Craig Constantine

Oh, we’re going

Are we restless and driven to explore, as Sagan says? Will going into space bring humanity together or will we simply bring inequalities and injustices with us? The idea of humans as benevolent explorers sits somewhere between two extremes: those who argue it is our “destiny” to “colonize” other worlds, and those who ask why we’re going into outer space at all.
~ Michael P. Oman-Reagan, from https://www.sapiens.org/culture/wandering_among_the_wanderers/

We’re definitely going. Whether we like it or not, there are enough of us who are unable to not try to wander outside our little cave and over the next hill, sabertooth tigers or no. I think a much better question is: What have we lost, now that many (most?) of us are no longer in touch with the night sky. My answer: A lot. And if we continue and lose our curiosity entirely, everything.

I’ve had the insanely rare privilege of experiencing the real night sky on many occasions. (For one example, once in a very special place, on a moonless night, Mars cast my shadow.) In all my experiences, I still believe I’ve only glimpsed a part of my human heritage. What would we be like if we all were fully in touch with our heritage?

Look at that

July 4, 2019

In outer space you develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it. From out there on the moon, international politics looks so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, “Look at that, you son of a bitch.”
~ Edgar Mitchell

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Shuttle launches

March 18, 2018

I earn my living in comedy, but science is my hobby. I’m a fan of science: I hang out with scientists at science places and I read about science and scientists. My mom always says, “If you walk like a duck, talk like a duck, and hang around with ducks, people will start thinking you’re a duck.” This may be true for juvenile delinquents and waterfowl, but, unfortunately, if you walk like a scientist, talk like a scientist, and hang around with scientists, people will still know you’re a dumb-assed comedian.
~ Penn Jillette from, http://symftr.tumblr.com/post/5987695109/nasas-successful-quantifying-of-comedy-timing-by-penn

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When you get there, you will learn that SYMFTR is an acronym.

The piece begins with an apologwarning about it being long. It is not. …and if you have trouble reading pieces of this length — I weep for your soul and you really need to read more.

I once stood in the VIP area, 3.7 miles from a space shuttle when America EXPLODED HUMANS INTO SPACE. It was everything Penn describes. I should probably write about it, but it was so soo long ago.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

What shall we do with Mars?

September 30, 2012

The surface area of Mars is exactly as large as the land area of the Earth. A thorough reconnaissance will clearly occupy us for centuries. But there will be a time when Mars is all explored; a time after robot aircraft have mapped it from aloft, a time after rovers have combed the surface, a time after samples have been returned safely to Earth, a time after human beings have walked the sands of Mars. What then? What shall we do with Mars?
~ Carl Sagan

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