🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Nov3.204433.20579@s1.gov> jtk@s1.gov (Jordin Kare) writes:
>In article <17096@mindlink.bc.ca> Bruce_Dunn@mindlink.bc.ca (Bruce Dunn) writes:
>>
>>Last year, about 7,000 people gathered for the annual competition, the object
>>of which is to hurl your pumpkin farther than anyone else's, using a
>>contraption of whatever design - catapult, slingshot, centrifuge, crossbow -
>>you think will do the job....
>
>[Discussion of pumpkin chuckin' contest deleted]
>>
>>Which raises the question:  Are we safe here in metropolitan Washington?
>>
>>"Oh, I don't think they'll fly that far," says a Lewes Chamber of Commerce
>>spokesman, pausing a beat and adding, "Give us anouther couple of years."
>>
>>(end quote)
>>
>>     Here is your chance.  Just think of the papers which could be written.
>>
>>"The optomiziation of a linear propulsion device for vegetable matter"
>>"The subsonic and suspersonic aerodynamics of pumpkins"
>>"Investigation of maximal G forces sustainable by living tissue, using a
>>novel inexpensive surrogate for the human head"
>>
>
>A few years ago, when the SDIO Laser Propulsion Program was looking at
>pulsed laser ablation for propulsion, one of the potential "propellants"
>was water ice.  Since ice is a pain to work with, especially in a vacuum
>chamber, one contractor did a small number of tests on 95% water in
>solid form -- cucumber slices.  While the experiments themselves didn't
>lead anywhere, a party discussion with Jay Freeman did lead to
>a variety of applications:
>
>	Zucchini thrusters -- solve the annual zucchini surplus and
>		get cheap space launch at the same time.
>
>	Scaling up -- watermelon thrusters with zucchini strap-ons
>
>	MIRV's -- Multiple Independent Re-entry Vegetables
>
>		"Incoming Soviet Watermelons detected, Sir!  They're not
>		decoys -- we have seed echoes"
>
>	And finally:
>	SVI -- The Strategic Vegetable Initiative
>		"A zucchini at 10 km/s can ruin your whole day"
>
Over enemy teritory: they look up and see Slim Pickens riding a giant
watermelon,waving his hat going YE-HAA!!

(bad joke, I know)

Simon