Asteroid Named for Douglas Adams

[Mox]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6867061/

One prospect stood out: an asteroid given the provisional designation 2001 DA42, discovered by the Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research project, or LINEAR. It's a relatively unremarkable space rock, orbiting 224 million miles (358 million kilometers) from the sun in the main asteroid belt, between Mars and Jupiter. But its name held triple significance.

Not only did it memorialize the year of Adams' death (2001) and his initials (DA), but it also referenced the number 42 — which is absurdly meaningful in the "Hitchhiker" saga as the "answer to the Ultimate Question." (The problem was, no one ever knew precisely what the Ultimate Question was.)

[Captain Josh]

This makes me feel a little better. Keep an eye out for more and more Douglas Adams and H2G2 references from me as the movie approaches. :D

[AVP]

Very cool. I bet he'd love knowing that a "relatively unremarkable space rock" was named for him.

AVP

[Mark Goldhaber]

(The problem was, no one ever knew precisely what the Ultimate Question was.)
Ah, but we do know the question! (Who was it that had the Douglas Adams quote about making jokes in base 13 in their sig?)

[Mox]

(Who was it that had the Douglas Adams quote about making jokes in base 13 in their sig?)I believe that was me. :geek: And now it's back!

Here's a link (http://www.wikiverse.org/base-13) to the explanation for those that don't get it.