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From: joel@peora.UUCP (Joel Upchurch)
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: what the Visitors came for
Message-ID: <1275@peora.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 12-Jul-85 12:16:48 EDT
Article-I.D.: peora.1275
Posted: Fri Jul 12 12:16:48 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 13-Jul-85 14:00:32 EDT
References: <7800020@orstcs.UUCP>
Organization: Perkin-Elmer SDC, Orlando, Fl.
Lines: 20

>The Idea that an advanced alien race would come to Earth (or
>anyhere else for that matter) is not as preposterous as it sounds.
>Isaac Asimov wrote a book in which the plot traced an expedition
>from Mars to Jupiter to acquire water.  This was no small task for the
>Martians.  For the "Visitors" it would be quite a bit easier.  It has also
>been suggested that Jupiter would make a nice fuel stop for interstellar
>ships leaving or entering the Solar system.  Why Jupiter?  It would

        In Asimov's classic story 'The Martian Way' Martain  colonists
        were  getting  water  ice  from Saturn's rings instead of from
        Earth's oceans because of political problems  with  Earth.  It
        also  turned out to be much more economical than hauling water
        out of Earth's gravity well.

        The idea of using Jupiter as a refueling station is  that  you
        don't  have  to land, you just skim the edge of the atmosphere
        and scoop the hydrogen out.  The  only  energy  lost  is  from
        atmospheric  friction.  Of  course  you have haul the fuel you
        scoop out of Jupiter's gravity well, but you can use  part  of
        what you scoop as reaction mass, so you have a net gain.