Re: Jules Verne
Eberst (eberst@cableinet.co.uk)
Wed, 11 Feb 1998 19:03:32 +0100
I submit this, having been re-assured that I am allowed a little more latitude
in what is 'off-topic' than I had previously believed.
At 13:15 98/02/08 -0500, Bruno wrote:
>Today, 8 February, is the 170th birthday of Jules Verne, the writer
>who described the first manned space flight to the Moon.
>
>The launch pad was a site in Florida known to contemporaries as
>"Stone's Hill".
>
>This message is off-topic only in the sense that SEESATTERs weren't
>around yet to witness the event.
>
>
>Bruno Tilgner
>48.85N 2.2E UTC+1
>
>
Did you know that Jules Verne actually predicted satellite tracking!
In one of his books, which has unfortunately not achieved the fame of titles
like "Around the world in 80 days" or "20,000 Leagues under the sea", he gives
an amazingly accurate description of the processes carried out nowadays in
what we term 'satellite tracking'. However, in his story the object is a
natural Earth Satellite in low Earth orbit. He did not use artificial objects
that we observe today, though he described elsewhere the use of a cannon to fire
a shell (with crew) towards the Moon. See above.
The book is called "The hunting of the meteor". 'Meteor' was the term he used
for the natural body discovered in orbit by two separate professors. He
describes
the rivalry between the two and the problems and successes in keeping track of
the object.
I suspect the book is out-of-print and largely unobtainable, so if you ever
find
a copy, make sure you read it and see just how close he got to the actuality of
170 years later.
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best wishes Russell Eberst @ North: 55 degrees, 56 minutes, 55 seconds
West: 3 degrees, 8 minutes, 18 seconds:
43metres (150 feet) above sea-level
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