Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT_ZIP/spacedig/V16_4/V16NO495.ZIP/V16NO495

Internet Message Format | 1993-07-13 | 31KB

Date: Wed, 28 Apr 93 05:13:00
From: Space Digest maintainer <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: Space Digest V16 #495
To: Space Digest Readers
Precedence: bulk


Space Digest                Wed, 28 Apr 93       Volume 16 : Issue 495

Today's Topics:
                Gamma Ray Bursters.  WHere  are they.
             Gamma Ray Bursters. Where are they? (2 msgs)
           Gamma Ray Bursters How energetic could they be?
                       Gamma Ray Burst Mystery
                       Historic shuttle flights
             HST Servicing Mission Scheduled for 11 Days
                           Life on Mars???
            Lindbergh and the moon (was:Why not give $1G)
            Long Term Space Voyanges and Effect NEwsgroup?
               New planet/Kuiper object found? (2 msgs)
                       ROCKET LAUNCH OBSERVED!
               Surviving Large Accelerations? (2 msgs)
                     TRUE "GLOBE", Who makes it?
                    Update - Back to the Moon bill
                    Vandalizing the sky. (2 msgs)

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----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 26 Apr 93 19:56:44 GMT
From: john baez <[e-mail]>
Subject: Gamma Ray Bursters.  WHere  are they.
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Steinn Sigurdsson) writes:
>In article <1radsr$[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Pat) writes:
>
>     What  evidence  indicates that Gamma Ray bursters are very far away?
>
>Their distribution is very isotropic and the intensity distribution,
>crudely speaking, indicates we're seeing an edge to the distribution.

How can you tell the difference between an intensity distribution which
is due to an "edge" in the spatial distribution and an intensity
distribution which is due an a sharp dropoff of intrinsic luminosities
below a certain threshold?  Could you describe (roughly) what the
intensity distribution is like?

------------------------------

Date: 26 Apr 93 19:25:35 -0600
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Gamma Ray Bursters. Where are they?
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (it's enrico palazzo!) writes:
>> = From: Graydon <[e-mail]>
>
>> If all of these things have been detected in space, has anyone
>> looked into possible problems with the detectors?
>
>> That is, is there some mechanism (cosmic rays, whatever) that
>> could cause the dector to _think_ it was seeing one of these
>> things?
>
>> Graydon
>
> That would not explain why widely separated detectors, such as on Ulysses
> and PVO and Ginga et al., would see a burst at the same time(*).  In fact, be-
> fore BATSE, having this widely separated "Interplanetary Network" was the
> only sure way to locate a random burst.  With only one detector, one cannot
> locate a burst (except to say "It's somewhere in the field of view.").  With
> two detectors, one can use the time that the burst is seen in each detector
> to narrow the location to a thin annulus on the sky.  With three detectors,
> one gets intersecting annuli, giving two possible locations.  If one of these
> locations is impossible (because, say, the Earth blocked that part of the
> sky), voila, you have an error box.
>
> BATSE, by having 8 detectors of its own, can do its own location determination,
> but only to within about 3 degrees (would someone at GSFC, like David, like
> to comment on the current state of location determination?).  Having inde-
> pendent sightings by other detectors helps drive down the uncertainty.
>
> You did touch on something that you didn't mean to, though.  Some believe
> (in a reference that I have somewhere) that absorption-like features seen
> in a fraction of GRBs can actually be caused by the detector.  It would be
> a mean, nasty God, though, that would have a NaI crystal act like a 10^12 Gauss
> neutron star...but this is getting too far afield.
>
> Peter
> [e-mail]
>

        All of this is VERY valid and very true.  But to add to this
explaniation, each individual detector also has a built in fail-safe, just so
the detector does not read the background radiation(i.e. cosmic rays),
if I remember right, the detectors go off about 3 to 5 sigma above the
background.  This is so they don't catch particularly energetic cosmic rays
that would normally set it off. Even with this buffer, they still have to throw
out something like 1/2 of the bursts that they DO get, because of the Earth's
Van Allen Belts, the South Atlantic Anomaly, the Sun,  if I remember right,
there is either a radar station, or a radio station in Australia, and there are
a couple other sources as well.
                                                -jeremy
                                                [e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1993 03:52:15 GMT
From: "Phil G. Fraering" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Gamma Ray Bursters. Where are they?
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro

[e-mail] writes:

