Traveller-digest     Tuesday, October 19 1999     Volume 1999 : Number 1225



(R)1996. Traveller is a registered trademark of FarFuture Enterprises.
All rights reserved.

The following topics are covered in this digest:

Re: In what book did Norris get his warrant
Re:  New gamers, old gamers
Re: Ditzie's Warrant Followup
Re: Imperial Stationary
Re: Imperial Stationary
Zot!
re: Zot!!
Re: New gamers, old gamers 
Re: New gamers, old gamers 
Re: Jumpdrives was Re: Norris the Man...
Re: Jumpdrives was Re: Norris the Man...
Re: test - ignore
Re: Attention Gear Heads! New Toy!
Re: Traveller Versions/Supporting our Game (rather long)
Re: caesarians
Re: Heplar Efficiency
Re: caesarians
Re: Zot!!
Re: In what book did Norris get his warrant
Re: Getting to Orbit
Re: Jumpdrives was Re: Norris the Man...
Traveller Auction Update
Re: Ditzie's Warrant Followup
RE: Caesarians
Happy Birthday, Galileo!

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Mon, 18 Oct 1999 20:18:38
From: "Douglas E. Berry" <gridlore@pop.mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: In what book did Norris get his warrant

At 04:19 PM 10/18/1999 -0700, you wrote:
>Where is what Norris had to do to retreive that Imperial warrant described?

Spinward Marches Campaign.
- -- 

Douglas E. Berry       gridlore@mindspring.com
http://gridlore.home.mindspring.com/index.html

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 18 Oct 1999 20:21:09
From: "Douglas E. Berry" <gridlore@pop.mindspring.com>
Subject: Re:  New gamers, old gamers

At 07:19 PM 10/18/1999 EDT, you wrote:

>I move that we lobby by Steve (GT) and Marc (T5) to name an Imperial capital 
>ship (or maybe a starport or even a planet...) the "J. Andrew Keith" so the 
>guy BECOMES canon. It's the least we can do...

If somebody can contact Bill Keith for permission, I'll name the Battalion
transport in S&S after him.

- -- 

Douglas E. Berry       gridlore@mindspring.com
http://gridlore.home.mindspring.com/index.html

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 18 Oct 1999 23:50:45 -0400
From: Bill Rutherford <worj@erols.com>
Subject: Re: Ditzie's Warrant Followup

At 09:41 PM 10/18/1999 +0000, you wrote:
>...Anyone who needs cash for a replacement
>keyboard should hit the following link:
>
>http://www.pil.net/~semo/credit3.jpg



Hey!  THIS one is pretty good!  It has a sort of stodgy 'real' look to it!


Bill Rutherford
worj@erols.com

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 18 Oct 1999 20:51:42
From: "Douglas E. Berry" <gridlore@pop.mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: Imperial Stationary

At 12:37 PM 10/19/1999 +1000, you wrote:
>I may be wrong, but wasn't Norris  made an Archduke not because he had an
>Imperial warrant, but because he had blank imperial stationary?

This is true.

He also had an Imperial warrant signed by Strephon that allowed him to sack
Santocheev during the Fith Frontier War and take personal command of all
Imperial forces.

- -- 

Douglas E. Berry       gridlore@mindspring.com
http://gridlore.home.mindspring.com/index.html

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 19 Oct 1999 00:04:45 -0400
From: "Thomas Schoene" <TomSchoene@worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Re: Imperial Stationary

- ----------
> From: dadams@parracity.nsw.gov.au
> To: traveller@lists.imagiconline.com
> Subject: Imperial Stationary
> Date: Monday, 18 October, 1999 10:37 PM
> 
> I may be wrong, but wasn't Norris  made an Archduke not because he had an
> Imperial warrant, but because he had blank imperial stationary?
> 
> I thought he got prior warning of the assination, and the start of the
collapse,
> and realised without strong Imperial control, Deneb and the marches could
have
> collapsed into chaos. So he got his stash of Imperial stationary (Signed
i
> believe by Strephon) and became Archduke.
> 

But he needed the authority of the Warrant to make it legal to appoint
himself Archduke, didn't he?

Tom Schoene

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 18 Oct 1999 21:17:10
From: "Douglas E. Berry" <gridlore@pop.mindspring.com>
Subject: Zot!

http://www.airbornelaser.com/

Be sure to check out the Fun Stuff page, best response to critics I've seen
in a while.
- -- 

Douglas E. Berry       gridlore@mindspring.com
http://gridlore.home.mindspring.com/index.html

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 19 Oct 1999 01:04:57 -0400
From: Walter Smith <SmithW@HARTWICK.EDU>
Subject: re: Zot!!

