to zip by the orbital intersection point 
four days before the earth gets there, 
so all should be well. The only hang- 
up is that, according to Ceplecha’s 
calculations, this conclusion has an 
eight-day uncertainty factor. Thus, the 
meteoroid may pass the intersection 
point as much as twelve days before 
or four days after the earth gets there. 
This means that a slight but real pos- 
sibility exists that both orbiting bodies 
will reach the intersection at the same 
time. Should that happen, no one 
would choose to be close to the place 
on the earth where the meteoroid 
would hit, but there is no way to judge 
where that place might be. Perhaps 
by 1997 we will have the technology 
to detect a large incoming meteoroid 
before it strikes the earth’s atmos- 
phere and to determine the danger 
zone. In the meantime, lacking any 
such ability, let’s hope that we have 
no worse natural disaster to fear be- 
tween now and the likely miss in 1997. 
Stephen P. Maran is a senior staff 
scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space 
Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. 
The views expressed here are his own 
and do not necessarily represent those 
of NASA. 
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“L’HOMME ET LA FEMME” BY PICASSO 
22 KARAT GOLD LEAF/EDITION LIMIT: 750 
Picasso’s towering genius blazed a trail of 
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“L’HOMME ET LA FEMME” 
BY PICASSO 
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