>catalog.  These tests all  show, that the bursts have an isotropic
>distribution(evenly spread out in a radial direction), and they show signs of
>homogeneity, i.e. they do not clump in any one direction.  So, unless we are
>sampling the area inside the disk of the galaxy, we are sampling the UNIVERSE.
>Not cool, if you want to figure out what the hell caused these things.  Now, I
>suppose you are saying, "Well, we stil only may be sampling from inside the
>disk."  Well, not necessarily.  Remember, we have what is more or less an
>interplanetary network of burst detectors with a baseline that goes waaaay out
>to beyond Pluto(pioneer 11), so we should be able, with all of our detectors de
>tect some sort of difference in angle from satellite to satellite.  Here's an
>analogy:  You see a plane overhead.  You measure the angle of the plane from
>the origin of your arbitrary coordinate system.  One of your friends a mile
>away sees the same plane, and measures the angle from the zero point of his
>arbitrary system, which is the same as yours.  The two angles are different,
>and you should be able to triangulate the position of your burst, and maybe
>find a source.  To my knowledge, no one has been able to do this.

Uh, no. These burst detectors are just that, burst detectors.
They have no angular resolution.

Now a network of burst detectors could have angular resolution,
but we do not have a decent set of different networks at the distances
neccesary from each other to determine if they're happening in the oort
cloud or not.

We have one network, and trying to make two networks out of it
degrades what angular resolution we have.
--
Phil Fraering         |"Seems like every day we find out all sorts of stuff.
[e-mail]|Like how the ancient Mayans had televison." Repo Man

------------------------------

Date: 26 Apr 93 20:04:06 -0600
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Gamma Ray Bursters How energetic could they be?
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (John F Carr) writes:
>
> If gamma ray bursters are extragalactic, would absorption from the
> galaxy be expected?  How transparent is the galactic core to gamma
> rays?
>
> How much energy does a burster put out?  I know energy depends on
> distance, which is unknown.  An answer of the form _X_ ergs per
> megaparsec^2 is OK.
>
>
> --
>     John Carr ([e-mail])
        I had to turn to one of my problem sets that I did in class for this
little problem.  I don't have a calculator, but I DO have the problem set that
we did not too long ago, so I'll use that, and hope it's what you wanted.
This is a highly simplified problem, with a very simple burst.  Bursts are
usually more complex than this example I will use here.
        Our burst has a peak flux of 5.43E-6 ergs cm^-2 sec^-1 and a duration
of 8.95 seconds.  During the frst second of the burst, and the last 4 seconds,
its flux is half of the peak flux.  It's flux is the peak flux the rest of the
time.  Assume that the background flux is 10E-7 erg cm^-2 sec^-1.
        Then we had to find the integrated luminosity of the burst, for several
different spheres: R=.25pc(Oort Cloud Radius), R=22.5pc(at the edge of the
galaxy), R=183.5pc or the edge of the galactic corona, and lastly at a
R=8800Mpc.
        We integrated the flux over all time to find the fluence, then used the
old standby formula:
                        Luminosity=4(pi)(r^2)Fpeak
        For a radius of .25 pc, we found an L around 10^32 erg/sec.  Pretty
energetic for close by.  for the coronal model, we found around 10^43 erg/sec.
And lastly, for the cosmological model an L=10^53. That's what you'd call
moderately energetic, I'd say.  Any suggestions about what could put out that
much energy in one second?
                                                -jeremy

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1993 00:39:20 GMT
From: Jack Sarfatti <[e-mail]>
Subject: Gamma Ray Burst Mystery
Newsgroups: sci.physics,sci.astro,sci.space,sci.space

Question: what is the power spectrum of the bursts. Are their sharp lines?
If so, can they be interpreted as blue-shifted atomic or molecular lines?

Can electron-positron annihilation gammas be seen in the bursts? Are they
red shifted or blue shifted?

Since the bursts are isotropic and maybe in the galactic halo they may
be saying something about dark matter in the halo.

If the bursts are something like the cosmic black body radiation from
way back then where are the red shifts - I mean cosmological red shifts?

Consider a wild idea - what if the bursts are advanced photons from the
future rather than retarded ones from the past. Would advanced photons
from far future when universe was considerably more expanded get
blue shifted as they propagate to younger states of the universe?

