My apologies, Gary, I've only just read your posting below. The rocket is only "straight up" on the launch pad. It cannot go into orbit by continuing to go straight up. And the module, space-station, shuttle or satellite has to go into an orbit. The main gist of the argument in the paper, "Do the alleged Apollo ..." is to get people to realize that a Biblical cosmology is contrary to the World-wide accepted idea that everything is "relative." To picture the problem, imagine that you are back at school, running in the 4x100 relay. You are runner number 1. When you hand over the baton to runner number 2, is runner number 2 moving or stationary? Which way is he moving? At what speed is he moving? What would happen if he were running at your speed, but in the opposite direction to you? Regards, Neville. Gary Shelton <garylshelton@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: Dr. Jones, I don't have much to solidly contribute here, but I read your piece and it seems to me that you are saying that the rocket will run out of fuel reaching the moon, or certainly that it won't have enough for the return trip. And this is for either GC or HC, correct? Has this been echoed in other places for backup? Also, I assume when you say a rocket is launched "eastwardly" or "westwardly" you are referring to an attitude change in said rocket once it is already launched, for all rockets launch straight upwards, correct? Further, I would ask you if the "launch direction" would be predicated upon the position of the moon at the time of intercept? I mean, in the GC you are saying we launch westwardly, since that is the direction of the moon's travel, but what if the moon were sunk way down in the east at the instant the decision were made to "aim" the rocket eastwardly or westwardly? Would it not be therefore possible to shoot a rocket eastwardly in our GC worldview? And, conversely, shoot a rocket westwardly to meet a HC moon sunk way down in the west? Would not the interception of the moon be a perfectly feasible manner, in either case, given enough fuel? Sincerely, Gary Shelton --------------------------------- ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - all new features - even more fun!