[LMB] authors goofs that bug me

[Paula Lieberman]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "James Nicoll" <jdnicoll at panix.com>


>I was somewhat distracted last night while reading [name withheld] because
> the axis of rotation used by the spacestation in the book is dynamically
> unstable (Imagine a pencil rotating like a bullet around the short axis).

Microprocessors and such are wonderful devices.... note that unstable 
aircraft have been flying with them since the advent of the F-16  back in 
the late 1970s--if the computers go, the plane falls out of the sky, they,re 
not stable platforms.

> Given time and perterbations and a total lack of station keeping, it will
> end up going end over end. A torus would be a more stable design.

Again, active controls systems, and some planes rely on them.