Space Trips Are Valuable, Sometimes For Reasons That Aren't As Yet Evident Public interest in space exploration ex-ploration diminishes soon after af-ter a spectacular event, such as Voyager's flight to Saturn, but the value of planetary excursions excur-sions shouldn't be underestimated, underesti-mated, says Lynn Higgs of the University of Utah Physics Department. ADVANCES IN useful technology tech-nology as well as gains in scientific sci-entific knowledge are two examples ex-amples of the benefits derived, says the astronomy instructor. "We're res'l, infants in understanding Ww great potential poten-tial that spac offers," HiRgs notes. "There are many "interesting "in-teresting things out there waiting wait-ing to be discovered." TREMENDOUS strides in computer technology are a direct by-product of the space program's needs. "We required re-quired incredibly sophisticated sophisti-cated computers to track the satellites and Apollo module as it traveled to and orbited the moon." says Higgs, "and computers were developed to handle that task." Now microprocessors and mini-computers dominate everything ev-erything from controlling a ci- outermost F-ring, tiny and frail, resembles a double spiral, spir-al, he explains. The particles forming the ring are baffling to physicists. "Each of the particles should be in a Keplerian orbit, which means they should orbit Saturn in an elliptical shape," he says. "It is very difficult to explain how they spiral around and keep the ring's shape intact, in-tact, apparently over long periods of time." HIGGS DISCOUNTS reports re-ports that the laws of physics have been overthrown. He speculates that laws are operating oper-ating which scientists may not be aware of. "Keplerian laws are certainly certain-ly working," he adds, "but there are more complex things occurring. We'll have to figure out what is added onto those basic laws of physics." ON CLOSER analysis, apparently vacant gaps in the rin structure are filled with ultra-fine rings that may number num-ber up to i thousand. Fingerlike Finger-like project ions in the rings, resembling re-sembling spokes on a wheel, are also disconcerting and show that Saturn's rings are a . dynamic, changing system. Some of the moons are "quite strange," says Higgs One is very smooth, while another is cratered to the limit. Furthermore, two moons occupying similar orbits seem to be pieces of a puzzle that one could fit back together, he notes. ty's traffic lights or the text on word processors, to revolutionizing revolu-tionizing medicine and communications. com-munications. SPACE technology has spawned such innovations as pocket calculators, a new way to measure blood pressure, physical fitness devices and freeze-dried food. Understanding what happens hap-pens in space leads to better understanding of what happened hap-pened and may yet happen on Earth, Higgs points out. "THE CREATION of the solar system took place far in advance of our occupying this planet, so we have little idea what happened," he says. "As we study it after the fact, it's like piecing together an intriguing intri-guing puzzle. When we analyze analy-ze the pictures of Saturn's moons we're viewing the solar system's frozen past." For example, Saturn's moons are among the oldest objects in the solar system. Studying them in their un-. changed state provides many pieces to that puzzle which have been destroyed on Earth because of wind and water erosion. ero-sion. HIGGS' curiosity is piqued by Saturn's exotic, highly complex rings and moons. The