Douglas E. Berry wrote:
>>>>>>>>
http://www.airbornelaser.com/

Be sure to check out the Fun Stuff page, best response to critics I've seen
in a while.
- -- 
>>>>>>>>
Nice site. A civilian airliner with a spinal mount laser shoehorned into
it.

I know they designed this thing for Theater Missile defense, but how
long is it going to be before someone decides to try it out on an enemy 
airplane? Or an enemy ground unit?

I wonder what it could do to a late-model russian-built fighter...

ObTrav: Of course, the standard "What could these tech level 7(8?)
people possibly bother our Scout Ship with?" comment. ;-)

Walt Smith

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 19 Oct 1999 01:11:42 -0400
From: "Keven R. Pittsinger" <jamstar@accesstoledo.com>
Subject: Re: New gamers, old gamers 

> 
> In a message dated 10/18/99 3:08:10 PM, you wrote:
> 
> <<Andy *would* reincarnate where he could play Traveller again as early as
> possible, right? :)>>
> 
> I move that we lobby by Steve (GT) and Marc (T5) to name an Imperial capital 
> ship (or maybe a starport or even a planet...) the "J. Andrew Keith" so the 
> guy BECOMES canon. It's the least we can do...

Keith's World, around the star Andrew...

or Andrew's World, around the star Keith...

Keven

- -- 
tc++ tm+ tn t4- to ru++ ge+ 3i c+ jt au st- ls pi+ ta+ he+ so- vi zh sy
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     Science-Fiction Adventure
                                                     In Reavers' Deep

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 18 Oct 1999 22:18:29 -0700
From: "Legate Legion" <legate@futureone.com>
Subject: Re: New gamers, old gamers 

From: Keven R. Pittsinger <jamstar@accesstoledo.com>
Subject: Re: New gamers, old gamers


>Keith's World, around the star Andrew...
>
>or Andrew's World, around the star Keith...


Subsector J, Star Andrew, Planet Keith.  Problem solved about a name, now
how to do it.

Legate Legion
ICQ # 8973001
legate@futureone.com

"A man may fight for many things; his country, his principles, his friends,
the glistening tear on the cheek of a golden child. But personally, I'd
mudwrestle my own mother for a ton of cash, an amusing clock, and a stack of
French porn." - Edmund Blackadder

"I am a Ranger. We live for the One, we die for the One. We go to the dark
places where no one else dares venture! We stand on the bridge and no one
passes. Entil'zha Veni!"

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 19 Oct 99 00:27:01 -0500
From: "Eris Reddoch" <eris@pcola.gulf.net>
Subject: Re: Jumpdrives was Re: Norris the Man...

On 10/18/99 at 07:56 AM,  SD Mooney <dom@cybergoths.u-net.com> said:

>"Eris Reddoch" <eris@pcola.gulf.net> writes:
>>My real reason isn't technobabble, that's just the justification for
>>my reasons.  <g> For strategic and economic reasons, I want the
>>ships to have to follow the star patterns, in particular J1 and J2
>>mains.

>You know Eris, if you used something like Stutterwarp as jumpdrive,
>this would be really easy to do <grin>.

Ha!  Ha!  <g> Yes, I'm a heretic, but I still prefer "missing for a
week" jump drives for my FTL.

As you know, you can travel though empty space with stutterwarp just
fine.  It's the 7.7 ly, optional, limit before deep gravity
discharge that can create chokepoints.  One interesting possibility
is to vary that distance by TL, perhaps 3/4 * TL    

      Distance Before
  TL  Discharge in ly
 ---------------------
   8       6.00
   9       6.75
  10       7.50
  11       8,25
  12       9.00
  13       9.75
  14      10.50
  
  
Eris <g>  
- -- 
- -----------------------------------------------------------
"Eris Reddoch" <eris@pcola.gulf.net>    using MR/2 ICE #245
- -----------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 18 Oct 1999 16:18:55 PST
From: shadow@krypton.rain.com (Leonard Erickson)
Subject: Re: Jumpdrives was Re: Norris the Man...

In mail you write:

> "Eris Reddoch" <eris@pcola.gulf.net> writes:
>>My real reason isn't technobabble, that's just the justification for
>>my reasons.  <g> For strategic and economic reasons, I want the
>>ships to have to follow the star patterns, in particular J1 and J2
>>mains.
>
> You know Eris, if you used something like Stutterwarp as jumpdrive, this
> would be really easy to do <grin>.

