No one cares about water on moon
When it comes to big news stories, it can be difficult to determine the value of such stories. A box full of kittens found on the side of the road is not exactly newsworthy. Nor is throwing a ball to a dog and having him retrieve it. But this past week, the news outlets really took the cake in terms of covering something that doesn’t matter. On Nov. 13, NASA made the announcement that water had been found below the surface of the moon. Holy Toledo! Stop the presses! This announcement is so important it deserves to run at the top of every page in every paper across the country. The fact of the matter is that most newspapers probably ran something about this story. They probably made it pretty well-known, too. To me, the story doesn’t even deserve much recognition. I use the qualifier "much" because it is something of note. Who knew water could even exist in a habitat as harsh as the one on the moon? But the second question that begs to be asked is: "How does that help us?" The water found on the moon exists in a frozen state. So basically, we stumbled upon ice. I guess we could keep our drinks cold. We could also go ice skating. But other than that, water on the moon does not seem beneficial. We already know life cannot thrive on the moon due to the lack of that useful element known as an atmosphere. So there’s no chance for living on the moon sans spacesuits. But the suits would make for some fancy ice skating. What plans did NASA have for this water on the moon other than my previously named – and awesome – ideas? NASA’s main goal in this mission is to discover whether or not the moon would be able to be colonized. An ice-skating, cold water drinking civilization on the moon. Given all this information, why did we even bother worrying about the water on the moon once we found out? My theory is a simple one. It may have been overlooked in recent years. But I think NASA is wasting a lot (and I mean a LOT) of money. Let’s take a look at the mission that discovered the water. The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) was launched in June with one mission: Crash into the moon. That mission was accomplished in October. Seriously? And no one thought to ask them what the hell they were thinking? It sounds to me like a bunch of fourth graders are at the controls, trying to produce the biggest crash or bang possible. One of the biggest things stressed to college students is money management and spending funds wisely. So why is it we give NASA billions of dollars to study balls of gas located trillions of miles away? How do the monetary conversations go between NASA and the government? NASA: We need more money. Feds: What for? NASA: We’re planning to study the planet Redbulon. You can’t see it though. In fact, it’s really far away. We’ll probably never have any sort of contact with them, but we’re just curious. Feds: (pause) OK. Here’s several billion dollars for your study. What do you plan to discover about this planet? NASA: Maybe nothing. We’ll see. Just once, I want someone to call out NASA and tell them what they are doing is stupid. I want one person to help us save money. Because frankly, I don’t give a damn about water on the moon.
