TOWER TO THE MOON

from Fancyclopedia 2

(Rike&Carr) A project of the Berkeley Bhoys to build a tower to the moon out of empty beercans. Much calculation and enthusiasm (and not a little constructive support) has been expended on it by fans, but Poul Anderson points out that as the Earth spins any such tower will tend to trail behind the point it's attached to and eventually form, not a tower, but a loop encircling the planet. And he points to a well-known astronomical object with the warning: "The rings of Saturn! Don't you understand? It's been done before!"