It'd be even easier with Alderson drives. Of course then you have to
deal with fixed jump points, which change system defence beyond
recognition.

- -- 
Leonard Erickson (aka Shadow)
 shadow@krypton.rain.com        <--preferred
leonard@qiclab.scn.rain.com     <--last resort

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 18 Oct 1999 16:20:23 PST
From: shadow@krypton.rain.com (Leonard Erickson)
Subject: Re: test - ignore

In mail you write:

> Ping.

Pong.

- -- 
Leonard Erickson (aka Shadow)
 shadow@krypton.rain.com        <--preferred
leonard@qiclab.scn.rain.com     <--last resort

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 18 Oct 1999 16:34:51 PST
From: shadow@krypton.rain.com (Leonard Erickson)
Subject: Re: Attention Gear Heads! New Toy!

In mail you write:

> Something new from ScienceDaily.
>
> -- quote --
> New Mini Microwave Thruster For Satellites Is Most Powerful In
> Its Class

<snip>

> Only 2 inches long and 1.25 inches in diameter, the new
> mini-thruster depends on a microwave generator used in weather
> radar, aircraft radios and other communications applications
> instead of the larger kitchen oven magnetron used in the earlier
> prototype. Performance tested under simulated space vacuum
> conditions using as little as 80 Watts of power, the new
> mini-thruster produced the highest thrust for a
> continuously-operating low power electrothermal thruster...

<snip>

> In recent tests,...[the system was] operated...using nitrogen,
> helium and ammonia as propellant gases. The thruster can also
> potentially be operated with water as propellant. By means of
> spectroscopy, the helium velocity at the nozzle exit was found to
> be about 13,000 meters per second. That is the highest measured
> specific impulse for a continuously operating low power
> electrothermal thruster...

That's an Isp of about 127,400. I wonder what the max thrust is?

Assuming
	power = Ve * thrust

I get about 6 millinewtons. Now if we could scale it up to use 80
*gigawatts*, then it'd produce 6 meganewtons. But I doubt it'll scale
well. 

- -- 
Leonard Erickson (aka Shadow)
 shadow@krypton.rain.com        <--preferred
leonard@qiclab.scn.rain.com     <--last resort

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 18 Oct 1999 16:44:34 PST
From: shadow@krypton.rain.com (Leonard Erickson)
Subject: Re: Traveller Versions/Supporting our Game (rather long)

In mail you write:

> There is a real downside to the above. In alot of peoples' minds, the only
> good sci-fi is Gibsonian: low lifes and computer hackers running around in a
> Blade Runner Japanese-American world popping on chrome arms and getting
> skill implants. [Not that I have anything against Gibson, on the contrary, I
> like him quite a bit, it's just unfortunate that the most banal aspects of
> his writing seem to get the most attention].
>
> The real problem is that it doesn't look, sound, or feel like Traveller. I'm
> not saying this to simply make excuses for why Traveller fandom has been
> shrinking (or more importantly, has been gaining slower in relation to other
> games). I'm saying this because it's the hard reality of our situation as
> fans. It has been my experience that Traveller feels dated to young people
> today.
>
> It's not just the technology, although I think that it does play a large
> part. I used to focus on that quite a bit years ago. You are dealing with
> people who have grown up with high-tech and don't see any signs of it
> slowing down. We can handwave it away for whatever reasons we can come up
> with, but it's still something that's an issue. It was one of the biggest
> issues in my previous campaigns.
>
> There are other issues that aren't effectively addressed in the 3I setting.
> If you read an author like Sterling, you might see what I mean. He puts
> cultures on earth that are plausible, yet distinctly alien. High-tech
> muslims, gift-based panarchies, zerowork movements, gerontocratic societies,
> information pirates as new great powers... and when he writes off world, the
> mix gets even more exciting, post-human societies, ideological technocrats,
> etc. [If you've not read Schismatrix, shame on you, go out to your local
> library or bookstore and check it out. I don't think you'll be disappointed]
>
> Actually, now that I think of it, it's not just that the sci-fi aesthetic
> has changed. The *world* has changed in the intervening years since
> Traveller began, or more properly, our understanding of the world has
> changed. All of this has begun to trickle down into sci-fi. Things have
> changed in the history community, the neo-Marxist voices have quieted down
> quite a bit in the last decade or so, which has allowed for different, more
> radical understandings of history. "Liberal humanism" has lost its dominance
> over literary theory, which has helped to deepen our understanding of
> literature in general. In the liberal arts in general, the last twenty years
> have been insane.

