Comets, Asteroids, and Shooting Stars

Comet

A few years ago, when my grandson was in fourth-grade, there was a lot of interest in Comets; mostly because we had one coming as close to earth as anyone could remember.  There were plans to take samples in an effort to explain more about the creation of our universe, and there was even talk of the feasibility of landing on a comet.

Asteroid

I decided that I would ask my grandson what he might know about comets.  “Do you know anything about comets?” seemed a reasonable question.

“I know the difference between comets, asteroids and shooting stars,” was his response.

Meteor (Shooting Star)

“What is the difference?” I asked.

“Mostly it has to do with their size and the distance they are from earth,” he replied.

That got me thinking.  Some college counselor told an incoming freshman class that at graduation, half would be working in a job that had not been invented yet.  I heard that story fifty years ago, and it certainly has been prophetic.  What might my comet-wise grandson be doing when he graduated from college?

At the time of our conversation, They had picked thirteen candidates to train as astronauts to live on Mars.  As I understand it, their journey would require being placed in a “sleep-state” to survive the long journey and in a life-imitating-art they would subsist on potatoes in much the same way as Matt Damon in Bring Him Home.

By the time Ethan (my grandson) is old enough to be an astronaut, that will probably be too blasé for his interest.  He stays current with the times.  For example, he has a small drone now, albeit without a camera. He built his first rocket in third-grade and scored second in his class for distance, height, and time aloft.  And he has a wide variety of interests: for example he learned the violin in fourth-grade and the flute in fifth.

He enjoys swimming, tennis, is learning golf, and has seen two Chicago Cubs games in Wrigley Field. He makes friends easily and is very social, showing empathy and concern with those who may not have his level of intelligence.

I did hear last week that NASA was interviewing for a position as a Planetary Protection Officer.  There are only two positions in the world; one with NASA and the other with the ESA.  As I understand the position it entails knowing and limiting the harmful effects of earth visits to other planets and the effect on earth of samples intentionally or unintentionally brought back from space exploration.  Background would include knowledge of “clean rooms” and ways to assess and limit contamination.

So what if there are only two positions right now.  Who knows what might exist in 10 years, when Ethan enters the job-market?  And if there are still only two, my mother used to say, “They have to choose someone.  It might as well be you.”

Good luck, Ethan.

Please join me next time when I recall how an old memory of a piano tune; Heart and Soul entered my life and what I learned from the memory.