It seems we have become somewhat complacent with the advances in space exploration. Robot rovers rumbling across the surface of Mars, astronauts zipping back and forth to the International Space Station and now earthlings have plunked a ‘washing machine’-sized satellite onto the surface of a streaking comet.
Personally, describing a satellite as ‘washing machine’ size is not very scientific. Even Noah gave us the exact dimensions of his ark in the Bible, in case someone wanted to build another one. You only have to pick up a Sears appliance flyer and see how many different sizes of washing machines there are. Do they load data through the top of this satellite or is it a more convenient front loader? That’s not made clear.
The bad news is that it bounced when it landed and may be in the shadow of a cliff. The official word from the European Space Agency is: “After a 310 million mile journey to become the first-ever space vehicle to make a soft landing on a comet, the Philae probe may have ended its mission prematurely. Its batteries have run down.”
Other reports say that while the scientists are trying to move it around they are somewhat disappointed. We all know how they feel because we have experienced that on many Christmas mornings.
After weeks of anticipation we rip the paper from our gifts and there is the exact present we have asked for. We open the box and admire the toy sitting there, take it out and push the switch and nothing happens. We read the instructions, and in small bold letters we see ‘Requires four AA batteries, not included.’ We know how those scientists feel.
“Mom, Dad, did you buy batteries for this?” we ask with a glint of hope in our voice. This is place where Dad chimes in. “For the amount we paid for it, the batteries should have come with it.” Exactly what the backers of the satellite project are thinking today.
Now when I was a boy, there was no such thing as a 7-Eleven or a grocery store or pharmacy that was open on Christmas Day so, like the satellite waiting for a reposition of the sun, we would have to wait for a couple suns to rise and set before we were going to get batteries, because nobody was going anywhere on Christmas Day.
Wait, the flashlight will have AA batteries — we can use those. But alas, it only has two and we need four. This is worse because we can almost get it to work now.
Yes, no matter how things change they seem to stay the same. Every time Kirk and Spock beamed down to a strange planet they had had problems with their communicators. Did Spock not remember it was logical to put them in the charger overnight?
It seems there was too much reliance on only solar power for the asteroid lander. I’m sure having 4 AA batteries as a backup would have made sense, it’s not rocket science. Well, maybe it is and they just didn’t notice the small printing from the satellite manufacturer that said, Batteries Not Included.
Make one last stop at the battery kiosk before Christmas Day, and buy at least six of every size. Especially if you are a grandparent, they always save the day. You might just be a hero on Christmas morning. At least that’s what McGregor says.