Well, the simple fact is that the sort of "future" universe Traveller
is set in is no longer a "possible" future (or at least a *really*
unlikely one). 

Traveller is *now* a lot closer to games like Space:1889 in that its
setting is something we *used* to think could be the future.

Now, unless something major happens, we are far more likely to reach
the "post-human stage" (Vingean Singularity) *before* we reach the
stars. And that changes *everything*. 

So we have to *conciously* recognize that Traveller's most *basic*
assumptions require weak technological progress in general, and in
specific: *no* nanotech, and very little biotech and cybertech. 

Yet at the same time, it's a "hard science" game. 

So we need to keep this "alternate reality" nature of the game in mind
when working on it. 

- -- 
Leonard Erickson (aka Shadow)
 shadow@krypton.rain.com        <--preferred
leonard@qiclab.scn.rain.com     <--last resort

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 18 Oct 1999 19:43:04 PST
From: shadow@krypton.rain.com (Leonard Erickson)
Subject: Re: caesarians

In mail you write:

> Kiri wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>
> Would YOU be willing to wear diapers or have painful intercourse for the
> rest of your life in order to have a "natural" birth?
>
> Perineal tears and incontinence don't seem like such a big deal until they
> happen to you, or to your lover.
>
> Sorry, I know this is OT, but I think that incontinence and perineal tears
> are a very big deal-- and for me, this is not an academic issue.
>>>>>>>>>>
> Having a natural birth isn't some kind of obligation women had in the
> dark old days that the caesarian section procedure has freed them from.
>
> So much depends on the woman involved. A natural birth is hard work,
> painful, and can be risky - but recuperation afterwards is generally very
> rapid. A caesarian can be faster and less painful, and can trade one
> set of risks for another that the attending doctor may be more familiar
> with - and a recovery time that is generally longer than that of a natural
> birth. Of course, a caesarian is abdominal surgery...with the added bonus 
> that you have a newborn to take care of while recuperating from it. 

And I seem to recall hearing that once you have a child by caesarean,
you *have* to have any future children that way or risk the old scar
popping open during labor. 

- -- 
Leonard Erickson (aka Shadow)
 shadow@krypton.rain.com        <--preferred
leonard@qiclab.scn.rain.com     <--last resort

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 18 Oct 1999 19:47:12 PST
From: shadow@krypton.rain.com (Leonard Erickson)
Subject: Re: Heplar Efficiency

In mail you write:

>>>>My personal preference for Traveller drives is a modified t-plate which
>>>>totally converts hydrogen to light-speed neutrinos.  No exhaust problems,
>>>>and the fuel consumption is 2/15s that of heplar (since the exhaust
>>>>velocity is C). 
>
>>>Wouldn't the neutrino density from total conversion be enough to kill 
> people, or
>>>at least give them cancer? (remembering the supernova thread from a few 
> months
>>>ago).
>
>>There are already 10,000,000,000 neutrinos from the sun passing through
>>every cm2 of your body every second.  IIRC you need about 4,500 light
>>years of lead to shield from neutrinos. 
>
> It's a half life thing. The original Supernova thread was quoting
> that it had been worked out that the _neutrino_ density from a
> Supernova had been calculated to be dense enough to sterilize planets
> at IIRC several light years.

Nope. At 5-10 AU. 

> So I thought total conversion at say 5 metres might just be equal to a 
> Supernova at 5 light years.

Which would be at the "harmless" level.

> My astronomy textbook says that Supernova 87 produced 10E58 neutrinos
> in around 10 seconds and that a million people on Earth had a
> neutrino interaction in their bodies as a result. This is at a
> distance of 175,000 light years from the supernova.

So at 10 AU, that's a flux of about 40 million neutrinos per square
meter. At 5 AU it'd be 4 times that or 80 million neutrinos per square
meter. 

BTW, are you *sure* about that 1e58 figure? It seems kinda low. 

> To work it out you need to postulate the nuclear equations for total
> conversion and the amount of H2 fuel you burn per second. You also
> need to know what neutrino density is fatal. None of which I know.

Actually, all we need is the average momentum per neutrino. That will
give us the number of neutrinos as a function of thrust. 

- -- 
Leonard Erickson (aka Shadow)
 shadow@krypton.rain.com        <--preferred
leonard@qiclab.scn.rain.com     <--last resort

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 19 Oct 1999 00:06:03 -0600 (MDT)
From: Merrick Burkhardt <merrick@shell.rt66.com>
Subject: Re: caesarians

 
> And I seem to recall hearing that once you have a child by caesarean,
> you *have* to have any future children that way or risk the old scar
> popping open during labor. 
 
