By the time you read this it is likely that the largest asteroid to pass close to the Earth since 1976 will have already been closer to us than the Moon. Apparently it doesn’t pose a serious threat, but of course if no one ever gets to read my latest drivel then maybe those threat assessments were wrong! Remember this piece of rock is as big as an Aircraft Carrier.
The closest that Asteroid 2005 YU55 will get to us will be 202,000 miles and the next close encounter with an Asteroid, assuming we survive this one, will be in 17 years. Then in Aril 2029 Asteroid Apophis will pass even closer at a miniscule 18,300 miles. Apophis has been seen as a major threat of collision before but has now been downgraded.
Click here to read about it on the BBC and then enjoy a couple of Asteroid related songs (well more rocks than asteroids really!)
I have always been a big fan of space exploration and I remain extremely disappointed that the Apollo programme was ended way to soon. The last time a man set foot on the moon was 38 years ago in 1973. Since the first moon landing in 1969 only 12 men have set foot on any piece of land which isn’t the Earth. The big programmes since Apollo have been the Space Shuttle, which is very close to retirement, the International Space Station, now largely supplied by the Russians and SETI. The Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence are the words that lend themselves to the SETI acronym.
For me the Shuttle was never a good replacement for the Apollo Programme and whilst it was and remains a brilliant act of international cooperation the International Space Station is hardly a mission to Mars is it? However the principles behind SETI have always meant a lot to me. An organisation and network set up with the aim of being there for any communication from alien civilisations is really exciting, isn’t it? If you’ve seen the Jodie Foster movie ‘Contact‘ then you’ll know how important and difficult it could be. do I believe that there are alien civilisations out there? Yes I do. How about you?
Anyway let me get back to the purpose of todays post; it appears that the SETI Institute has run out of money. Just how sad is that? Still as long as we leave an appropriate answer machine message we’ll be fine won’t we? I feel really let down that we have come to this. Can we not find a few billionaires with some spare cash to keep SETI in operation? read the report here in the Guardian.
So as I have said many times before this is a music blog so here are a few appropriate songs for this sad story, feel free to submit your own;
With Just A Hint Of Mayhem 