{
  "export": {
    "source": "https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/urth/398",
    "note": "Exported from an unofficial mirror of a public mailing list. Copyright in each message remains with the person who wrote it.  Email addresses are obscured as `user at host`, the form the original archive published. This file was rebuilt from parsed fields rather than retained headers, so it is faithful in content but not byte-exact.",
    "addresses": "obscured as 'user at host'"
  },
  "archive": "urth",
  "thread": {
    "id": 398,
    "subject": "Tracking Song [Digest urth.v007.n016]",
    "messages": 1,
    "voices": 1,
    "first": "1998-03-04T07:48:58+00:00",
    "last": "1998-03-04T07:48:58+00:00"
  },
  "messages": [
    {
      "message_id": "<urth-v0007-0589@digest.urth.net>",
      "from": {
        "name": "John Bishop",
        "address": "jbishop at alexus.zko.dec.com"
      },
      "date": "1998-03-04T07:48:58+00:00",
      "subject": "(urth) Re: Tracking Song [Digest urth.v007.n016]",
      "in_reply_to": null,
      "reply_link": null,
      "blocks": [
        {
          "kind": "text",
          "depth": 0,
          "text": "I seem to recall that Isaac Azimov once wrote an essay\nin which he worked out that you wouldn't see the moons\nof Mars from the surface as \"hurtling Moons\" in the\nBarsoomian sense.  They're quite small, and thus dim.\nI seem to recall that the larger is visible as a \"star\",\na point source of light, and moves slowly; the smaller \nis a dim star and moves a bit less slowly.  [Anyone out\nthere have the collected essays from F&SF to check?]\n\nIf this is so, then Tracking Song can't be on Mars, barring\nselenaforming of the moons at the same time the planet\nis terraformed.\n\nHowever, there's another possibility: just as Shadow takes\nplace on another Earth, Tracking Song could be taking place\non another Mars--one more useful for fiction (\"Barsoom\").\nI know I'd prefer having our Mars be larger and wetter and\nbetter provided with hurtling moons!\n\n        -John"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}