“To Infinity And Beyond”, Or Maybe Just Mars and a Couple of Asteroids

An article caught my eye this morning while perusing the headlines and enjoying my first cup of coffee.  The space shuttle programs are coming to an end. The space shuttle Atlantis is set for lift off tomorrow at 11:26 am. However the weather situation is not looking good. Forecasters are predicting rain and thunderstorms. A rain free and storm free zone is needed 23 miles around in order for the shuttle to take off as planned. They are predicting a record number of people to attend this final lift off.

The article told about President Obama in one of his town hall meetings at the White House telling participants on Twitter than he is encouraging NASA to rethink their next explorations. He suggested seriously setting our goals for Mars and an asteroid. Just a couple of weeks ago I was poking some fun at the chances of landing on an asteroid.  If we get this up and going I wonder if Ben Affleck and Bruce Willis have some free time to share their experience.

Since we are coming to an end of the space shuttle era, my concern is jobs. My hometown of Huntsville Alabama is a large defense and aerospace city. Huntsville is home to the Redstone Arsenal, NASA, The Space and Rocket Center Museum, Space Camp and numerous companies in the business. I worked on defense and aerospace programs for 10 years myself.

If you are ever near the area the Space and Rocket Center Museum it is an awesome way to spend a day. So, back to my point; jobs. The majority of my friends back home, work in the industry. Any time the government turns to a new endeavor in this field it means job security for a lot of people, and that is not just in Huntsville. Across this country these programs take care of a large number of individuals and families. 

I find myself once again torn concerning my opinion on the Mars and possible asteroid programs. One side of me feels we need to focus our money and our great minds towards something more useful. Useful may not be the best word in this example but it is what comes to mind.  I believe in our defense programs and continuously pushing the boundaries on technology that keeps this country safe and secure. I also believe those endeavors should never stop. 

In the beginning the space program created so many inventions, ideas, methods and lifestyle improvements that it was like a gold mine. Three decades later we can look back and be extremely proud of our accomplishments and our people who made all of it possible. 

Now, here we are today. Do we need to get to Mars?  The chances are high I could be missing something here, but I just don’t see a real need for it. The asteroid program might be something we could benefit from, but Mars? President Obama joked that on our way to Mars an asteroid would make a good pit stop.  I think science and research is extremely valuable. Without our drive to research and learn we wouldn’t be the awesome country we are today. It is also very near a time when visiting space will be a retail market for the private sector. I also feel that the quest for Mars is more of a “We got there first” kind of ploy. The president also made a good point concerning our actual forms of space travel. It needs updating and I am sure he also meant it needs new life breathed into the program. 

I just think the money would be better spent on our defense programs. You can never be “too” safe. I see it as a win-win situation. We continue to improve our defense systems and people keep their jobs. I just realized I might be coming at you like Rebecca of Sunny Brook Farm wearing rose colored glasses. Where does that saying come from? Who is Rebecca and where is Sunny Brook Farm? We know she is oblivious, continuously positive and always happy, but what is the real story? 

The article ended with President Obama’s words that “We are still the leader in space exploration”.  I am proud of that legacy, but at this point and time, we have pride at what unnecessary cost? 

In the words of Mr. Spock; live long and prosper. Also, take care and stay safe,

KJ

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Zipping Asteroids and Falling Skies

It sounds like a bad movie with Ben Affleck, Bruce Willis and some curvy, pretty lady. I read a news article that an asteroid the size of a tour bus zipped by the earth June 27, 2011.  Zipped is the word used by the folks at NASA. They also say the asteroid was closer to the earth while zipping than some of our satellites.

They have given it a very simple name, Asteroid 2011, MD. I think they should add a C to the MD. It would stand for Mighty Damn Close. But I couldn’t get anyone at NASA to take my calls.

Ok, I am guilty of watching those movies about stopping asteroids or landing on them, something along those lines. It was years ago. My testimony is I must have been extremely bored and there couldn’t have been anything else to watch, or one of my kids talked me into it. Those movies turned out to be entertaining, but not in the way the movie big shots were going for. I found them comical.

Now I am not saying this great nation could never produce something that could land on an asteroid, or maybe build a massive laser to shoot the asteroid into a million little pieces, I just don’t see the likelihood of that happening. So if we ever hear an asteroid the size of Texas is coming straight for us, I know of only one thing we can do. Where I come from you would be advised to bend over and kiss your butt goodbye. Before that maybe get “your house in order” as they say when you should make your peace with God.

In the article after telling me how close the asteroid came to earth, they then reported that it was very unlikely the asteroid would have made it through our atmosphere. I assumed Batman was on watch that night also.

The NASA Scientists say that asteroids of this size “buzz” closely by earth every five or six years. They also stated that coming this close to our atmosphere sent this asteroid onto a new trajectory. So in a way we did prevent collision!  They reported the asteroid flew well below most of our satellites and they did not feel any concern about it colliding with one of the many satellites floating around earth.

This caused me to go look for some information of just how many satellites orbit the earth. The number I found was approximately 3000.  Even more interesting, I read that number concerns only man-made satellites, but all things that circle a large object is by definition a satellite and it said  “space junk” orbiting the earth is in the millions.

This is from Wikipedia concerning space debris;  Objects consist of everything from spent rocket stages and defunct satellites to explosion and collision fragments. The debris includes dust from solid rocket motors, surface degradation products such as paint flakes, coolant released by RORSAT nuclear powered satellites, clusters of small needles, and objects released due to the impact of micro meteoroids or fairly small debris onto spacecraft. As the orbits of these objects often overlap the trajectories of spacecraft, debris is a potential collision risk.

 Watching Ben Affleck try to conquer an asteroid the size of Texas sounds much easier that trying to get out of the way of space debris.

I have no point really, I just find the whole asteroid concern moot.  I understand the scientific study of these events and objects, but really there isn’t much we can do if that is what takes us out. Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing to cut some funding from that particular program. But, some tell me they believe we will figure out a way to deal with asteroid threats.

I recently watched a new show on TNT titled , Falling Skies. It has ugly, slimy, multi-limbed aliens, space ships, kids being used as slaves with gross things that look like centipedes on the neck and back that keep them under control. Noah Wyle from ER is the main character. The humans that remain and are trying to stand and fight are called the resistance. I have only seen two episodes thus far and I  like it. I am not much of a sci-fi kind of grandma, but every now and then I find something I do enjoy.

As far as asteroids, maybe I am simply in denial and just don’t want to think about the big asteroid collision that could wipe out mankind. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss. Plus it doesn’t change the fact I still have bills to pay, my husband still has to drive the big truck, and Uncle Sam wants his taxes. Those in charge do not care that the deadly asteroid “could” be zipping near us right now. I was told I still had pay by the due date.

Take care and stay safe watching the roads and not so much the skies,

KJ

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