That's not true, actually. (asked the wife (she's a surgeon)) Was
(is?) commonly held by lay people (maybe even docs years ago), but
not within the medical profession these days. 

As to "fashion" and c-section (from original post, not Leonard's)
it was the fashion of _H._sapiens_ to have a high rate of death in 
childbirth for both mother and child for most of our history. 
Damn big heads--must be tricky fer them pesky Zhodani. ;-)

- -Merrick

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 18 Oct 1999 23:12:29 -0700
From: Kristian Miller <travellerne@3rd-imperium.com>
Subject: Re: Zot!!

Walter Smith wrote:
> 
> Douglas E. Berry wrote:
> >>>>>>>>
> http://www.airbornelaser.com/
...
> I know they designed this thing for Theater Missile defense, but how
> long is it going to be before someone decides to try it out on an enemy
> airplane? Or an enemy ground unit?

It might be a while before it is used on a plane.  The ABL destroys
ballistic missiles by heating the propellant tanks on the missiles for
a minute or so, until the metal loses its temper and ruptures due to 
the propellant's pressure.  (Since the propellant tank must be under 
pressure, the missile must be engaged during its boost phase.)  Aside
from blinding pilots and troops it wouldn't have much effect on 
other targets.  Still, such a weapon is probably coming...

Kristian

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 19 Oct 1999 00:09:52 -0700
From: "David P. Summers" <summers@alum.mit.edu>
Subject: Re: In what book did Norris get his warrant

Tue, 19 Oct 1999 13:16:17 +1000, david.d.jaques-watson@centrelink.gov.au

>David asked:
>>Where is what Norris had to do to retreive that Imperial warrant
>described?

[exhastive list that appears to mention every single time the
word warrent ever appears in Traveller :-)]

>Enough so far? ;-)

Yes, I think that will do quite nicely.  :-)
______________________________
summers@alum.mit.edu
(This is the net.  My e-mail address may be in Boston, but I'm in California.)

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 19 Oct 1999 03:40:21 -0500
From: "Bont" <felix@felixcafe.com>
Subject: Re: Getting to Orbit

> Felix: Conceptual problem ... 
< snip>

So I was making the assumption that I was going into orbit when in 
actuality I was just doing the straightline thing like Anthony Jackson 
was talking about.

Well, I guess the ship needs to make sure there aren't any tall 
buildings around when taking off!!!

- - - -
FELIX (Thomas L Bont)

- - Encrypt your messages!
  That way only the government knows what you wrote!

- - It is truly the wise man that knows what he doesn't!

- - With your shield or on it ... (Old Spartan Blessing)

- - Fidelitas super omnia, honore excepto

- - Help Stop Forest Fires.  Outlaw Matches.

Be sure to visit The FELIX Cafe at
     http://www.felixcafe.com/

- - - -

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 19 Oct 99 10:10:28 +0100
From: greg.aldridge@marconicomms.com
Subject: Re: Jumpdrives was Re: Norris the Man...

> In mail you write:
> 
> > "Eris Reddoch" <eris@pcola.gulf.net> writes:
> >>My real reason isn't technobabble, that's just the justification for
> >>my reasons.  <g> For strategic and economic reasons, I want the
> >>ships to have to follow the star patterns, in particular J1 and J2
> >>mains.
> >
> > You know Eris, if you used something like Stutterwarp as jumpdrive, this
> > would be really easy to do <grin>.
> 
> It'd be even easier with Alderson drives. Of course then you have to
> deal with fixed jump points, which change system defence beyond
> recognition.
> 

With Kearny-Fuchida drives* you can only jump 'near' stars, and there are
normally only two safe jump points per system.  Of course you'd then have
a range of 30 light years.  Plus the ability to use the unreliable 'pirate'
jump points makes piracy more practical ;->

* Standard Battletech jump drives.

