TO:
FROM: [email protected]
SUBJECT: Asteroids!
Dear Roy,
Hey, how's it going? I see you were in Colorado yesterday; I guess Ed in 08's lawyers gave up trying to keep the initiative out of politics, eh?
But that's not why I'm writing. Look, I'm a little upset that you haven't taken my advice from a few weeks ago to heart. I see that your team is still using the "economics" argument to promote education reform. That's all wrong. Like I told you, those pocketbook issues are too fickle. The economy goes down but it also goes up.
What's not going away is the threat of an asteroid hitting the Earth and ending life as we know it. But here's the good news: just as I predicted, some good ole American students hold the key to saving the world. Check this out: American Fork students on asteroid watch. Get a load of this:
The 34 students on science teacher Curtis Craig's "Caveman team" of the Killer Astroid Project arrive to upload their star-measuring software and asteroid database long before school starts. Then begins the long, arduous process of observing telescopic images for asteroid activity. Taking three images shot 20 minutes apart, they sequence them in motion. A small change in the image may signal asteroid movement. Recording the coordinates of that movement on a grid, students extrapolate the trajectory then submit their reports to Harvard University's Minor Planet Center, which cues up its telescope to students' reported coordinates. If the center's telescope finds an image to match those coordinates, a new asteroid discovery is born.
And:
If they're really lucky, their discoveries might help predict the trajectories of asteroids with the potential to one day hit Earth. That hasn't happened yet to any of the teams involved in the NASA project."But what an honor to serve humanity," Craig notes.
And if the students are really, really lucky? They could discover an asteroid headed straight for Earth, perhaps the sort that may have rid our planet of dinosaurs millions of years ago. That almost happened in March 2004, when the asteroid Apophis came within 24,000 miles of striking distance.
But here's the kicker, Roy:
The hope is that more students find themselves interested in space technology careers.
Exactly! Again, here's the pitch: If we don't do something, asteroids are going to kill us all. Making sure some smart American kid gets a good math and science education is the key to saving the world. So tell it straight to the campaigns and to the electorate: no more bellyaching about health care or housing or global warming. We gotta improve k-12 education!
Cheers,
Mike
