SHUTTLE UPDATE

The contaminated oil in APU's 1 and 3 was taken out, their plumbings filtered, the filters removed and inspected and then replaced, and each was refilled with 3 quarts of fresh oil. Unit 2, unaffected by the contamination, was pronounced flightworthy. NASA officials are to meet today to discuss what should be done now and when the shuttle will finally launch.

----------------------------------- VENUS ENVIRONMENT

Scientists yesterday tried to describe Venus' environment (from data from the Pioneer spacecraft) in terms of a tourist. The first thing they would see would be a ``cream colored fuzzy ball.'' If you put your hand into the surrounding mist, you would find that your hand has burned up in a cloud of sulfur and acid. The sky is a peach color, and the pressure is equal to that on Earth at 3000 feet below sea level -- scientists are wondering whether you'd burn up (temperature almost everywhere is around 850 degrees Fahrenheit) or boil first. In all, it was described as the ``closest thing to hell.''

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