"Approaching Perimelasma" by Geoffrey A. Landis

Availability:

• Year's Best SF 16th Annual, St. Martin's 1999 tp
• Explorers: SF Adventures, St Martins 1999 tp
• Impact Parameter, Golden Gryphon 2001 hc
• Mammoth Book of SF, Carroll & Graf 2002 tp
• Beyond Flesh, Ace 2002 pb
• Infinity Plus [text online]
  
• Diamonds in the Sky, NSF-sponsored anthology, 2008. [text]
• Beam Me Up, [online audio, occasional mispronounciation]

Pre-Reading:

• What might it look like to approach and orbit a black hole (as well as other celestial phenomena)? Greg Egan has another explanation with pictures.
• Astronomical Society of the Pacific's list of black hole resources, including websites.
• Terminology:

1. Black Hole (includes probably the best animation on gravitational lensing)
   
2. Event Horizon
3. Gravitational singularity
4. Schwarzschild radius
5. Tidal force
6. Worm Hole (wormholes in fiction and other media)

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Summary: A man can edit and upload a copy of his personality into a machine that can descend into a black hole. Two problems: 1) Who are you if you're a copy--a copy edited with new memories? How do you get back out again?

Questions:

1. 
   
2. If you can think of other possible questions , please let us know.

Commentary:

• Mathematical Fiction

Applications:

• Physics
• Physical Science
• Mathematics
• Astronomy
• Dimensions (Space/Time)