PUTTING METEORS TO GOOD USE

Unless you were taking a sabbatical from electronic media last week, or decided to catch up on all the seasons of Dexter in one mad marathon, you know that a 17-meter-wide asteroid exploded over Russia, leaving more than a thousand people injured, mostly from the fragments of windows shattered by the sonic boom. The cleanup was expected to require about twenty thousand workers. The same day saw the asteroid 2012 DA14 fly past the Earth close enough to be inside the orbit of communications satellites, but that asteroid had been tracked and scientists knew it wouldn’t hit us. So why didn’t they know about the meteorite over Russia?

In the vastness of space, pieces of rock that size are too small, too dark, and too fast to be easily seen. It takes a lot of observation time with specialized equipment to spot them, and there could be millions of them.

Scientific American has a great article about the efforts underway to catalogue Near Earth Objects (NEO’s) here and good information about the Russian meteorite here, so I won’t repeat it. But even with those efforts, we won’t have a track on every potentially dangerous object out there anytime soon, and it will be even longer before we can do anything to prevent a serious strike (if ever).

What could we do about them? That’s where science fiction thinking comes in.

Giant laser platforms. Nuclear missiles. Gravity rays. Dozens of ideas have been tossed out over the years—some intended to be practical, others just to serve as plots for movies like Armageddon. My own thought is that we should kill two birds with one stone: develop a system that will sweep up the space debris for safety reasons, but then use it for something worthwhile. Perhaps an electromagnetic scoop system or shield that will absorb and utilize or even distribute the huge kinetic energy these things represent (travelling at speeds of nearly twenty kilometers per second) and then make use of their raw materials in the construction of space platforms, colonies, and spacecraft. Many asteroids have significant metal content, and getting metals from the surface of the Earth into space is terribly costly in energy. Far better if the stuff we need is already up there.

I’m not saying it’ll be easy to engineer something like this, but if we ever do we just might find ourselves wishing for more space rubble out there. Deep Impact? Bring it on!

SPACE EXPLORATION HELPS HERE ON EARTH

When the subject of space exploration comes up many people roll their eyes. Others complain outright about the waste of money. All too often people ask: what’s it for? What are we going to do out there anyway?

The answer to that would be a whole science and science fiction library in itself, so I decided to point out what space exploration efforts are doing for all of us right now, right here on Earth.

Most of us recognize that our whole system of modern communications depends on satellites in Earth orbit, from global phone and cell phone networks, to satellite TV, radio communications, GPS and more. If you think a while you might also remember that observer satellites help predict weather, crop yields, and pest infestations, not to mention giving warning of natural disasters like tornados and hurricanes (and yes, climate change). They can also locate mineral and fossil fuels deposits.

If you’re of a certain age you might remember that the NASA space program gave us Tang, Space Food Sticks, and dehydrated ice cream. But there’ve also been a few spin off benefits you might not know about:

- digital imaging technology created for the Moon landings is used in CT and MRI scanners.

- data storage software created to handle the reams of data from NASA satellites is now used by hospitals and businesses.

- material invented for the parachute shrouds of the Mars Viking landers is the heart of modern radial tires.

- the Jaws Of Life that save people trapped in car wrecks came from the system created to separate the space shuttle from its booster rockets.

- special metal alloys and micro-miniature components produced in space are helping to revolutionize medicine.

Even American speed skater Chris Witty, an Olympic record holder, owes her performance, in part, to skate blades sharpened by a tool created for the optics of the Hubble Space Telescope.

And believe me, those are only a few examples.

It isn’t simply that the mysterious black void of space, sprinkled with pretty sparkling lights has called to us since our cave-dwelling days. It’s the human capacity to look outward: to look beyond our small lives and communities to something larger, which has produced so many benefits we can also enjoy in our regular day-to-day lives.

I hope that never changes.