VM> JPH>         Trek is head and shoulders above any other TeeVee show in 
term
VM> JPH> of internal consistency.
VM>I cannot even begin to agree with this.
        Hmmmm.   Thinking back on this, I realize that I was reacting
from an old point of view.  TOS was better in this department than any
other show of it's day.
        Today, TOS is not a patch on many shows, but the only one I
watch is Babylon 5.
        Still they do a pretty good job, all things considered.
(Only fans are obsessive enough to notice these things)
VM>This, however, is quite true.  Not necessarily a good thing, either.
VM>Victoria Aeron Mackey
        I try to keep a sense of balance between really liking the show
and the concept and remembering that it's not really real.  Sometimes I
even succeed...
Jay P. Hailey
Chief Editor
THE UNIVERSE: TREK
 * OLX 2.1 TD * Biology is destiny.
===========================================================================
 BBS: Tesla's Tower BBS
Date: 06-16-97 (08:19)             Number: 17
From: JAY P. HAILEY                Refer#: 3079
  To: CHARLES RADLEY                Recvd: NO
Subj: DC-Space                       Conf: (17) Space
___------------------------------------------------------------------------
JPH> Macdonald Douglas spent the money to develop the DCX prototype
JPH> on thier own.
CR>Actually not, it was a BMDO contract.   I believe there was
CR>a small component of MDAC company funding, a few per cent
CR>or something.
        Yes, I saw a post of yours on this after I finished voicing my
"opinion".  Okay, Okay.
        Just the other day I saw pictures of fighting in the Congo.  The
news was about foreign civilians being taken away, but typical of me, On
one level I was looking at the airplane that took them away.  It was a
DC-3.  Thoise were the "generic" air transport vehicles more than 50
years ago, and you still find them flying passengers ans cargo here and
there.
        Why?  They are mechanically reliable, tough cheap and versatile.
        What we need is a DC-3 to orbit.
        The analogy breaks down however because the DC-3 was developed
in house by Douglas aircraft  (The DC stands for "Douglas Commercial").
        I wonder if MDAC went to oh, say Chemical Bank and laid out a
plan to develop a fifty year launch vehicle (Okay, by the 2030's we
estimate that the US and other advanced countries would be using an
Advanced model.  We'd still be getting parts and support contracts from
The Congo's space program...)  If they could get the funding to develop
it?
        Probably not.  Still too many suits who didn't read science
fiction growing up.  I figure that a sturdy, basic launch vehicle is
more realistic than oh, say, Brazilian Democracy.  Maybe I'm being
cynical....
Jay P. Hailey 
 * OLX 2.1 TD * "You must tie her down on a bed and spank her!"
 * OLX 2.1 TD * "Good thing it wasn't a Double Jeopardy question." Mulder
--- Maximus/2 3.01
---------------