@S1-A.ARPA,@MIT-MC.ARPA:kyle.wbst@Xerox.ARPA (08/20/85)
From: kyle.wbst@xerox.arpa
re: Can you tell me what a GASCAN is? Im splitting it up GAS_CAN!
Date: Mon, 19 Aug 85 10:06:10 PDT
From: "Niket K. Patwardhan" <lcc.niket@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU>
To: Space-Enthusiasts@MIT-MC
CC: OTA@S1-A.arpa
Subject: Re: SPACE Digest V5 #236
from "Ted Anderson <OTA@S1-A.ARPA>"
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Perhaps it means "Get Away Special CANister".@S1-A.ARPA:KFL@mit-mc.arpa (08/21/85)
From: Keith F. Lynch <KFL@mit-mc.arpa> I think that that formula for axial tilt as a function of time is an approximation only valid for a certain period, since it is a cubic equation and the way the tilt really varies is more like a sine wave. No finite polynomial can approximate a sine wave over an arbitrarily large interval (I thought you No-Such-Agency folks knew all about non-polynomial functions, etc). Note that what is being measured is the tilt between the plane of the ecliptic and the plane of the Earth's equator. It is not the ecliptic that is moving, but the equator, or rather the projection into space of the equator (the equator stays at about the same place on the ground). Where does one find equations like that? I have been looking for such things... ...Keith