To: Snowshoe who wrote (16270 ) 3/6/2002 3:56:28 AM From: Maurice Winn Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 74559 <On Monday, fellow astronauts John Grunsfeld and Rick Linnehan performed the first of the mission's five spacewalks, successfully installing the first of Hubble's new solar wings. The new wings are smaller, but 20 percent more efficient than the old ones, which were flimsy and produced vibration >hubble.nasa.gov It flies more like an F16 now, with the slimmed-down wings which give less vibration, but power the telescope into the correct orbit. From the horse's mouth CB! Now you know it's the photovoltaic wings that keep the Hubble telescope on track up there. I'm sure you didn't believe me. Mqurice PS: The reason the USA has spent so much on space is that the outer rings of Saturn are actually pure gold [well, not the absolute outermost rings]. It's a bit like panning for gold - the heavier elements fly to the outside due to the gravitational effects. Maybe a better analogy is a milk separator which separates milk and cream. So, when they have it organized, the USA will ship millions of tons of gold back to earth. They can just wrap it in insulation and drop it into the atmosphere so that it splashes down in just the right place. The oceans on earth are also full of gold, suspended in the water, but it's too dilute to economically collect. But scooping it up from Saturn's rings is like digging peat from a swamp. This has been kept secret for obvious reasons. Please do NOT pass this on - I'm only telling this group so that they don't depend on limited existing terrestrial production to maintain gold prices. I'd hate to see my Aztec buddies turn out to feel like Midas - all gold and no fun. Just as there is no shortage of energy [the universe is literally made of it] there is no shortage of gold. It's just a matter of getting it in the right place to satisfy some human desire. The cost of doing everything falls as human abilities grow by leaps and bounds. Steel used to be big time and cost a LOT! We now know what steel is worth. Not very much at all. The world is awash with it at low, low prices. Gold is not very different.