re: CNI GB
Rangedunits said:
[quote author=scopeguy20 link=1232430011/128#147 date=1240607479]It's a form 5106 for importing stuff, they sent it as an adobe file, so I can email it to those interested, or you can likely find it online in a .gov website. They will want my ss # and the inf. they surely already have, but it is not too big a deal. The lasers are in Alaska so, they were not coming today if I already had the paper in before. I am anxious as well folks, so i will get it ASAP! -Glenn
Uh oh!! COLD!! WARNING!! I seriously hope the storage temperature aint a problem.
Aint Alaska on top of Canada? Why that far? i dont get it?
Laser Radiation maybe?
-greg[/quote]
Alaska isn't really "on top" of Canada, it's on the western edge. And I'm sure the air temperature isn't a problem, they're probably in one of the bigger cities in the south half of Alaska, and indoors, not outside.
As far as why there, you should look up something called a "great circle". People think of the world as being on a 2-D map, so looking at at it that way, the shortest path from China to the US would be a straight line through the middle of the Pacific, almost crossing Hawaii, right? The problem with that is we don't live on a flat earth, we live on a sphere, and the shortest distance between any 2 points on a sphere never shows up as a line on a 2-D map, the shortest distance between 2 points on a sphere is something called a "great circle".
A great circle is a circle around the surface of a sphere that is the always the longest circumference of the sphere. Like the equator: the equator is the most commonly-known great circle on earth. All lines of longitude are also on great circles (a line of longitude is technically half of a great circle, they don't go all the way around). By contrast, a line of latitude is NOT a great circle, since they are circles that are not the circumference of the maximum circumference of the earth; the equator is the only line of latitude that is a great circle.
So if you go get an actual globe, and draw a great circle between China and the western United States, you'll probably see exactly why the shipment would be in Alaska while on its way from China to Los Angeles.
Actually, nevermind, here's a great circle mapping website, with a great circle drawn from Beijing, China to Los Angeles, USA:
http://gc.kls2.com/cgi-bin/gc?PATH=...=kts&RANGE-STYLE=best&RANGE-COLOR=&MAP-STYLE=. The red line on that map is the shortest path between those 2 cities, and it crosses Alaska, not too far from Anchorage.