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1993 23:36:13 GMT
From: Michael Wendt <[e-mail]>
Subject: Historic shuttle flights
Newsgroups: sci.space

        Would someone please send me a list of the historic space flights?  I
am not looking for a list of all flights, just the ones in which something
monumental happened.  Or better yet, is there an ftp site with the list of all
shuttle flights?

Thanks (if you helped),
[e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1993 09:42:38 GMT
From: Bruce Scott <[e-mail]>
Subject: HST Servicing Mission Scheduled for 11 Days
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.space.shuttle,sci.astro

If re-boosting the HST by carrying it with a shuttle would not damage it,
then why couldn't HST be brought back to earth and the repair job done
here?

Is it because two shuttle flights would be required, adding to the alredy
horrendous expense?

Gruss,
Dr Bruce Scott                             The deadliest bullshit is
Max-Planck-Institut fuer Plasmaphysik       odorless and transparent
bds at spl6n1.aug.ipp-garching.mpg.de                 -- W Gibson

--
   The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the University of
     North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Campus Office for Information
        Technology, or the Experimental Bulletin Board Service.
           internet:  laUNChpad.unc.edu or 152.2.22.80

------------------------------

Date: 26 Apr 1993 17:54:48 -0700
From: Ken Hayashida <[e-mail]>
Subject: Life on Mars???
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:
>I know it's only wishful thinking, with our current President,
>but this is from last fall:
>
>     "Is there life on Mars?  Maybe not now.  But there will be."
>        -- Daniel S. Goldin, NASA Administrator, 24 August 1992
>
>-- Ken Jenks, NASA/JSC/GM2, Space Shuttle Program Office
>      [e-mail]  [phone]

Lets hear it for Dan Goldin...now if he can only convince the rest of
our federal government that the space program is a worth while
investment!

I hope that I will live to see the day we walk on Mars, but
we need to address the technical hurdles first!  If there's sufficient
interest, maybe we should consider starting a sci.space group
devoted to the technical analysis of long-duration human spaceflight.
Most of you regulars know that I'm interested in starting this analysis
as soon as possible.

Ken
[e-mail]
USC School of Medicine, Class of 1994

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1993 06:52:13 GMT
From: "Gregory N. Bond" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Lindbergh and the moon (was:Why not give $1G)
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Josh Hopkins) writes:

   [re: voyages of discovery...]
   Could you give examples of privately funded ones?

If you believe 1492 (the film), Columbus had substantial private
funds.  When Columbus asked the merchant why he put the money in, the
guy said (slightly paraphrased) , "There is Faith, Hope and Charity.
But greater than these is Banking."
--
Gregory Bond <[e-mail]> Burdett Buckeridge & Young Ltd Melbourne Australia
   Knox's 386 is slick.            Fox in Sox, on Knox's Box
   Knox's box is very quick.       Plays lots of LSL. He's sick!
(Apologies to John "Iron Bar" Mackin.)

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1993 06:26:59 GMT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Long Term Space Voyanges and Effect NEwsgroup?
Newsgroups: sci.space

I know that alot of how people think and act in a long distance space project
would be much like old tiem explorers, sailors, hunters and such who spent alot
of time alone, isolated, and alone or in minimal surroundings and sopcial
contacts.. Such as the old arctic and antarctic expeditions and such..

I vote for a later on sci.space.medicine or similar newsgroup fro the
discussion of long term missions into space and there affects on humans and
such..

==
Michael Adams, [e-mail] -- I'm not high, just jacked

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1993 23:28:15 GMT
From: Dave Tholen <[e-mail]>
Subject: New planet/Kuiper object found?
Newsgroups: sci.space

James Nicoll writes:

>    If the  new  Kuiper belt object *is*  called 'Karla', the next
> one  should be called 'Smiley'.

No, no, no!  The previous one was called "Smiley".  1992 QB1 = Smiley,
and 1993 FW = Karla.

Note that neither name is official.  It seems the discoverers have an
aversion to the designation scheme.

By the way, 1992 QB1 can never be known as "Smiley" officially, because
that moniker has already been assigned to asteroid number 1613.

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1993 07:38:37 GMT
From: Josh Hopkins <[e-mail]>
Subject: New planet/Kuiper object found?
Newsgroups: sci.space

[e-mail] (Dave Tholen) writes:

>James Nicoll writes:

>>    If the  new  Kuiper belt object *is*  called 'Karla', the next
>> one  should be called 'Smiley'.

