Ringer Spy Eruanno chimed in with the following: I noticed this offhand reference to LotR from the NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory director. He was commenting on the Cassini spacecraft mission to Saturn: "The objective of the Cassini-Huygens (mission) is very simple: It's to allow us to rewrite the story of the lord of the rings." You can find the article using this link; third paragraph.