And just think of the poor werewolves!

So did you hear the one about the scientific organization that decided to shoot something into the moon?

If you haven’t heard yet, you can read one of the many articles about what is going on tomorrow morning. So no, that wasn’t the start of a joke (or a Jerry Bruckheimer film): it is really happening.

Why? Reputable news sources report the word of those at NASA who say it is about the discovery of water and the hope of sustaining missions and people on the moon for a launching pad into space or a potential colony. There are, of course, not so reputable news sources which say there’s an alien moon base and we are starting a war with them. While that one is certainly the more colorful option (and I guess stranger things have happened in the world at some point to oblivious groups of people), I’m inclined to go with what NASA said.

I don’t know if I agree with this for a few reasons, one of which is that this cannot be coming cheap. I mean if it is creating, let’s say 100,000 – no, 1,000,000 – jobs, then sure! That’s great. However, as it is right now we are just doing this to find out if we can possibly make a base or something on the moon, in order to explore the galaxy and/or possibly create a moon colony. That’s all well and good, but don’t we run the risk of overdeveloping the moon? What about some moon environmental awareness?

While I’m sure everything will be okay, there’s that small paranoid part of me that just has to wonder about the bad possibilities. That little part of me has to wonder what could go wrong. Will it push the moon off course? Will it break it in half? Will it completely destroy it? Given the amount of explosives in this missile (supposedly zero), and the fact that this will be like a pin prick (or maybe a mosquito bite) to the moon, I highly doubt this but again, you never know. (And don’t even get me started on the whole possible black hole-creation thing – it has bad science fiction movie written all over it.)

So is this a good idea or a bad idea? A little bit of both, I’d say. Best case we end up with some new places to throw garbage – I mean, new places to live and study – and can hopefully reach further into the universe. Worst case we lose out on our major source of light at night and have some potential issues with gravity.

We don't really need those tides, right?