[geeks] New Horizons

[Charles Shannon Hendrix]

wa2egp at att.net wrote:

> IIRC, it was supposed to do 36,000 mph, one of the fastest launches
> so far.  I believe "escape velocity" is around 25,000 mph.  Pluto is
> so far, it will take 9 years.  Awful lot of empty space out there!

If I were on the team of a probe like that, I'd probably lose a lot of 
sleep.

I couldn't help but think of that thing getting about a day or so from 
its destination, and getting pulverized by a chunk of rock or something.

Lot's empty space, but also lot's of very fast moving shrapnel too.

Anyway, yeah the launch was impressive.

BTW, has anyone noticed that there is sudenly more interest in subspace 
theory and Heim's unification of quantum and relative physics?  It seems 
that NASA and the US military want to spend some money on it lately.

Trekkies wet dream, or gigantic pork barrel?