Aim for the stars? Sorry, you’re going to have more reasonable expectations. How about Mars? The way we’re going, I’ll be lucky to see that in my lifetime, and I’m only 29. How about a return trip to the Moon? Well, after the way everyone in the media laughed at Newt Gingrich‘s campaign goal of establishing a permanent base on the Moon, I’m guessing the public’s not up for that project.
But don’t despair: for some strange reason, asteroids have really captured everyone’s imagination. Billionaires, space programs, and the public seem to all be happy with aiming for the asteroids. I don’t understand why – surely there is a greater probability of finding all sorts of minerals on the Moon or Mars – but perhaps asteroid are all we have the guts for these days. Plus, they get all sorts of movie attention. Have you ever seen a Hollywood film about us the successful Apollo missions? No, all we got was the failure – Apollo 13. How about a movie about a mission to Mars? Only if we meet something unpleasant there. The only time our space program has any success in the movies is when it comes to asteroids
So, enter NEEMO (NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations) 16, the latest in the training programs for astronauts being prepared to work in deep space, which take place underwater:
Aquarius - the NEEMO lab (courtesy NASA)
The first NEEMO mission occurred in 2001, and they have since been essential in helping us get an idea about what astronauts might need in order to work in such a hostile environment. But what kind of deep space mission are the astronauts of NEEMO 16 being trained for? You guessed it – according to this article from the Telegraph, it’s to land and work on asteroids.
It’s pretty noticeable that the Telegraph article taps into Hollywood right from the start, mentioning the movie Armageddon in the first sentence. I don’t think that’s a coincidence – it’s practically the way NASA has been marketing their work to the public. Needing public and Congressional support to avoid further budget cuts, NASA has noticed the increased asteroid awareness and is using it . . . well, using it to justify its existence, in a way. Who’s going to protect us from asteroids if not NASA?
Personally, I think Hollywood has done the public a huge disservice in not dramatizing our successes in space, or even fictional future successes in space. Trust me – there was a lot of real drama in the Apollo mission aside from Apollo 13. Lacking that, we really don’t set our sights high, and undervalue that area of human endeavor. People need to feel the thrill of success – to get hooked on it – and Hollywood can do that much better than NASA publicists, which is why NASA is trying its best to piggyback on what Hollywood has done.
I don’t mean to demean the goal of landing astronauts on asteroids – in and of itself, it would be a fine achievement. I just worry that this will be the best I will ever see NASA do.
If you think I’m off-base, feel free to comment and save me from my despair.