YOUR FEEDBACK ON THE MOON CRASH?
Pink Floyd's Classic CD"The Dark Side of The Moon"
An artist's rendering shows the LCROSS spacecraft, left, separating from its Centaur rocket.
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At 7:31 a.m. (Eastern Time) today, NASA's Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite is scheduled to drop its Centaur upper-stage rocket on the surface of The Moon. Scientists at NASA are hoping that the impact will kick up enough dust to help the "LCROSS "probe find the presence of water in The Moon's soil. Four-minutes later, the LCROSS will follow through the debris plume, collecting and relaying data back to Earth before itself crashing into the Cabeus crater near the moon's south pole.-
The orbiting Hubble Space Telescope and NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter will watch, and photograph, the collisions. And hundreds of telescopes on Earth also will be focused on the two plumes.
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This certainly brings back memories of my sophomore Science class in high school where we watched similar programs on a special television wheeled into our classroom. Our imaginations were ignited and I'll admit, it was exciting. But we are facing a $11.9 trillion budget deficit in the United States. Furthermore, the practical side of me asks, "Should we hold off on this and perhaps spend these funds on the more than 18,000 bridges that are overdue for replacement?" One structure, for example, in my hometown was built in 1965 to carry an estimated 50,000 vehicles a day across the Ohio River. Today it carries 500,000 vehicles. Newer, safer bridges would improve our nation's infrastructure and create badly needed jobs.
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I'm certainly not a "stick in the mud" when it comes to relevant space exploration that could result in improving the quality of our lives. But I'm not sure if this project is well timed and worthwhile. There is but no doubt that it is interesting. What are your thoughts?
posted by Michael Manning @ 12:00 AM
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20 Comments:
I think this event is extremely fascinating and hold ever bit of interest to a scientist like me. Even though the artist in me isn't very impressed with the idea of having that beautiful object in the sky "bombed". I hope they will be careful.,)
Hi Protege: Well, I think they may have used the term "bombed' loosely to reference the aftermath of the collision. In terms of safety, I don't know what matrix NASA has in mind for containing anything that would be potentially dangerous. My guess is that their thinking is there is no danger. But do you feel it is relevant as an experiment given the point I raised?
Although I, too, am a proponent of expanding our horizons into outerspace and many other research venues - I think this money is better spent on more practical things.
I really hope that there are no bad effects from bombing the moon. It just seems insane.
It sounds a little weird. There can't be any success in doing it. If this were in an SF film, some dangerous things might start happening!
900th post on my Journal
Patti: I hear you. :)
Amy: I don't think there will be. There are no explosives involved, just the expression to describe the impact. :)
Captain: I will raise a glass Officially on the occasion of your 900th! HERE, HERE!!!!!:D)
Hi Michael,
Your post has raised interesting points. I'm fascinated by space research. That said, I'm not qualified to make judgments as to how it's carried out, other than the always wishing for a safe means. I do feel space research will yield advances important to our society,even if that fact is not realized in our lifetimes.
When will they leave nature alone....
Michael,
We have thousands of people dying daily from starvation and disease; I simply cannot justify spending any more time focused on planets other than our own!
The need for clean water wells in third world county is major; why aren't can't we focus on the present, and not get so lost in the future?
The Romans created Aquaducts - what have we done to build on this major human triumph?
The need is immense; our attention should remain on the present and on helping the Earth heal!
(Forgive me, I have very strong opinions about the space program. Like the automobile industry, I believe it has been topped out!)
Bawstongirl2010: Many good points. :)
gel: lol! I love research projects and imagination too. This is a most unusual project, however, (in my view) to be carrying out at this time. They haven't really advanced a plausible argument about how this project at $79 million is tied to health concerns. if it is, I've overlooked it. If it isn't, we have a crisis here at home to address in the financial markets and infrastructure.
As Glenn Bishop would say..."Just my opinion". Thanks for stopping by! :)
constant gina: Having served on a non-profit board to preserve our rainforests, there is a balanced way to do many worthwhile things with common sense. Again, tghe main point I question is the timing. It's just not very sound to me. Thanks for sharing! :)
I hear what you're saying about our priorities, but if we lose our curiosity, we'll really be in trouble, so go for it NASA!
Sage: I respect your point of view also! :)
But think about the poor, unemployed and starving NASA scientists - don't take their jobs away! Nah, seriously, there are a million things the money could be spent on. Science is awesome, and space is exciting, but you're right.
Oh my, I missed that 79 million part. That makes quite a difference in how I would have responded. We're on the same page, M.
Martini: There must be a balance I think with consideration to the here and now. I'm not against space exploration. But we are in a worldwide financial crisis that must be solved so we can allocate resources to much needed projects! Glad you agree!
Gel: It's a lot of money for sure. lol! :)
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