> -- 
> Leonard Erickson (aka Shadow)
>  shadow@krypton.rain.com        <--preferred
> leonard@qiclab.scn.rain.com     <--last resort


- ------------------------------------------------------------------------
     Greg Aldridge      | "Since light travels faster than sound, isn't
   Software Engineer,   | that why some people appear bright until you
   EASAMS Engineering   |              hear them speak?"
        Systems         |
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Email: Greg.Aldridge@marconicomms.com    Tel: 01245 353221 x4437
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------
IMTU tc tm tn t4+ tg ru+ ge(+) 3i+ c+ jt au- ls+ pi ta-- he as vi sy+ so
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 19 Oct 1999 08:40:02 -0400
From: "Scott Spieker" <scspieker@ncweb.com>
Subject: Traveller Auction Update

The traveller auction is going very well, and I thank all of you who are
participating.  The web page has been updated with the newest bids, some are
missing because the were retrieved from my mailbox at home, so there will be
an additional update this evening as well as tomorrow throughout the day.

To view the current bids in the auction please visit:

http://www.ncweb.com/~scspieker/traveller/TravInvHTML.htm

Please fee free to send any comments or questions to me privately at:
Scott Spieker
scspieker@ncweb.com

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 19 Oct 1999 09:19:47 -0000
From: "Chris Seamans" <semo@pil.net>
Subject: Re: Ditzie's Warrant Followup

From: Bill Rutherford <worj@erols.com>


>At 09:41 PM 10/18/1999 +0000, you wrote:
>>...Anyone who needs cash for a replacement
>>keyboard should hit the following link:
>>
>>http://www.pil.net/~semo/credit3.jpg
>
>Hey!  THIS one is pretty good!  It has a sort of stodgy 'real' look to it!


Thanks. Much appreciated. ;)

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 19 Oct 1999 09:35:40 -0400
From: Ian Ferguson <ian@vax2.concordia.ca>
Subject: RE: Caesarians

Kiri Aradia Morgan writes:
>On Tue, 19 Oct 1999, Robert O'Connor wrote:
>> The dramatic increase in the Caesarian rate is an
>> obstetric fad rather than being based in any 'medical science', or
>> any change in the average dimensions of womens' pelves (these are, in
>> general, getting larger as nutrition improves).
>> 	There are several factors involved, some of which include :-
>> - Women don't want to have overly painful labours or any of the
>> potential long-term complications of vaginal delivery (from perineal
>> tears, incontinence, etc.)
>
>And this is not scientific?
<snipped>

	I believe that the point being made was that the increase in
	the relative number of caesarian births has been due to more
	and more women making the choice to avoid unnecessary pain
	and discomfort, rather than an increase in the necessity of
	caesarian deliveries caused by shrinking hips.

Peez

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 19 Oct 1999 09:16:49 -0500
From: "Smart, David J (David)" <dasmart@lucent.com>
Subject: Happy Birthday, Galileo!

For those who think Traveller is a great game..a little
reminder.

It's easy and fun to get lost in the Traveller universe
but...we really *are* exploring space.

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the launch of the
Galileo spacecraft from Space Shuttle Atlantis during
the STS-34 mission.

Carried into orbit by Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-34),
Galileo was propelled out of Earth orbit by an Inertial
Upper Stage booster rocket.  It arrived at Jupiter in
December 1995.

En route to Jupiter, Galileo flew past Venus once and Earth
twice, using gravity assists to give the spacecraft enough
energy to get to Jupiter.  Galileo obtained the first close-up
images of an asteroid (Gaspra). Flying by the asteroid Ida,
Galileo also discovered the first known moon of an asteroid
(Dactyl).

Galileo gave us our only direct views of the crash of Comet
Shoemaker-Levy 9 into Jupiter's atmosphere.

Upon arrival, Galileo's probe penetrated Jupiter's atmosphere
and returned a Jovian weather report on temperature, pressure,
composition, winds and lightning.  Since then, the orbiter has
flown past Jupiter's Galilean moons a total of 25 times:
Callisto (7), Ganymede (4), Europa (12) and Io (2). During its
tour of the Jovian system, Galileo has made discoveries that
include extreme high temperatures at Io's volcanoes, indications
that there may be liquid water inside Europa, an internal magnetic
field for Ganymede, and has even raised the possibility of liquid
water inside Callisto.

Since launch, the spacecraft has accurately traveled a total of
5,539 million kilometers (3,442 million miles) and returned over
3.8 gigabits of data.

Not bad for a machine with a processor less powerful than an
obsolete Pentium.


ObTrav: Just use the info Galileo has generated.

Want a weird, dangerous planet for PCs to overcome? Show them the
surface of Io.

Want a challenging ship recovery mission? Use the details of
Europa or Callisto and have the PCs recover it from the ice.

How about having belters mine an asteroid and its moon?

Lots of pictures and videos to create the right gaming
"atmosphere"!

David

------------------------------

End of Traveller-digest V1999 #1225
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