ÒWe have to know this so we
donÕt send a satellite up and have it bump into
something later on in its orbits.
We have to lay out the orbit in terms
of the life of the satellite, and where the
planets will be so the whole thing will not bog down! They ran the computer
measurement back and forth over the centuries and it
came to a halt. The computer
stopped and put up a red signal, which meant
that there was something wrong, either in
the ÔinfoÕ fed into it, or with the results as compared to the standards. They called in the service department to check it out and they said ÔItÕs
perfect.Õ The IBM head of operations said ÔWhatÕs wrong?Õ ÔWell, we have found that there is a day missing in space in elapsed
time.Õ They scratched their heads and tore their hair. There was no answer.