[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]

Re: (meteorobs) Excerpts from: CCNet DIGEST 23/09/98

take me off of your mailing list, thanks
-----Original Message-----
From: Lew Gramer <dedalus@latrade.com>
To: Meteor Observing Mailing List <meteorobs@latrade.com>
Date: Wednesday, September 23, 1998 5:00 AM
Subject: (meteorobs) Excerpts from: CCNet DIGEST 23/09/98


>
>------- Forwarded Message
>
>From: Benny J Peiser <b.j.peiser@livjm.acdot uk>
>To: cambridge-conference@livjm.acdot uk
>Subject: CCNet DIGEST 23/09/98
>Date: Wed, 23 Sep 1998 15:28:22 -0400 (EDT)
>
>
>CCNet DIGEST, 23 September 1998
>-----------------------------------------------------
>
>[...]
>
>(10) ON SWIFT-TUTTLE
>        Jens Kieffer-Olsen <dstdba@post4.tele.dk>
>
>======================================================================
>
>[...]
>
>======================================================================
>
>(10) ON SWIFT-TUTTLE
>
>>From Jens Kieffer-Olsen <dstdba@post4.tele.dk>
>=20
>> Earth is still being accreted, albeit slowly.  It is estimated=20
>> that every year some 30000 metric tons of cosmic dust are being=20
>> added. The annually accreted volume of larger extraterrestrial=20
>> bodies is more difficult to estimate. Astronomical observations of=20
>> near-Earth asteroids (NEA) suggest that the chances of impact by a=20
>> body about 1 km-large are about 1 in 200 000 to 300 000 years. =20
>> The probability of a collision on the scale which ended the=20
>> Mesozoic world is 1 in several tens of million years. An even=20
>> bigger potential event is represented by the comet Swift Tuttle -=20
>> a 24 km behemoth twice the size of the dinosaur-killer - which=20
>> crossed the Earth orbit in A.D. 1737, 1862 and 1992 and is=20
>> calculated to pass within about 14 days flight from the planet in=20
>> A.D. 2126.
>
>Dear Dr. Peiser,
>
>The prospect of Swift Tuttle paying us earthlings a visit some time during
the
>next millennium highlights the fact that close asteroid encounters are
bound
>to be of great benefit to mankind ONCE THE NECESSARY TECHNOLOGY is in
place.
>
>If asteroids are properly tamed and brought into Earth orbits they are
worth
>fortunes, much more than their redirection could possibly cost.
>
>If Swift-Tuttle were placed in synchronous orbit I gather it would form
>the perfect anchor point for a space elevator. Mars, as you know, already
has
>the moonlet Deimos in almost the right orbit.
>
>Has anybody suggested so far how to go about building an actual space
elevator?
>I presume it should be lowered down into the gravity well rather than
lifted
>out of it.  A sizeable base such as provided by Swift-Tuttle would of
course
>greatly facilitate this endeavour, especially when compared to a
free-floating
>space elevator anchored through the use of contra weights stretching far
>beyond synchronous orbit.
>
>Yours sincerely
>Jens Kieffer-Olsen, M.Sc.(Elec.Eng.)
>
>----------------------------------------
>THE CAMBRIDGE-CONFERENCE NETWORK (CCNet)
>----------------------------------------
>The CCNet is a scholarly electronic network. To subscribe, please=20
>contact the moderator Benny J Peiser at <b.j.peiser@livjm.acdot uk>.=20
>Information circulated on this network is for scholarly and educational =
>
>use only. The attached information may not be copied or reproduced for=20
>any other purposes without prior permission of the copyright holders.=20
>The electronic archive of the CCNet can be found at=20
>http://abob.libs.ugadot edu/bobk/cccmenu.html
>
>------- End of Forwarded Message
>
>