Last month, NASA proposed ‘The Grand Challenge,’ and I mentioned it in the blog. As NASA pondered how to deal with the issue of near-miss asteroids threatening to strike the earth, the agency decided to put the request out to the science community for suggested approaches.
The collective brainstorming for the asteroid planning mission – no idea is a bad one – was called ‘The Grand Challenge.’ The proposed mission would involve capturing an asteroid and placing it in orbit near the moon. The idea is that NASA astronauts can later explore it.
The response, as it turns out, was quite good.
NASA reported yesterday that it had received more than 400 proposals from non-profit agencies, private companies and international organizations in response to its formal Request for Information (RFI). From the information communicated at NASA’s news conference, it sounds like at least a third of those are under review. That’s impressive.
You have to imagine that some of the suggestions wouldn’t be practical and, perhaps, others would be cost prohibitive. But among the 100+ or so proposal identified as being directly related to the mission, you’d figure there’d be some combination of those which could ultimately be adopted. Or maybe there’d be some hybrid solutions utilizing elements from multiple proposals.
Whatever it takes to save the earth and protect our solar system, right?
Thinking about this issue in the broader sense, it seems like a really good approach.
We’ve got political gridlock and a number of key issues facing the nation. Even a modicum of bi-partisanship would be helpful but these days it is a precious commodity. What if the Congress or the Administration (any Administration) were to attack those problems with a “Grand Challenge” approach.
Federal deficit? What are your best ideas for reducing it. Healthcare? If you don’t like the old system (or the new approach), what’s your approach? Education? I hear a lot of teachers complain about standardized testing? What’s a better method? Jobs? International trade? Fuel costs? Global warming? Immigration?
You get the idea.
Maybe a “Grand Challenge” approach would unlock the solution to each of those dilemmas.
In the meantime, I love the imagery of some great big space cowboy throwing a lasso around a malevolent cosmic rock and pulling it out of harm’s way!
JG
Originally posted 7/31/2013
No comments:
Post a Comment