>No, no, no!  The previous one was called "Smiley".  1992 QB1 = Smiley,
>and 1993 FW = Karla.

>By the way, 1992 QB1 can never be known as "Smiley" officially, because
>that moniker has already been assigned to asteroid number 1613.

Could someone explain where these names come from?   I'm sure there's a
perfectly good reason to name a planetoid "Smiley," but I'm equally sure that
I don't know what that reason is.
--
Josh Hopkins                                          [e-mail]
            "Find a way or make one."
                 -attributed to Hannibal

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 26 Apr 93 20:58:00 +0200
From: Leo Wikholm <[e-mail]>
Subject: ROCKET LAUNCH OBSERVED!
Newsgroups: sci.space

    A bright light phenomenon was observed in the Eastern Finland
    on April 21. At 00.25 UT two people saw a bright, luminous
    pillar-shaped phenomenon in the low eastern horizont near
    Mikkeli. The head of the pillar was circular. The lower part
    was a little winding. It was like a monster they told. They
    were little frightened. Soon the yellowish pillar became
    enlarged. A bright spot like the Sun was appeared in the middle
    of the phenomenon. At last the light landed behind the nearby
    forest. Now there was only luminous trails in the sky which were
    visible till morning sunrise.

    The same phenomenon was observed also by Jaakko Kokkonen in
    Lappeenranta. At 00.26 UT he saw a luminous yellowish trail in
    the low northeastern horizont. The altitude of the trail was
    only about 3-4 degrees. Soon the trail began to grow taller.
    A loop was appeared in the head of the trail. It was like a
    spoon. This lasted only 10 seconds. Now the altitude was about
    five degress above horizont. He noted a bright spot at the
    upper stage of loop. The spot was at magnitude -2. The loop
    became enlarged and the spot was now visible in the middle of
    the loop. A cartwheel-shaped trail was appeared round the bright
    spot. After a minute the spot disappeared and only fuzzy trails
    were only visible in the low horizont. Luminous trails were still
    visible at 01.45 UT in the morning sky.

    The phenomenon was caused by a Russian rocket. I don't know if
    there were satellite launches in Plesetsk Cosmodrome near
    Arkhangelsk, but this may be a rocket experiment too. Since 1969
    we have observed over 80 rocket phenomena in Finland. Most of
    these are rocket experiments (military missile tests?), barium
    experiments and other chemical releases. During these years we
    have observed 17 satellite launches.

    Leo Wikholm

 =====================================================================
 Ursa Astronomical Association        I phone : [phone]
 Satellite and Rocket Phenomena Sect. I fax   : [phone]
 Laivanvarustajankatu 9 C 54          I bbs   : [phone]
 FIN-00140 Helsinki                   I inter : [e-mail]
 Finland                              I
 =====================================================================

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1993 23:17:09 GMT
From: raymond fairfield <[e-mail]>
Subject: Surviving Large Accelerations?
Newsgroups: sci.space

[e-mail] (Lan Pham) writes:
(in answer to Amruth Laxman
>are you sure 45g is the right number? as far as i know, pilots are
>blackout in dives that exceed 8g - 9g. 45g seems to be out of human
>tolerance. would anybody clarify this please.

>lan

Apart from the fact that you get G in the pull-out, not the dive, that
figure is about right for sustained G, no protection.
The duration of G, it's rate of onset, body position and support aids are
all critical parts of the equation. I remember one note about instrumented
gridiron players recording peaks about 200G. Stapp, the aviation doctor,
either by accident or design, took a short-period 80G in a rocket-sled
decelleration, eye-balls-out against a standard (1950's) harness. It had
to be short, calculate the stopping time, even from 500 - 600mph at that
G. A bang-seat can get up to about 60 G, and you'd better be sitting
straight. Find the book by Martin-Bakers human guinea pig to hear how bad
it can get if the rate of onset is too high. A reclining position and a
good G-suit can keep a pilot functioning at around 12G.

A flotation tank should be a good bet, since you can treat the body as a
fluid, and high-pressure situations are not new. Anyone have any figures?

