PLEASE NOTE:
*
LETTERS TO THE MODERATOR, 25 June 1999
(1) RISK OF COLLISIONS FOR SATELLITES
Paolo Farinella <paolof@tycho.dm.unipi.it>
(2) CLAIRVOYANCE?
Bob Kobres <bkobres@arches.uga.edu>
==============
(1) RISK OF COLLISIONS FOR SATELLITES
From Paolo Farinella <paolof@tycho.dm.unipi.it>
Hi Benny.
Just to point to CCNet readers that yesterday's (June 24, 1999)
"Nature" (vol. 399, p.743) has published a short
scientific
correspondence by A. Rossi, G.B. Valsecchi and myself entitled
"Risk
of collisions for constellation satellites".
There is also an interview with Alessandro Rossi on
"Discovery News Brief"
(http://www.discovery.com/news/archive/archive-subgen.html),
although
Alessandro disclaims the statement about "the chances of
anyone being
hit by a falling satellite..."
Regards
Paolo Farinella
================
(2) CLAIRVOYANCE?
From Bob Kobres <bkobres@arches.uga.edu>
It's good to learn that Mr. Friedman has the clairvoyance to
determine
that there is a zero probability of ANYTHING dire enough to get
us off
track occurring in the next half century or so. I suppose
this is how
he knows that our technical abilities and opportunities to use
expanded
knowledge can ONLY improve over this time period.
BTW: I have NEVER advocated building "super-weapons!"
http://abob.libs.uga.edu/bobk/nucreaim.html
The knowledge of nuclear-explosives is not going to disappear
unless we
do - the genie is out of the bottle:
http://abob.libs.uga.edu/bobk/1908.html.
What can change is our
attitude toward each other and the living world in general. I
happen to
believe that an accelerated INTERNATIONAL program to develop our
abilities to operate in Space can most quickly build the trust,
cooperation, and knowledge needed for us to come to terms
socially with
our VERY recently acquired capacity to manipulate huge amounts of
energy and information. http://abob.libs.uga.edu/bobk/nica.html
Mounting and probing PHOs as a matter of policy is simply a means
of
ensuring that we know the composition of the object and its
dynamical
properties. The act of routinely placing detectors on these
objects
can only be a valuable learning process and will help to ensure
that we do not lose
track of PHOs that have been identified. Expensive? Perhaps, but
then
so are those toilet seats!
Hoping that we can avert fried-mankind--from whatever vector!
bobk
Bob Kobres
bkobres@uga.edu
http://abob.libs.uga.edu/bobk
706-542-0583
Main Library
University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602
-----------------
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