Advice for President Obama on Protecting the Planet!

Max's advice for March 5, 2009

Dear President Obama,

Max grew up as the son of a man who knew 'ALL' the answers to the problems of the world. Max's father said so! Many times, his father let everyone know that anyone who didn't know that he had the answers was a turkey or a knucklehead.

The famous Ma Bell, the second most powerful force in the world (next to God of course), thought so much of Max's father's opinions, that she made him 'Supervisor of Troubles'. This is true!

The advice Max promised you, President Obama.

Propose a specific effort to return to the moon with a Lunar Base.

Max is a fan of space movies and shows such as Star Trek. He understands that these shows are fiction and not the real thing.

In the real world of things off the planet surface there are real and present dangers. We now know that many major kill-offs of life forms on this planet came from outer space. It wasn't space craft from intelligent worlds. It was pieces of rocks and ice that are traveling throughout our solar system, occasionally bumping into the planets with devastating consequences.

Though the last real big collision appears to have happened sixty five million years ago, a rather powerful collision is believed to have struck Siberia in 1908. That is a lot closer to our own time.

It may take decades or even longer to place a meaningful space station on the moon, much less further away on Mars. Yet we know that we must begin building the capability to see further into the space around us and have resources placed far enough away to reach any danger if we are going to preserve our planet's safety.

Like global warming, it isn't a matter of what is going to happen but rather a matter of when it will impact our lives. Unlike global warming, we really don't know if we have years, decades or centuries to figure this one out. That is why we need to start the effort to place resources where there is a chance they can respond to a stray meteor or asteroid.

Mr. President, George Bush gave you a lead into this with his call to return to space. By focusing on a specific mission, such as placing resources where we can see farther and respond quicker, it can build toward the goal of journeying out to Mars.

Mars is a more colorful goal but it really may be decades or more before we are ready to take that step. The danger to our planet from stray asteroids was made clear as we all got to see first hand a few years ago just how big an impact these can make. If the earth had been in the path instead of one of the giants, our world would be dust if it survived at all.

Having the mission of returning to the lunar surface can help focus NASA on defining what it will take in the way of resources and craft.

Because we have done this before, we have a great deal of knowledge about the types of craft that need to be part of the mission. We also know some of the limiting factors that need to be overcome if we are going to have manned missions sent six days from earth (three days there, three days back).

The nice thing about something that may not happen while you are still in the White House is that the higher risks of failure will come in the out years on someone else's watch.

It isn't just a nice idea for us to return. As the planet's most technologically sophisticated country, we have an obligation to lead the way. Some part of the world's energy must stay focused on the long term survival of mankind. It would be reckless to do otherwise.

With us approaching seven billion people, the future is looking increasingly dim. The miracles that led to increases in food supplies are running their course. The resources that allow us to live in increasingly close proximity to one another are being threatened by the limits of the systems that support them.

For one reason or another we, the people of this planet, need to have things that give us the impression that there is hope, at least until we either realize that hope or we fail while attempting to realize it.

Max wishes you well in all your efforts to keep hope alive.

Max writes about greenways, rare diseases, timely topics, places to eat, travel and other issues of interest. He encourages you to add your comments.

Link one is to NASA's take on returning to the moon.

Link two is to NASA's view of asteroid collision risk.

Link three is to pictures of Shoemaker-Levy hitting Jupiter.