Ray Fairfield
[e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: 27 Apr 93 06:21:17 GMT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Surviving Large Accelerations?
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <fairfiel.735866229@helios>, [e-mail] (raymond fairfield) writes:
> [e-mail] (Lan Pham) writes:
> (in answer to Amruth Laxman
>>are you sure 45g is the right number? as far as i know, pilots are
>>blackout in dives that exceed 8g - 9g. 45g seems to be out of human
>>tolerance. would anybody clarify this please.
>
>>lan
>
> Apart from the fact that you get G in the pull-out, not the dive, that
> figure is about right for sustained G, no protection.
> The duration of G, it's rate of onset, body position and support aids are
> all critical parts of the equation. I remember one note about instrumented
> gridiron players recording peaks about 200G. Stapp, the aviation doctor,
> either by accident or design, took a short-period 80G in a rocket-sled
> decelleration, eye-balls-out against a standard (1950's) harness. It had
> to be short, calculate the stopping time, even from 500 - 600mph at that
> G. A bang-seat can get up to about 60 G, and you'd better be sitting
> straight. Find the book by Martin-Bakers human guinea pig to hear how bad
> it can get if the rate of onset is too high. A reclining position and a
> good G-suit can keep a pilot functioning at around 12G.
>
> A flotation tank should be a good bet, since you can treat the body as a
> fluid, and high-pressure situations are not new. Anyone have any figures?
>
> Ray Fairfield
> [e-mail]
>


Yes a flotation tank, combined with floride breathing water(REF: the Abyss
breathing solution I think).. also the right position of the astronaut and
strapping you can probably get much more than 45gs in an accesloration..
More like near 100g (or somewhat less)..

Saw I book called the "Time Master" (I thjink that was the title) that had some
ideas on how fast and all you could go..

==
Michael Adams, [e-mail] -- I'm not high, just jacked

------------------------------

Date: 27 Apr 1993 06:44:44 GMT
From: Scott Fisher <[e-mail]>
Subject: TRUE "GLOBE", Who makes it?
Newsgroups: sci.astro,sci.space

[e-mail] (Bill Vance) writes:

>It has been known for quite a while that the earth is actually more pear
>shaped than globular/spherical.  Does anyone make a "globe" that is accurate
>as to actual shape, landmass configuration/Long/Lat lines etc.?
>Thanks in advance.

Even if they did, a globe at a scale that you could fit into your average room
or even average "hall" the deviations you mention would not be visually
evident. In other words a micrometer would be required to test the fact that
the Globe was infact pear-shaped.

Regards Scott.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Scott Fisher [[e-mail]]  PH: Aus [61] Perth (09) Local (380 3272).
                                                             _--_|\       N
Department of Psychology                                    /      \    W + E
University of Western Australia.      Perth [32S, 116E]-->  *_.--._/      S
Nedlands, 6009.  PERTH, W.A.                                      v

    *** ERROR 144 - REBOOT? is a registered trademark of ENSONIQ Corp ***
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------

Date: 26 Apr 93  20:40:26
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Update - Back to the Moon bill
Newsgroups: sci.space

          Introducing the Back to the Moon in Congress:
                          The Next Step

        The next key hurdle for the Lunar Resources Data Purchase
Act is introduction of the Act in Congress. At this point,  many
congresspersons have been approached about the bill. However,
for a successful effort to pass the bill, we need the best
possible congressperson to introduce the bill. Due to his
position as Chair of the House Committee on Space and Science,
Congressman George Brown is the logical choice. He has a long
record of support and interest in space development, and helped
pass the Launch Services Purchase Act and the Space Settlements
Act.
        There is a small group of activists in southern California
who have assisted George Brown in his recent re-election campaigns.
We are mobilizing this group to have them tell Congressman Brown
about the Back to the Moon bill. We are also asking pro-space
constituents to let him know that they care about getting
America back to the Moon.
        Finally, there is a good chance that a nationwide alert
for space activists to call or write George Brown to have him
introduce the Back to the Moon bill may be staged during late
spring, 1993.
        All this should produce a positive reaction from Brown's
office. As more is known, it will be passed on.
        However, even if we are successful in getting him to support
the bill,  this alone will not ensure passage of the bill. For
any bill to become law, one of three conditions must exist:
either the bill must reflect widespread national support for an
issue (such as extension of unemployment insurance benefits); be
propelled by high-priced lobbyists (we're out of luck there); or
have widespread support within Congress, due to small, but
widespread, constituent support. The latter is the path that we,
by necessity, must choose.
        This means that the introduction of the Lunar Resources
Data Purchase Act must be immediately accompanied by a large number
of congresspersons' sponsorship of the bill.  To accomplish
this, we need activists to ask their congressperson to support
the Lunar Resources Data Purchase Act - now. To wait until the
bill is introduced is simply too late - it takes time to have a
congressperson's staff review a bill.
        If your congressperson mentions that the bill is not yet
introduced, please elicit their opinion of the bill as currently
written. We appreciate all comments on the bill from activists
and politicians.
        If you have yet to see the Back to the Moon bill, please
request a copy by Email (please include your U.S. postal service
address), or contact your local chapter of the National Space
Society).

