I just got word that Arthur C. Clarke passed away. He is the science fiction writer I think most of us want to be -- the one who dreams of something that is both wondrous and practical, and which is made into reality into his own lifetime. In the 40's he suggested that humans would walk on the moon by the year 2000. While working for the RAF during World War II, he predicted the network of communications satellites we have today. Geostationary orbit is called the Clarke orbit, and the Clarke Belt is that band of space almost 36,000 kilometers above equatorial sea-level where such orbits are found. We've lost a great mind, and a great man, but his contributions will live on.
