Re: Deep Impact Kicks Off Fourth of July with Deep Space Fireworks

In article <1120719480.801419.293410@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
spinoza1111@xxxxxxxxx wrote:

> But even if you can "prove" the impact safe (where you have cautioned
> me about failures of proof, to which a corollary happens to be the
> unreliability of your "proof") the impact violates a principle that
> should be applied if space is, as it seems to be from meteor impacts, a
> rather vindictive organism.

What nonsense. Space is not an organism, nor is it vindictive. It's a
place, filled with objects which obey the laws of physics and which show
no signs of volition whatsoever.

It is just as likely that, if Deep Impact were to perturb the comet's
orbit at all, through some chain of multi-body encounters over thousands
of years, then we have actually caused it to MISS Earth where without
our intervention, it would have struck. In fact, that's probably more
likely -- a random (and in a case like this, completely unpredictable is
as good as random) path is far more likely to miss a small target than
to hit it.

Get a grip. You may be able to spell and use the Shift key properly,
but if you cling desperately to an untenable position after it's been
clearly shown to be nonsense, and further start raving about space as a
living, vindictive organism, then you're a fruitcake just like the more
typical net.kooks.

Best,
- Joe

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