Micole G.

Valera III-OLF

A.Pan III

The real star war Something useful for Americas underemployed space agency to do Feb 23rd 2013

GEOGRAPHY matters. In 1908 a rock the size of a city block hit the Earths atmosphere at 15km (9 miles) a second. The explosion flattened an area the size of London. But the land in question was in Siberia, so few people noticed and those who did had little influence. Suppose, though, it had devastated a city in Europe or North America. The history of the 20th century would have been different, as the best scientific and engineering brains were brought to bear on the question of how to stop it happening again. Well, it has happened again, albeit less spectacularly. By chance, Siberia bore the brunt once more, when a meteor crashed in the Urals on February 15th, injuring more than 1,000 people. It could just as easily have hit Germany or

Guangdong. Moreover, on the same day another, larger rock called 2012 DA14 passed within 27,000km of Earth. By astronomical standards, that is a hairs breadth. It is time to think seriously about stopping such incidents by building a system that can detect space rocks with sufficient warning, and then either blast them or push them out of the way. It would be costly, of course, and would require the development of new technology. But, as luck would have it, there is a tool lying around that has both the money and the nous to do it, and which is currently underemployed and in need of a new mission. Zap! In this section The death of a country Getting Ugly The great experiment Bin it The real star war Reprints Related topics NASA United States Technology Science and technology Space technology NASA, Americas space agency, has become a curious hybrid. Part of it is one of the worlds leading scientific research organisations. This NASA sends robot probes to the planets, runs space telescopes and has already sponsored projects devoted to looking for large asteroidsthe ones that would blow humanity to kingdom come if their orbits ever intersected that of the Earth. If such a large, planet-killing asteroid were discovered, though, the chances are that earthlings would have decades, or centuries, to act; a small nudge, judiciously applied by rocket motor or nuclear explosion (see article), would be enough to send it off course.

The real problem is city-killersthings too small for existing surveys to see, but large enough to do serious damage. And it is here that the other NASA might be brought into play. The non-scientific bit of the agency, the bit that brought you the Apollo project, has been looking for a proper job since 1972, when Apollo was cancelled. It thought it had found it in the Space Shuttle, but building a cheap, reliable orbital truck proved impossible. It thought it had found it in the International Space Station, but that has turned into a scientifically useless tin can in the sky. The latest wheeze is to build a rocket that might one day, many administrations hence, go to Mars. In a well-ordered world, this bit of NASA would have been closed down years ago. That it has not been is due, in large measure, to the lobbying power of aerospace companies which see the agency as a way to divert money from taxpayers pockets into those of their shareholders. This pocket-picking would be less irksome if something useful came of it. Why not, therefore, change this part of NASAs remit to protecting the planet from external attack, not by evil aliens but by an uncaring universe? Two things would be needed. One is a bigger system of telescopes, either on the ground or in orbit, to give notice of a threat. The other is a way to counter the threat. That might be done with lasers, or with controlled explosions that would shift the incoming objects orbit sufficiently to make it miss altogether, or (if that is not possible) hit an unpopulated area. Developing all this would be a technological challenge worthy of NASAs engineers. It would keep the agencys bureaucrats in their jobs. It would keep the money flowing to the aerospace companies. It would probably cost no more than the space station (about $100 billion). And, if it worked, it would provide something that benefited not just America, but the worldprecisely the sort of thing a rich country which often claims the moral high ground ought to be doing. When Apollo 11 took off from the Moon on July 21st 1969, its crew left behind a plaque that read, They came in peace, for all mankind. What an opportunity both America and NASA now have to prove that they meant it.

