LOOK, UP IN THE SKY, IT’S A BIRD, IT’S A PLANE, IT’S……

8/13/09

Most major newspapers reported this morning that NASA is complaining that it doesn’t have enough money to complete its appointed task of tracking asteroids and comets that could present a threat to earth. While NASA estimates that there are approximately 20,000 such menacing heavenly bodies that have the potential to mean curtains for the human race, it has only been able to track about 6,000 of these troublesome space-borne miscreants with the money Congress has heretofore disbursed. NASA, like any other government agency, is thus pleading for more spondulicks to fulfill this vital mission.

Hmm…

What is the point here? Say NASA finds some asteroid or comet heading right for us, a flaming rock about the size of the space junk that killed off the dinosaurs. What could we do about it? Yeah, that’s what I thought.

So why are we spending ANY money keeping an eye on those agents of our potential doom about which we can do absolutely nothing? Is it worth billions to have the last few days of life on this planet completely ruined by the sure knowledge of our impending demise? Perhaps NASA will next ask for funding for the appropriate “Farewell to Earth” party, which would, come to think of it, be one of the very rare truly efficacious applications of taxpayer money. But the people at NASA are seasoned political types, used to the challenges of grabbling for their rightful share of the money you have worked so hard to generate. So a big party to say good bye is probably not in their plans. Instead, they will propose spending trillions on some glorified high school science project that (Just trust us on this one, okay?) just might have the potential to save us from an untimely demise.

Oh, well, what the heck. It’s not the NASA guys’, or the Congress guys’ money. Just like every other dollar of your money the government spends.