DLENAHAN@USC-ISIE@sri-unix (11/19/82)
From: Den Lenahan <DLENAHAN at USC-ISIE> 1. A double-amen to Karn et al comments about commentators. At least Jane Pauly tried, though. After I had yelled, "Shut up" six or seven times, Jane finally said, "Why don't we just be quiet and listen?" And she and her two colleagues (one of whom was a trained but not-yet-flown astronaut) actually were quiet for a short time (too short, albeit) while the STS audio was piped through. 2. JS&A catalog Number 9 (the latest one) does offer a shuttle ride. By their own admission, they have "petitioned NASA to be the first company to book commercial air travel on the Space Shuttle" but "...we haven't received a firm answer from NASA regarding our position." What the ad really is is a ploy to sell a Mark Rickerson poster for $30 (or $20 if you buy anything else). If I recall correctly, JS&A pushed Mark Rickerson posters a couple years ago with some sort of deal wherein subscribers would always be offered first chance at a new poster at a guaranteed low price, even when Mark Rickerson becomes famous and his poster-prices go way way up. 3. For Ron Meyer, and others interested in black holes: depending on what level you want to start reading at, may I add these titles to those suggested by Ken Kepple? THE COLLAPSING UNIVERSE, Isaac Asimov; Walker & Company, New York. (typical Asimov easy-to-read treatment) BLACK HOLES AND WARPED SPACETIME, William J. Kaufmann, III; Freeman & Company, San Francisco. and second the motion to consider Walter Sullivan's BLACK HOLES - THE EDGE OF SPACE AND TIME. 4. Would it be possible for everyone (some do this already) to indicate their location either in the header element or signature of their messages? Some message origins belie the sender's true location. (After my smart-alerk remark about Boston accents to REM of MIT-MC's remark about Valley Girls, I found out that REM is nearly a neighbor here in California). 5. For those interested in Phil Karn's explanation of orbital elements. The inclination as determined by launch azimuth is obtained quite simply: i = arcos (cos(lat)*sin(az)), with lat being the latitude of the launch site and az being the launch azimuth (north = 0, east = 90 etc). If you happen to know the dimensions of the ellipse but not the mean motion, you can backtrack via period = sqrt((a/178.77)**3) where a is the semi-major axis in nautical miles. Dennis -------