Kabanata 1 Ang pagtitipon Nakatakdang ganapin sa gabing iyon ang marangyang handaan sa tahanan ni Don Santiago Delos Santos o mas kilala bilang si Kapitan Tiyago. Ang nasabing handaan ay upang magsilbing pasalubong sa isang binatang kagagaling lamang sa Europa, na hindi iba sa Kapitan sapagkat ito ay anak ng kanyang matalik na kaibigan. Ang pagsalubong ay gaganapin sa kanyang bahay sa kalye ng Anluwage. Napuno ng mga panauhin ang tahanan ni Kapitan Tiyago, sapagkat sa lugar na iyon, isang malaking karangalan ang maging panauhin ng Kapitan. Kilala siya bilang taong nabibilang sa mataas na lipunan at matulungin sa mga mahihirap. Si Tiya Isabel na pinsan ng Kapitan ang taga-istima ng mga bisita, at sadyang magkakahiwalay ang mga panauhing babae sa mga lalake. Nagpakahuling dumating ang ibang mga panauhin, kabilang na sina Dr. de Espadaa at ang kabiyak nitong si Donya Victorina. Sa lahat ng mga panauhin ng Kapitan, hindi nagpapahuli ang kinatawan ng simbahan sa pangunguna nina Padre Sibyla, ang kura paroko ng Binundok; Si Padre Damaso na sadyang magaslaw kumilos at magsalita; dalawang paisano; at si Tenyente Guevarra, ang tenyente ng guardia civil. Bawat grupo ng mga panauhin ay may kani-kaniyang paksa, isang pagkakataon upang ipagparangalan ang kani-kanilang saloobin, humanap ng papuri, at makipag-tagisan ng kuro-kuro. Napag-usapan sa gabing iyon ang tungkol sa mga Indio na walang iba kundi ang mga Pilipino; ang tungkol sa pagkakatanggal ni Padre Damaso sa Parokya ng San Diego sa kabila ng paninilbihan nito ng matagal na panahon; ang tungkol sa pulbura at armas, monopolyo ng tabako at iba pa. Hindi na pinalagpas ni Pare Damaso ang pagkakataon upang ihayag niya ang matinding panlilibak sa mga Indio, na ayon sa kaniya ay mga hamak at mabababang uri ng nilalang. Gumawa naman ng paraan si Pare Sybila na ibahin ang usapan at ito ay napadako sa pagkakatanggal ni Padre Damaso bilang kura paroko sa loob ng 20 taon. Ayon kay Pare Damaso, hindi dapat nakikialam ang hari ng Espanya sa pagpaparusa sa mga erehe sapagkat ito ang nararapat. Ito naman ay tinutulan ng Tinyente at inilahad na ang nangyaring parusa ay marapat lamang sa pananaw ng Kapitan Heneral. Ipinaliwanag din nito na ang dahilan ng kanyang pagkakalipat ay sapagkat pinahukay nito ang bangkay ng isang marangal na lalaki, na pinagbintangang erehe dahil lamang sa hindi pangungumpisal. Ang bagay na ito ay nakapagpagalit ng lalo sa pari, lalo na nang maalala nito ang mga nawaglit na mahahalagang kasulatan. Namagitan uli si Pari Sybila upang pakalmahin ang mahahayap na pananalita ni Padre Damaso. Kalaunan ay lumawig muli ang talakayan.

Kabanata 2 Si Crisostomo Ibarra Dumating si Kapitan Tyago kasabay ang isang binata na halatang nagluluksa ayon sa kasuotan. Binati ng Kapitan ang kanyang mga panauhin, at tulad ng kaugalian, humalik siya sa kamay ng mga pari. Ang mga pari naman ay nabigla, lalo na si Padre Damaso ng makilala nito na ang binata. Ipinakilala ni Kapitan Tiyago ang kagalang galang na binata bilang anak ng kanyang nasirang kaibigan na si Don Rafael Ibarra. Kadarating lamang ng binata mula pitong taon na pag-aaral nito sa Europa. Kusang nagpakilala si Ibarra bilang Juan Crisostomo Ibarra y Magsalin kasabay ng pakikipag-kamay nito, isang kaugaliang natutunan niya sa bansang Alemanya. Tumanggi naman na makipag-kamay si Padre Damaso at bagkus ay tinalikuran nito ang binata. Lumapit ang Tinyente kay Ibarra at nagpasalamat ito sa ligtas niyang pagdating. Pinuri rin nito ang kabaitan ng kanyang ama, na siyang nagpanatag sa kalooban ng binata. Palihim naman ang pagsulyap ni Padre Damaso sa Tinyente na tila ba nagbabanta. Dahilan upang tapusin ng Tinyente ang pakikipag-usap nito kay Ibarra. Nang malapit na ang hapunan, inanyayahan ni Kapitan Tinong, sa pananghalian kinabukasan si Ibarra. Si Kapitan Tinong ay malapit na kaibigan ni Kapitan Tiyago at kaibigan din ng kanyang ama. Magalang na tumanggi ang binata sapagkat patungo siya sa San Diego sa araw na iyon