--- Maximus 2.01wb

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1993 03:44:48 GMT
From: "Phil G. Fraering" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Vandalizing the sky.
Newsgroups: sci.astro,sci.space

[e-mail] (SCOTT I CHASE) writes:

>In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Phil G. Fraering) writes...
>>[e-mail] (Jeff Cook) writes:
>>....
>>>people in primitive tribes out in the middle of nowhere as they look up
>>>and see a can of Budweiser flying across the sky... :-D
>>
>>Seen that movie already. Or one just like it.
>>Come to think of it, they might send someone on
>>a quest to get rid of the dang thing...

>Actually, the idea, like most good ideas, comes from Jules Verne, not

("like most good ideas,..." please, people!)

>_The Gods Must Be Crazy._  In one of his lesser known books (I can't
>remember which one right now), the protagonists are in a balloon gondola,
>travelling over Africa on their way around the world in the balloon,

_Five Weeks in a Balloon_. Not a good idea unless you have helium.
Verne's protagonists didn't. They just got increadibly lucky.

And yes, I knew the title of the movie too, just didn't want to start
talking about it. Except to bring up the image of a team of S. African
Bushmen showing up at a launch site with spears and flint knives
to stop the launch (anyone want to bet on their success in doing so?
especially since they could probably stop a shuttle launch by sneezing
too hard within a couple miles of the launch site).
--
Phil Fraering         |"Seems like every day we find out all sorts of stuff.
[e-mail]|Like how the ancient Mayans had televison." Repo Man

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 27 Apr 93 08:53:52 BST
From: Greg Stewart-Nicholls <[e-mail]>
Subject: Vandalizing the sky.
Newsgroups: sci.astro,sci.space

In <[e-mail]> George F. Krumins writes:
>I was suggesting that the minority of professional and amateur astronomers
>have the right to a dark, uncluttered night sky.
  Sorry, you have a _wish_ for an uncluttered night sky, but it
isn't a right. When you get down to it, you actually have no rights
that the majority haven't agreed to give you (and them in the process).
It's a common misconception that being born somehow endows you with
rights to this that and the other. Sadly this is not true.
  Now if you want to talk about the responsibility that _should_ go with
the power to clutter the night sky, then that's a different matter.
 -----------------------------------------------------------------
Greg Nicholls ...         : Vidi
[e-mail] or     : Vici
[e-mail] : Veni

------------------------------


Received: by MSU (Mailer R2.08 PTF008) id 9978; Tue, 27 Apr 93 17:19:38 EDT
Date:  Tue, 27 Apr 93 17:11:44 EDT
From: Tom <[e-mail]>
To: Space Digest <[e-mail]>
Subject:    McElwaine's secret messages

Robert MacElwaine sez (again!);

>                     LARSONIAN Astronomy and Physics
> etc.

OK, I got it.  Actually, these message of MacElwaine's are coded messages.
Read only the caps, and it all comes clear!:

>               Are a few more types of anti-matter atoms worth the $8.3
>          BILLION cost?!!  Don't we have much more important uses for
>          this WASTED money?!

>               Another thing to consider is that the primary proposed
>         location in Texas has a serious and growing problem with some
>         kind of "fire ants" eating the insulation off underground
>         cables.  How much POISONING of the ground and ground water
>         with insecticides will be required to keep the ants out of
>         the "Supercollider"?!
>
>              Naming the "Super Collider" after Ronald Reagon, as
>         proposed, is TOTALLY ABSURD!  If it is built, it should be
>         named after a leading particle PHYSICIST.

Maybe it's a message telling us what actually happened to the legendary
Larson.  Perhaps it's a warning that one should not expend too much
effort trying to counter MacElwaine's postings.  Who can be sure? :-)

-Tommy Mac
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Tom McWilliams 517-355-2178 wk   \ They communicated with the communists,
[e-mail] 336-9591 hm \ and pacified the pacifists. -TimBuk3
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End of Space Digest Volume 16 : Issue 495
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