At this moment, our tax dollars are causing a spacecraft to speed towards earth carrying several ounces of "comet dust." It's destination is a Utah desert floor, time of impact, early Sunday.
The Stardust spacecraft took off from earth during the Clinton Administration and has spent its formative years collecting dust and carbon-based samples whilst plunging though the tails of comets.
According to our friends at CNN, "If all goes as planned, Stardust will release the 100-lb. capsule carrying the samples at 1 a.m. ET on Sunday. It would enter Earth's atmosphere about four hours later and parachute to the ground in Utah at 5:12 a.m. ET."
On the other hand, if some things don't go according to plan, you might wind up with a spacecraft in your backyard or worse yet, an Andromeda Strain type dried comet jizz dusting your Taos rooftop.
Granted, comet dust is not on my list of allergies at the moment, but why risk bringing a potentially deadly strain of space clap to mother earth? Science at times enjoys certain missteps which cross the line between the search for knowledge and impending doom. A good example would be the medical supply company that included among its teaching sample kits which it distributed around the globe a vial of Bubonic Plague.
I may be chicken little in this instance, but then again, I was against the importation of moon rocks, and as a very reliable source has disclosed to me, Apollo 14's cargo of critter-laden pumace almost cost man his seat of dominance on this blue planet.
