the committee
tomorrow afternoon at three."

* * * * *

_Senator Darius:_ Mr. Jordan, will you please state whether or not there
is a satellite body known as '58 Beta?

_Mr. Jordan:_ Yes, sir, there is.

_Senator D:_ Will you describe its present orbit?

_Mr. J:_ I'd be glad to, Senator. It now has a perigee slightly below
110 miles and an apogee of about 400 miles. The last perigee occurred
400 miles last of the Seychelles Islands about 35 minutes ago. Roughly
its present position is about 250 miles above Manus Island.

_Senator D:_ When do you expect it to enter the atmosphere for the final
plunge to its death?

_Mr. J:_ (bridling) Well, Senator, we in the Secretariat don't usually
refer to such an occurrence in exactly those terms. It's really just a
problem in celestial mechanics to us, and ...

_Senator D:_ (glaring) Your administrative assistant testified a few
moments ago, sir, that '58 Beta has had a life of 185 years. Will you
kindly explain to the committee how anything which has had a life can
end in anything but death?

_Mr. J:_ I ... uh ... I believe I appreciate your point of view,
Senator. '58 Beta experiences a very steep re-entry at each perigee.
According to our computers it will disintegrate on the 82nd or 83rd
revolution following that of 2:48 Greenwich crossing this afternoon.

_Senator D:_ Tell us, Mr. Jordan ... how many revolutions about the
Mother Planet has '58 Beta made since its launching?

_Mr. J:_ (hastily working his slide rule) Upwards of eight hundred
thousand, I should say. I can provide you with an exact figure if you
wish.

_Senator D:_ That won't be necessary, Mr. Jordan. Eight hundred
thousand, give or take a few paltry thousand, is close enough. Eight
hundred thousand endless, lonely revolutions about an unthinking,
uncaring, ungrateful world is quite enough. Quite enough, Mr. Jordan.
Now sir; (squinting over his glasses) what do you think is the proper
action to be taken in the matter of retrieving this historic satellite
from its orbit so that it may be preserved as a living memorial to the
gallant efforts of those early pioneers ... those brave and intrepid men
of Cape Canaveral ... to stand forevermore as a beacon and a challenge
to our school children, to our students, our aspirants for candidacy to
the Space Academy and to our citizens for all time to come?

_Mr. J:_ Nothing, Senator.

_Senator D:_ (aghast) Am I to understand,