Centauri ship enters Solar System

NASA has published a photo of an asteroid called P/2010 a2. The asteroid is notable for its unusual comet-like tail which NASA scientists suggest is the result of a high-speed collision. However, looking at the structure of the debris field, I am reminded of something else.

Just think, our first contact may involve a race of decadent, 18th-century European aristocrats with a penchant for orbital bombardment.

-Rognar-

Inspiration Mars

I watched the Inspiration Mars press conference yesterday. Dennis Tito, aerospace engineer, entrepreneur and most famously, world's first space tourist, is spearheading the effort to launch a private manned flyby mission to Mars in 2018. The goal is to take advantage of a favourable planetary alignment to send two humans, one man and one woman, within 100 miles of the Martian surface, then slingshot them back to Earth. The entire mission would take 501 days. The risks involved in this mission cannot be overstated. There will be no abort option. The crew will be subject to cosmic radiation for a prolonged period of time and the re-entry will be, by far, the fastest ever for a manned spacecraft. All of this will be done on a shoestring budget from private donors. Only the Americans would have a hope in Hades of pulling this thing off. I wish them well.

-Rognar-