I was meaning to post something about this comet thing before it actually happened, but never found the time. Here’s an article about a Russian who is suing NASA for $300 million because they upset the natural balance of the universe. I actually have to admit to having had some thoughts along these lines myself. While I’m not so worried about the mission “deforming my horoscope†I do find it a typically American thing to do. We might gain some knowledge about the universe but given the lofty cost of the mission, it seems to me that the NASA braintrust probably just thought it was a really f**kin’ cool thing to do. In a way, I have to agree, but that just might be my American upbringing talking.
They also say there is no possibility of bad side-effects but an interview I heard with some NASA guy on the Today Show left me thinking there was at least a little room for interpretation there. He said no, but he qualified it with a statement along the lines of, “Well, the odds of it are extremely minute.†Had he elaborated, I was imagining something like, “Well, there is the off chance that it could cause the comet to careen wildly off course and smash directly into Earth, or release a slew of radioactive material that just might shower the atmosphere and wipe out all life as we know it, but I’m tellin’ ya, the odds of that are really small and not nearly enough to justify passing up the opportunity to do something this f**kin’ cool.â€Â
