On Friday, NASA is planning to crash into the moon. I'm just wondering: who gave them permission to crash into the moon? Not once, but twice. The rocket and satellite will smash into the moon at 5600 mph (more than seven times the speed of sound). The size of the explosion will be equal to that of 1.5 tons of TNT and will release 772,000 pounds of lunar dirt into a 6.2 mile high spray of debris, NASA'S own version of shock and awe, in a purported experiment to see if any ice or water is released. I'm just wondering, who signed the paper? Who did the risk assessment? I mean, what if something goes wrong?
It's a big explosion. Suffice it to say that any amateur astronomer west of the Mississippi with a home telescope will be able to view it from their backyard.
I could say something scientifically lame and ask, "What if it gets thrown off its axis?" or something funny and suggest something (that I actually sort of believe), like, "What if it somehow throws off the astrology?" Or that we're not risking -- as we have the earth with continued experiments of this kind -- sending the solar system out of balance.
The irony is that one of the purposes of the experiment is to assess whether there is any water on the moon and is it worthwhile to send another manned mission to the moon. If we'd just send up two guys with a bucket and shovels, we wouldn't have to bomb the moon at all.
I'm not a big fan of explosions, anyway. In Iraq or Afghanistan or the South Pole of the Moon. But who does have a territorial prerogative there?
Who has jurisdiction? Who has the right to say that it's okay to blow up a crater on the moon? Or Jupiter? Or Saturn, for that matter? If we think there is water there, how do we know we're not affecting some life form, as well? It sort of reminds me of two kids in a backyard with a firecracker that they don't really know how to set off.
It's causing great excitement in the astronomy sector. NASA is running a live broadcast on its website (wonder if they're selling ads). A NASA spokesman announced, "It's going to be pretty cool." The Fiske Planetarium in Boulder is serving free coffee and bagels. "People like explosions," the Planetarium director is quoted as saying, "and this is going to excite them."
Well, I for one, don't like explosions. Call me a pacifist, call me cautious, call me an environmentalist, or call me something worse, I don't really care.
But, we've set up a Twitter Page: http://twitter.com/helpsavethemoon . In the hopes that we can convince NASA not to try any further experiments of this kind! Join us.
Buzz Aldrin: A Different Kind of Moon Race
A quarter of a million miles from where you are reading these words, on the dusty surface of our companion Moon, lies the best chance in decades for America to reestablish itself as a global space leader.
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So Amy. It would seem to me if something was going to throw off astrology or send the solar system out of balance; it would be a 21000 ton explosion not a 1.5 ton explosion. But seeing that that hasn't
happened, I figure we're safe. Actually, I'm a little more concerned about what transpires on this hunk of rock versus some 1.5 ton explosion on the Moon.
Lets have a look at an extremely useful several hundred kilo TNT explosion on earth:
http://www
Oh gods, a few of those explosions in canada and I'll be a leo!
These detonation
The Moon's diameter is 3,474 kilometres
Everyone who believes in human progress should hope that men will eventually be able to profit from lunar resources.
Lol.
AND despise the attitudes I see here amongst some of the posters. I am an afficionad
Yes, sometimes we humans decide that something is worth the risk. However, these days our planet has enough environmen
Anybody who doesn't realize the import is just an idiot.
naturally occurring collisions of this magnitude occur on the moon several times a month. how do you suppose the surface became completely cratered in the first place?
http://www
It was hilarious.
I forgot that was Joe...I'd love to see this thrown in his face if he ever seeks office!!
The real question isn't if this particular test is dangerous to the Moon, it's: is ANYTHING humanity messes with safe? Just a tacit look at history will provide us with a resounding "No!"
I love the idiotic notion that most science advocates put forth: that we need to explore and ultimately colonize space, to learn more about the universe, and perhaps to ultimately save the human race from extinction
The problem with humans is that we can't leave anything alone. If we did so, everything in nature would be fine, and take care of itself via natural stasis. We are so arrogant, that we think "improving
If you truly think that anything touched by our species ends badly, then you are welcome to remove yourself, in any manner you choose. I happen to believe that we and other intelligen
Those of us who advocate the settlement of space do actually realize that "we need to explore and ultimately colonize space, to learn more about the universe, and perhaps to . . . save the human race from extinction
That's why NASA and other space agencies are scanning those deep craters at the poles. Water may well be found where the sun never shines to evaporate the deposits.
NASA, please don't bomb the moon
We need it every June
So, with our sweetheart
To "Moon River's" lilting tune
NASA, please don't bomb the moon ;)