On Sat, 11 Jan 2003, Kim Hyatt wrote:
While those with whom we met did not dismiss the idea outright, it appears that we have a bit of an uphill battle to convince BLM managers that there will be some real scientific benefit to this research.
They may be right; there may be very little scientific value in dropping bowling balls from airplanes. So what? Whether it's for "science" or just "for fun" should not be their concern, should it? Every year for the last seven or eight years, and with the BLM's blessing, the high-powered rocketry people converge on the salt flats (from all over the country, no less) to launch "dangerous projectiles". The public is invited to these events; "admission" is free: http://www.uroc.org/html/hellfire_location.html http://www.uroc.org/html/hellfire.html The annual salt-flats rocket-launching spree goes on for several days in a row. I fail to see how dropping a few bowling balls from an airplane could be any more dangerous (or have a greater environmental "impact") than firing large, unguided rockets into the air, the parachutes of which are known to fail on occasion. Where's the "scientific value" in the Hellfire event? None that I can see, and that's just the point. None should be required. Regardless of what happens with the bowling ball drop, I think I'll join the rocket club just for the sheer spectacle of it. :-) Chris