We Choose to go to the Moon

"We choose to go to the Moon.  We choose to go to the Moon."
                       - President John F. Kennedy,  September 12th, 1962

Today, we choose to go to the moon, but not the same moon that we can easily discern in the sky.  We choose to go to Europa: a moon that orbits about the planet Jupiter.  I do not know about you folks, but this news makes my buttcheeks tingle.  This is exciting news.

Why is it exciting?

For one, someone in Congress is seeing that we have these lofty goals in space, we tend to thrive as a nation.  We innovate new technologies in order to solve the problems of space travel.  Those innovations have brought us advances in Health and Medicine, Transportation, Public Safety, Information Technology, and on and on.  We were once the nation at the top of these innovations and we have fallen far, far behind.  I am not saying that we have to be number one, but I think collaboratively with other countries that are way ahead of us, we will be able to do some rather amazing things.

I still get excited about launches and love to watch them.  I grew up making trips over to the east coast to see shuttle launches whenever it could be timed. Of course there were times we had to sadly turn back west after unforeseeable delays or cancellations.  But, the sensation of feeling the rumble of the rockets blasting those shuttles into space, is a memory in and of itself.  If you have not been close to the Cape for at least one launch, put it on your bucket list.  Trust me on this one.

Okay, okay, but why Europa?  It is another moon, just much further away.

Sit down for this one, as this is where the science gets really cool. Europa is covered with ice and under that ice is water.  Water.  The very essence of life (as we know it) in the universe.  (Sure, there is liquid methane on Titan - a moon of Saturn -  that could have a completely different type of life form swimming within its oceans, but we are talking water here.)  Can we mine it, can we reuse it, can we drill through it, can we drink the water below?  Many questions.  The trick is going to be finding a place to land that is near an air shaft or where the ice is thinner.  We are seven years from a targeted launch date, and it will be interesting to hear how it will all be done.

The next coolest item is that the gravity of Jupiter affects the tides and shifting of geological plates on the surface.  Sound familiar?  It is easily hypothesized that the gravity Jupiter is elongating the moon enough to create the necessary heat to keep the water on the moon a liquid.  You could follow the train of thought here to the fact that the moon could be habitable because it has water and is not too cold.  Of course, these are all theories, but that is why we are sending a lander there.  In fact, it is illegal to send only an orbiter to Europa, as Congress has mandated a lunar lander be part of the deal.

Usually, we search for planets that are within what is called the "Goldilocks Zone" where a planet is the right distance from a star and potentially has similar resources (water, air, cable television, washer/dryer hookups) to what we have here.  Europa is far, far outside that zone.  However, because of what the immensity of Jupiter does to the moon's surface by creating heat and tidal motion, the moon now has more potential than the planet Mars for hosting those brave enough to pioneer "the Final Frontier".  That is what is so cool about Astronomy and the possibilities that lie beyond our periphery.  

Finally, I find it rather auspicious that they make an announcement of the sort on the same day that the new Star Wars is released.

We choose to go the moon.  

We choose to go to Jupiter's moon.

Daily Dumbassery

I am not one to easily mock people for their ignorance in Science and will judge silently from afar. But there are those time when simply shaking your head or face palming is not enough.

In Woodland, North Carolina, the town has voted against using solar panels.  They have fears that the panels will consume too much of the sunlight and their other plants will suffer with the lighter load of rays directed to them.  Also, they are concerned that solar panels bring cancer.  And when I say they, both of these 'fears' were presented by a science teacher.  

I could go on with some of the other dumbass reasons, but I am trying to cut back on my rants for my health and for your pleasure.  You can thank me by remembering to donate to a new religion I am devising.  It is all based on The Big Lebowski and Ghostbusters, but I do not want to give away too much in case someone steals my idea before I get everything patented.

As per the usual, I digress.

Let us take a moment and look at these statements made by a science teacher.

1) Sun Thievery

Given the size of the sun, unless your plants are sitting directly under the solar panels or growing in your closet, then I can assure you that there is plenty of sun to go around.  Moreover, the Earth is about the size of an average sunspot.  For those of you non-astronomy folks, that is about the size of a zit on a teenage whale.  Considering that many countries in Europe are using more and more solar power and Disney World has not called to complain that they are getting less sun, I think we can safely surmise, that a few more panels is not going to ruin Spring Break in Daytona this year.

2) Cancerous Panelists

Is there an off chance that some cell or chemical in a solar panel may cause a sickness or cancer.  Sure.  I am not ruling it out.  However, what about our fossil fuel power plants?  Ask the miners that extracted that stuff out of the ground how good it is for their health.  What about Nuclear power plants?  Of course, they are cleaner than the coal burning alternative, but lest we forget Chernobyl and Fukushima.  Both are equally tragic from poor safety measures, although Japan was hit with a massive tsunami.  Of course, I firmly believe in nuclear power, but in the United States it is a bad idea, since we usually allow greedy, incompetent energy corporations to build and run our power infrastructure.  When you go with the lowest bidder, you really do get what you pay for, folks!

Bottom line, whether they can cause it or not, solar energy and solar panels have to be safer than what we currently have!  When I hear these ignorant pontifications, I have to think that they all originate from the same news source that is bought and paid for by the aforementioned incompetent energy corporations that would not want us to use solar energy or drive hybrids.  

As I see it, Woodland, NOrth Carolina... you have won the Dumbassery Award for today!  Bill Nye will be by soon to slap you all around!   Congrats!

New Site, New Hope

Over ten years ago I started the original blog page of cortwist.blogspot.com.  Some of what was posted over its lifespan is still there, and a lot of it has been hidden from view. Oft times I have considered deleting it all, but one day it will serve its purpose.  Maybe.  Not likely, but maybe.  There were two other sites that were reboots, much like this one, but I have also allowed them to rot.  Eventually, I tell myself, I will put all of the better works together into a larger file and create my own little coffee table reader called "Tripe for the Soul".

As it happens, another birthday has passed my by, and it marks yet another year I have struggled to get myself into the writing habit.  What I have forgotten is how much the simple act of blogging works as a pilot light to the bigger picture of writing.  I still have that same novel collecting dust (going on its 21st year) and still idling at 100,000 words.  Shamefully, I have a majority of the final 25-30K in my head ready to go, I need to simply put the time aside and make it happen.

Of course, like any other best laid plans, life gets in the way.  Then there are other ideas being kicked around that have to have some time spent to them to make sure that I have all my ideas written out for them.  I may not pursue these ideas at the moment, but I want to make sure that when I come back to them, that most of my braindump is available - even if I cannot make sense of it.

The bottom line is that I will try to return here often, like I used to do, and place some filler onto the page.  Sometimes, there is actually a spark of entertainment to be found, but more often than not, there will be tripe.  However, if you have ever been present for a sound check for a large concert, there is a lot of static that is blasted out of the speakers.  I have never known the legitimate reason, but for me, that is what I am doing here: I am getting the static out.

With that said, posts will suck.  I admit to it now and accept it.  There will be a few among them that are worth the time spent here, but not many.  I will do what I used to do and not have a format and drop out whatever I want - summer reading lists, shitty poetry, short stories, science stuff, literary stuff and all the other miscellaneous nonsense that I am wont to do.

Buckle up, eat your Wheaties, drink your Ovaltine, and for Thor's Sake, take your pants off... this is not a corporate environment.