The Story
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.