Any News from TVF ?

It has been about 3 weeks since I last heard from him. He was anticipating the arrival of the moving vans "in a few days, if they stay on schedule".

My experience has been that a move never goes as smoothly as it ought to. I predict we should hear from him next week.

What model are you using for this prediction? We want your calculations, and cite your sources! []

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"Regret can only change the future" -Me

"Every judgment teeters on the brink of error. To claim absolute knowledge is to become monstrous. Knowledge is an unending adventure at the edge of uncertainty." Frank Herbert, Dune 1965

I might have to delete LB's last post ...

The move is approaching completion. Things are in the mop-up stage now. I still have hundreds of unanswered emails, and I see over 600 Message Board posts since I last was able to read and respond. So I may be in catch-up mode and be slow to respond for a while yet. But if anyone has any issues that need my attention, I can have a go at it now.

I'm very grateful to Moderators Mark and Larry for watching the Board and fielding questions in my absence. I hope they will not just fade into the background, but will continue to exercise their leadership indefinitely. This is especially the case while my available time remains limited. -|Tom|-

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by tvanflandern</i>
<br />The move is approaching completion. <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Tom,
Welcome to the Left Coast! That's a beautiful area you're moving to. Watch out for tsunamis.

At the top of my list of topics to address are Deep Impact and Itokawa.

Apparently, the Hayabusa team was shocked at Itokawa's ridiculously "busy" surface. I'd be interested to hear your take on it, as well as your thoughts on the unanticipated excursion MINERVA took after being sent to the asteroid's surface.

Great article on Tempel 1 in your latest Bulletin, by the way.

Dave

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by davidjinks</i>
<br />Apparently, the Hayabusa team was shocked at Itokawa's ridiculously "busy" surface. I'd be interested to hear your take on it, as well as your thoughts on the unanticipated excursion MINERVA took after being sent to the asteroid's surface.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">I've had no time to do more than admire the pictures and read the press releases. But it seems clear that the idea that asteroids are "primitive" bodies is fading fast.

As for the unfortunate loss of MINERVA, that is one of the hazards of navigating in an unstable gravity field in close proximity to an object with an irregular shape. But when I read the reports, I couldn't help wondering if the programmer used terrestrial navigation ideas rather than celectial mechanics. As I explained in chapter 6 of my book <i>Dark Matter, Missing Planets and New Comets</i>, one's instincts lead to doing the wrong thing to achieve rendezvous in space. -|Tom|-