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.