  There is general agreement that the universe began with an "explosion" of
matter and energy at a "singularity", the "Big Bang". This paper analyses the
mechanics of that beginning and two alternative theories related to it: - The
Hubble-Einstein theory that that beginning created space itself, expanding and
carrying the universe's matter and energy with it, and - The Universal Decay
theory that the length, (L), dimensional aspect of all quantities in the
universe is exponentially decaying while the material universe is expanding
outward within passive, static "space".
  The Hubble-Einstein theory has long been accepted by consensus.
  The Universal Decay theory first propounded in "The Origin and Its Meaning"
in 1996 has since been validated by the Pioneer 10 and 11 "anomalous
acceleration" as well as by the theory's success in accounting for "dark
matter" and "dark energy". The same centrally- directed, distance-independent
acceleration of (8.74 +/- 1.33) x 10^-8 cm/s^2 that is the Pioneer "anomalous
acceleration" supplies the "additional gravitation" that "dark matter" is
sought to supply.
  The mass of the universe is calculated and the its "Schwarzschild Radius"
evaluated. The velocities and distances of cosmic objects in general are
calculated and plotted from the end of the "inflation" to the present. It
develops that there is a theoretical limit on how far back into the past can be
observed regardless of the quality of our instrumentation.
