mangoe@umcp-cs.UUCP (Charley Wingate) (02/05/86)
In article <2911@ut-ngp.UUCP> dlnash@ut-ngp.UUCP writes: >BTW, did the Russians run out of craters on Venus or what? Surely they >could find 5 more to name after the men abord the shuttle. I like the >idea of naming 7 of the newly discovered moons of Uranus after the >astronauts. Moons are for gods; craters are for people. C. Wingate
gbr@mb2c.UUCP (Jerry Ruhno) (02/06/86)
> In article <2911@ut-ngp.UUCP> dlnash@ut-ngp.UUCP writes: > > >BTW, did the Russians run out of craters on Venus or what? Surely they > >could find 5 more to name after the men abord the shuttle. I like the > >idea of naming 7 of the newly discovered moons of Uranus after the > >astronauts. > > Moons are for gods; craters are for people. > > C. Wingate The way I heard it was that since Venus is the goddess of beauty, the Russians would only use women's name for craters or any thing else on the planet. Jerry Ruhno epsilon!mb2c!gbr
steve@jplgodo.UUCP (Steve Schlaifer x3171 156/224) (02/07/86)
In article <3046@umcp-cs.UUCP>, mangoe@umcp-cs.UUCP (Charley Wingate) writes: > In article <2911@ut-ngp.UUCP> dlnash@ut-ngp.UUCP writes: > > >BTW, did the Russians run out of craters on Venus or what? Surely they > >could find 5 more to name after the men abord the shuttle. I like the > >idea of naming 7 of the newly discovered moons of Uranus after the > >astronauts. > > Moons are for gods; craters are for people. ^^^^ Or in the case of Uranus, after fairies. -- ...smeagol\ Steve Schlaifer ......wlbr->!jplgodo!steve Advance Projects Group, Jet Propulsion Labs ....group3/ 4800 Oak Grove Drive, M/S 156/204 Pasadena, California, 91109 +1 818 354 3171
ems@amdahl.UUCP (ems) (02/07/86)
In article <3046@umcp-cs.UUCP>, mangoe@umcp-cs.UUCP (Charley Wingate) writes: > In article <2911@ut-ngp.UUCP> dlnash@ut-ngp.UUCP writes: > > >BTW, did the Russians run out of craters on Venus or what? Surely they > >could find 5 more to name after the men abord the shuttle. I like the > >idea of naming 7 of the newly discovered moons of Uranus after the > >astronauts. > > Moons are for gods; craters are for people. > > C. Wingate And have not these people joined the Gods? ... put out my hand .... -- E. Michael Smith ...!{hplabs,ihnp4,amd,nsc}!amdahl!ems This is the obligatory disclaimer of everything.
barb@oliven.UUCP (Barbara Jernigan) (02/11/86)
> > Moons are for gods; craters are for people. > > C. Wingate > > And have not these people joined the Gods? > E. Michael Smith ...!{hplabs,ihnp4,amd,nsc}!amdahl!ems Joined them, perhaps -- but they have not become Gods, any more than anyone who dies. Yes, the Challenger dead should be honored, even memorialized. But let's not get carried away. An earth-bound memorial, or a plaque on the space station, yes. Not moons. (Besides, I doubt if the Challenger crew *themselves* would have appreciated such overly-high honor. As Chuck Yeager would say (I find his matter-of-fact attitude a bit unfathomable, but refreshing), they were just doing their jobs.) In our heightened emotional state I fear we are beginning to over-react. It's beginning to be time to step back a moment and THINK. Barb
bytebug@felix.UUCP (Roger L. Long) (02/13/86)
In article <465@mb2c.UUCP> gbr@mb2c.UUCP (Jerry Ruhno) writes: > The way I heard it was that since Venus is the goddess of beauty, > the Russians would only use women's name for craters or any thing else > on the planet. Just out of curiousity, why are the Russians naming the craters on Venus? Not that I mind them doing it, I just wondered how the scientists of the world decide on who names what, and whether the rest of the world will recognize these names. -- Roger L. Long FileNet Corp {hplabs,trwrb}!felix!bytebug
inc@fluke.UUCP (Gary Benson) (02/18/86)
*** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE *** *** WHILE YOU'RE AT IT, CLEAN UP THE REST OF THE MESS AROUND HERE *** > Just out of curiousity, why are the Russians naming the craters on Venus? > Not that I mind them doing it, I just wondered how the scientists of the > world decide on who names what, and whether the rest of the world will > recognize these names. > -- > Roger L. Long Roger. Whoever discovers things gets to name them. The Soviets are up to something like 12 probes that have penetrated the atmosphere and actually survived long enough to send back some decent photos. The US has never probed Venus - we went the other way, and got to name things on Mars. -- Gary Benson * John Fluke Mfg. Co. * PO Box C9090 * Everett WA * 98206 MS/232-E = = {allegra} {uw-beaver} !fluke!inc = = (206)356-5367 _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-ascii is our god and unix is his profit-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
lmc@cisden.UUCP (Lyle McElhaney) (02/21/86)
> Roger. Whoever discovers things gets to name them. The Soviets are up to > something like 12 probes that have penetrated the atmosphere and actually > survived long enough to send back some decent photos. The US has never > probed Venus - we went the other way, and got to name things on Mars. > No, I don't think so. The "official" naming of all extra-terrestrial bodies, features, and so on is in the hands of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). It is certainly possible, however, to hang informal or preliminary names on anything discovered; it may even be adopted officially. The bright spot on Mars was long known as Nix Olympica (the snows of Olympus), until it was resolved out as a volcano; the IAU renamed it Mons Olympus (Olympus Mons?) as a result. I presume that the Russians are naming things in order to be able to talk about them in some normal manner until the IAU gets around to it; they, as the discoverers, presumably carry some advisory weight when the names are finally chosen. Does anyone know the authority of this official function of the IAU? Is it a formal treaty, or agreement between various national astronomical societies, or what? If so, is it possible that the USSR doesn't recognize it? (I think that that is unlikely.) Lyle McElhaney ...hao!cisden!lmc