[meteorite-list] "Mark Twain," a Eurochallenger, and Perihelia

From: MexicoDoug <MexicoDoug_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat, 13 Jan 2007 03:44:50 -0600
Message-ID: <011801c736f7$821cdc60$afcf5ec8_at_0019110394>

Hello Martin (and Matthias), the "Eurochallenger" quote wasn't from Brin's
fictional novel about plundering Halley's Comet...rather it was a real
quote, from a real American STS Challenger astronaut in January 1986,
setting to do what no man had done before with Halley's Comet, the same year
that book you mentioned was published and the Sir Halley's Comet
Rendezvoused with NASA.

He is STS Challenger Hero, Mission Specialist Lieutenant Colonel Ellison
Shoji Onizuka. Lt. Col. Onuzuki, an American of Japanese extraction, hailed
from Hawai'i. And before that sad fated space launch, he spoke the
surrealistisch Quote, "I will have two minutes on four different orbits to
photograph Halley's comet in both the visible and UV spectrum... in the true
"where no man has gone before" spirit, where science fiction met the reality
of the space program...Given the upcoming black anniversary of the
Challenger catastrophe, I though it an appropriate quote to contribute to
the Crew's memory of what they set out to accomplish and how they dearly
paid for their privilege to lead us.

Matthias, I don't see no Francophiles have answered your challenge. Perhaps
you refer to the somewhat perverted French author and criminal Genet? Watch
your girl's diamonds:-) Bonne chance!

And Martin, just to prove, I do heed your call to listen, Hear thy following
ode to thee, for a fool's preferment, and sigh for the meteorite collector
in all of us, to the Tune of the..Who?:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=50:ip7uakjkgm3l~Y

"I'll chase the moon 'till it be noon,
But I'll make her leave her horning...

...The stars pluck from their orbs, too,
And crowd them in my budget!
And whether I'm a roaring boy,
Let all the nations judge it."

Best Health and Good Wishes,
Doug
PS, the quote you dedicated to me is well known in Mexico in reverse
pretenses in many forms. Since these versions would be deemed offensive by
many (though the historical English one is politically very incorrect too),
I can give you an idea by rewriting it for the season: Though Sol be so
bright, he shall ne'er bestow on Venus all his light, if his fright be her
delight for taking flight, upon some heated hirsute star some night, to
leave him her empty orbit tight, whisked years beyond his sight, consoling
collections of frozen streams of tears; micrometeorites.



----- Original Message -----
From: "Martin Altmann" <altmann at meteorite-martin.de>
To: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Friday, January 12, 2007 5:28 PM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] "Mark Twain," a Eurochallenger, and Perihelia


No idea, I've never read Brin&Benford.

Huh! My Doug, listen!

She that would gain a faithful lover
 Must at a distance keep the slave;
 Not by a look her heart discover,
 Men should but guess the thoughts we have.
 Whilst they're in doubt their flame increases,
 And all attendance they will pay;
 When once confess'd their ardour ceases,
 And vows like smoke soon fly away.

 Then, fond Aurelia, cease complaining,
 All thy reproaches useless prove;
 Beauties may conquer whilst disdaining,
 But lose their value when they love.
 So when a comet does appear,
 Men do with trembling view the blaze;
 The sun too common none does fear,
 Nor on his beams with wonder gaze.


-----Urspr?ngliche Nachricht-----
Von: meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com
[mailto:meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com] Im Auftrag von
MexicoDoug
Gesendet: Freitag, 12. Januar 2007 10:00
An: Meteorite Mailing List
Betreff: [meteorite-list] "Mark Twain," a Eurochallenger, and Perihelia

Martin teased the R.O.W. about some obscure J?nger fellow and hove out a
"who said" (with clairvoyance) to cater to a more American style of
literature:

"...came in with Halley's comet (1835) .... go out with it (1910) ..."

Jerry quipped: "Mark Twain!"

As my Favorite Martin wonders how "Mark Twain" (Was he from Florida or
Cairo?) honed his halleycious hillbilly humor...here's a quote from that
lovable Clemens' creation ........ Huck:

(From The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Huck relates his musings at night
with Jim, an, an escaped slave in the antebellum U.S. South, while they lay
on their backs pondering the origin of the myrid of stars visible (ROFL)
from their raft floating down the Mississippi):

"Jim said the moon could'a laid them, well, that looked kind of reasonable,
so I didn't say nothing against it, because I've seen a frog lay most as
many, so of course, it could be done. We used to watch the stars that fell,
too, and see them streak down. Jim allowed they'd got spoiled and was hove
out of the nest."

OK, enough on Mark Twain, Here's an encore "Who Said?" for the European
contingent, as we comfortably sit back and watch the SOHO and STEREO images
rolling in for Comet McNaught, after we've suffered meeting the precision
timing viewing requirements in the northern hemisphere over recent days:

"I will have two minutes on four different orbits to photograph Halley's
comet in both the visible and UV spectrum. The objective is get this data as
the comet approaches perihelion, which is just as it goes around behind the
sun and starts to head back out. It's a regime where we do not have any data
at the present time so I've also been told we will probably be the only
human beings to see it at that time."

Note: Halley's Comet last was at perihelion on February 9, 1986. Pioneer
12, orbiting Venus at the time on the opposite side of the Sun, made some of
the UV observations which were interpreted to mean that the rate of water
loss of the 6-km diameter comet ramped up from about 10 tons to 40 tons per
second at perihelion and shortly thereafter as it was primed, reached as
high as 70 tons loss per second. At that rate, Halley's comet will be
around for up to 50,000 years before it vanishes (hypothetically, of course
assuming a bit too much for comfort regarding composition and evaporation),
assuming no unforeseen changes in orbit. This would mean an average at each
pass of 8 meters in diameter was hove out ...

Pioneer 12 ended its mission 6 1/2 years later in 1992 as a fireball perhaps
dropping "Earth meteorites" on Venus' surface - where meteorites don't last
very long at all:-(.... And just a few hours later, the Peekskill meteorite
from the asteroid belt was hove into the trunk of a red 1980 Chevy Malibu
belonging to a pretty 17 year old girl named Michelle.

Comet McNaught reaches perihelion ... later today, January 12. Let the show
begin! (I believe we will all get another chace to view the comet during
daylight, though it practically out of sight for everyone now...

Best wishes,
Good health,
Doug



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Received on Sat 13 Jan 2007 04:44:50 AM PST