And in 1895 too! I'd always thought Arthur C. Clarke dreamed it up. Nick, is there a Russian precedent for Clarkes' geosynchronous satellites too?

I remember that he couldn't patent the idea when he first published it because the technology to build it wasn't there. And decades later when the technology WAS there his 'window' had expired.


>BTW, this is the idea of Russian engineers, see:
>
>http://www.science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast07sep_1.htm