I watched with amazement during July 2015 as a small grand piano sized spacecraft, named New Horizons, made a journey of over 3 billion miles to explore a planet named Pluto (I am showing my age). The photos of this small planet, so distant from our world, were, and continue to be, stunning. Scientists and researchers in many disciplines will be very busy for numerous years analyzing new discoveries from both the photos and the data from this small spacecraft on its journey through our universe.
This was a mission which was launched January 19, 2006. According to the NASA – New Horizons website (http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/newhorizons/overview/index.html) the mission is described as follows:
“Voyage to an Unexplored Planet and a New Realm
The New Horizons mission will help us understand worlds at the edge of our solar system by making the first reconnaissance of the dwarf planet Pluto and by venturing deeper into the distant, mysterious Kuiper Belt – a relic of solar system formation.
The Journey
New Horizons launched on Jan. 19, 2006; it swung past Jupiter for a gravity boost and scientific studies in February 2007, and will conduct a five-month-long reconnaissance flyby study of Pluto and its moons in summer 2015. Pluto closest approach is scheduled for July 14, 2015. As part of an extended mission, the spacecraft is expected to head farther into the Kuiper Belt to examine one or two of the ancient, icy mini-worlds in that vast region, at least a billion miles beyond Neptune’s orbit.
Sending a spacecraft on this long journey will help us answer basic questions about the surface properties, geology, interior makeup and atmospheres on these bodies.”
It is also noted on the NASA website:
“The United States has been the first nation to reach every planet from Mercury to Neptune with a space probe. If New Horizons is successful, it will allow the U.S. to complete the initial reconnaissance of the solar system.”
Clearly this “mission” was accomplished in July 2015 with typical space pioneering flair which included awe inspiring photographs and enough data to keep many scientific disciplines occupied for years to come. And, I might add that the mission is not yet over. This little spacecraft is continuing on to explore the Kuiper Belt beyond Pluto (which includes a vast region of icy objects called Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) and dwarf planets).
In tribute, I am announcing my publication of a new digital book entitled “Meteorites and Meteorite Impacts Around the World, An Introduction to Meteorites, Mass Extinctions, Climate Change & Meteorite Impacts on Earth – 2015 Edition.” This new 50-page e-publication is available for download in Kindle format from Amazon.com. It presents an overview of the known meteorite impact craters around the globe. White the focus is on meteorite impact craters; it presents information about the origin, types and mineralogy of meteorites. Included is a linked table of the known meteorite impact craters on Earth. In addition, you will learn what the consequences might be if one of these “visitors from outer space” were to impact the Earth today.
Please visit the following link for more information or to purchase your copy today - Meteorites and Meteorite Impacts Around the World, An Introduction to Meteorites, Mass Extinctions, Climate Change & Meteorite Impacts on Earth – 2015 Edition.
My eBook about Meteorite Impacts Around the World is part of a series which includes another NASA/JPL mission which ended in 2001. This mission to the Near Earth Object (NEO) named EROS, was another stunning scientific success by NASA and JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory). I documented the journey to EROS with more than 300 high resolution images and the corresponding NASA/JPL commentary, including links, in EROS Adventure, Journey to an Asteroid. This was an exploration trip to one of the locations where meteorites and asteroids, which impact our planet originate from.
These missions demonstrate the technological, engineering and scientific prowess available today. America has been a leader in exploration, both of our planet and of the solar system.
Think of what could have been done had the money spent in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East wars been invested in this type of exploration and research. While, I am sure a few people and organizations profited greatly from these “adventures” in the middle east, investment in scientific research and exploration typically benefits the entirety of the human race and hence our planet.
As in many of my blogs, I call into question our “leaders,” especially those in the United States Congress. I term them the “Rs” and “Ds” respectively and believe their motives collectively, with a few exceptions, are totally and completely self-serving. While this can be said of all of us to one degree or another, our top corporate and government leaders should be held to a stricter standard, especially if their anointing is “public service” in either the government or corporate realm.
So why have none but Ron Paul and his son Rand Paul called for less military spending (which could and would be used for scientific and other research and training), instead of additional government contracts for the development and production of weapons systems and war technology by private and public companies?
Why the call from the mainstream neocon/neolib “Rs” and “Ds” to continue defense department/pentagon buildups, massive weapons systems and more wars around the world, instead of funding for NASA and other public and private scientific institutions? Clearly, the “Rs” and “Ds” are reaping immense portfolio rewards, at the expense of this and future generations. This continual implementation of “war is good for us” policy benefits a few elites (the top 1%) (and their corporations) but the entirety of the human race suffers.
As I noted previously, these space missions are truly awe inspiring not only for my generation, but for the generations which follow. If we had a significant increase in this type of spending, we would have younger generations stepping up to meet the challenge as we would need more scientists, inventors, engineers, entrepreneurs and doctors. This would benefit the younger generations both from a monetary point of view, as well as from a challenging professional career standpoint. It is for this reason that I ask my readers in the United States to consider carefully their choice of leaders in this upcoming presidential and congressional election of 2016. If we want the next generations to pursue engineering and science then we need to provide an infrastructure in which they can do so. This will require a paradigm shift to get away from the military industrial complex (MIC) spending which has taken over our society from the end of World War II.
As I close this blog, I once again commend NASA and JPL (and all the other people and institutions involved) for a stunning triumph in the New Horizons – Pluto mission. This remarkable event truly is worthy of a “Mission Accomplished” from the entire human race.
Sincerely,
H. Court Young
Author, publisher, speaker and geologist
Promoting awareness through the written word
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