Jules Verne Forum

<jvf@Gilead.org.il>

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec 19961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009

Re: Location, Location- Stone Mountain

From: David McCallister <drmccallister~at~webtv.net>
Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 00:30:38 -0400 (EDT)
To: jvf~at~math.technion.ac.il (Jules Verne Forum)

   While the lure of the name sounds good, in my opinion, Stone
Mountain, Georgia is quite impossible. Longitude aside, the reason that
Florida was chosen was for its latitude as a southernmost state; a
reason NASA chose Florida as well. And, Florida won over Texas because
it had only the one major city (although in fact there were other cities
in Florida that were suitable by Verne' s criteria - but for shooting
eastward, the Columbiad was set on the west coast for the same reason
that Canaveral was on the east- ease of recovery of an aborted shot),
And remember there would have been a further competition in Texas. There
would have been competition in Georgia, too: at least Macon, Columbus,
Savannah, and Augusta, as well as Atlanta. And geologically, I doubt if
the Columbiad woudl have been able to have been drilled or blasted into
the Stone Mountain granite. It's kind of like Gibraltar and Ayer's Rock-
pretty solid (except there is a local legend that it is hollow and UFO's
use it as a terrestrial base). I admit this last argument does discount
the equal difficulites of the Columbiad's construction at what is
practically sea-level. Perhaps another "Stone Mountain" somewhere might
be considered. Are there any in Caifornia? Yours, David
Received on Mon 23 Jul 2001 - 07:31:19 IDT

JV.Gilead.org.il
Copyright © Zvi Har’El
$Date: 2009/02/01 22:36:11 $$