Patrick, I respectfully have to correct your statement. I made no plans to drop bowling balls anywhere. The idea started as a joke at an advanced training session, then snow-balled (or bowling-balled) from there. I think the BLM learned about it from this list (IIRC) and...well, you know what happened after that. Brent Watson and I did go to the BLM, sort of to ask, "Why not?" They didn't reject the idea outright, but they weren't very amused, either. I got distracted and lost an opportunity to be really famous. We could have (and still might) extend Man's understanding of the cosmos by doing this. It's no more goofy than Gallileo dropping canon balls from that famous leaning bell tower in Pisa. I'm sure that he would have used an airplane and the Salt Flats if they were available to him. Still, I'm pleased an honored to have my name associated with such a noble experimental concept. I think Gallileo Gallilei must be some distant relation - or something. A friend of mine had to make an emergency landing in her small plane at Dugway some years ago. The MIB with the big guns were not amused until they saw her and her great figure get out of the plane. After that there were no more problems. I'm still glad I'm a man. Kim -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Patrick Wiggins Sent: Wednesday, February 08, 2012 12:51 AM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Maybe Interesting? I had not heard about Dugway as a landing site for the shuttle but I do remember that in the very early days, before shuttle had flown, there was talk of the Salt Flats being used as an emergency landing site. Remembering the stink BLM made about Kim's plan to drop a bowling ball onto the Salt Flats I wonder what they would have said to a shuttle landing out there. On 07 Feb 2012, at 16:40, Brent Watson wrote:
It is far from the longest runway in the US. It is not even the longest runway in Utah. It is 11,000 feet long. Salt Lake International has two 12,000 foot runways, and Hill Air Force Base is 13,500 feet long.
Both Edwards Air Force Base and Area 51 have runways in excess of 25,000 feet.
Patrick, have you ever been to Michael AAF (Dugway) or flown over it?
Yes, one time years ago. I dropped a load of skydivers onto the base and then landed at Michael to pick them up. They were not in the habit of talking to civilians back then so the only frequency their tower and my plane had in common was the emergency frequency 121.5. Also, I remember being on approach and seeing a black line painted across the runway. As I got closer the "line" turned out to be an arresting cable. I pulled up and landed further down the strip. Oh and there was also a B-29 parked off the side of the runway in the dirt. I learned later it had been used in atomic bomb testing and was still "hot". Apparently it has since cooled sufficiently as I'm told it is now on display at the Hill AFB aerospace museum. patrick _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Send messages to the list to Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club. To unsubscribe go to: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options".