mears@hpindda.HP.COM (David B. Mears) (10/14/88)
Last night I watched a movie on TV called `Meteor.' (No comments about the quality of the programming, please.) I had seen it in the theatre when it first came out (the TV guide listed it as 1979) but had forgotten some of the details. Anyway, the movie begins with a newly discovered comet heading toward the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. A US manned space probe vessel (the movie is obviously set in the far future) which happens to be exploring near Mars is sent into the belt to observe the comet and obtain as much information as possible. Well, as luck (and the scriptwriters) would have it, the comet runs directly into an asteroid known as Orpheus (sp?) which is twenty miles wide. The resultant explosion sends a five mile wide fragment heading toward Earth, and many smaller fragments heading toward our research vessel which is very shortly destroyed along with all crew aboard. The name of the space probe vessel? Challenger II Interesting, huh? Remember, this movie was made in 1979! David B. Mears Hewlett-Packard Cupertino CA hplabs!hpda!mears