Monday Evening
Curtis Ross sits slouched at his desk. His hefty size makes the large executive chair look small. His desk is twelve feet long and runs along the wall of what was once the dining room of his house.
Mounted on the wall above the desk is a wireless, 8K thin-screen monitor, twelve feet wide by seven feet high and two millimeters thick. The flexible monitor is paper thin. The screen displays several windows. One window displays an image of the solar system, another the asteroid belt. A third one shows a list of all known asteroids, while others display e-mail, YouTube streams and a video chat room. On the wall behind Curtis is another wall-sized thin-screen streaming multiple news channels with the audio muted.
Curtis chews on a piece of pizza and sips cola from a Giant Gulp cup while video chatting with his boyhood friend, Jin Goldberg, and Jin's girlfriend, Becky.
Jin is a Korean, Jewish blend with light brown skin and curly black hair. The multi-cultural mix of genes created a very intelligent, handsome, young man with a stout build. "You got another one logged and verified by the MPC?" asks Jin.
Curtis sits proudly, pulling his t-shirt, emblazoned with the words, I need my Space, to cover his exposed belly fat, then brushes at his unruly bangs covering his eyes. "It's in process. They need to verify it's actually a new find and compute the orbit before entering it into the database. They will include it in a future newsletter and post it on the MPC website if all goes well," Curtis explains.
"Cool, Curtman. You'll have another asteroid find on the list of discoverers. You're a real space explorer documented for the rest of history," Jin says.
"Wait. Jin, the MP what?" asks Becky.
"The MPC—or more precisely, the Minor Planet Center—is the only place in the world responsible for keeping track of all minor planets, comets, and asteroids in our solar system. Anybody who spots and tracks an object can report it to the MPC to help build the database of what's out there. Curtis found a new, never discovered asteroid, and the MPC will publish his find. It's his fourth asteroid discovery."
"That is really cool," Becky says, picking up on Jin's enthusiasm. "So, do you get to name it?"
Curtis sucks hard on his straw, siphoning the cold soda into his gullet. "I get first dibs on picking a name, but they have to approve it."
"Will you name it after yourself?" asks Becky.
"Nah, I'll probably continue on the theme of the first three," Curtis says.
"What did you name the first three?"
Curtis plays with the straw of his Gulp cup. "Gintoki, Natsu, and Luffy. For this one, I'm thinking either Yusuke or Goku. I can't decide. I'd only name one after me if it smashes into a planet, or something."
"I wouldn't know if those are names of Japanese emperors or sushi dishes," Becky replies.
"They're names of Anime characters. Anime, you know, Japanese comic books." Jin states, slyly.
Curtis sets his Gulp cup on the desk. "Jin knows they're called Manga, not comic books. He's just trying to start a fight. I don't think I need to worry about naming the asteroid for a while. I'm still waiting for the MPC to publish an asteroid I discovered last year. The government cut their staff by fifty percent so it's taking forever."
"Yeah, they went from an entire team of six people, down to three. Can you imagine? There are millions of asteroids out there, any of which, if it hit Earth could wipe out a town or erase a huge city. Not to mention an impact could cause a five-year impact winter or worse. Talk about global cooling! Our government, in their wisdom, gave the responsibility to six whole people and then cut it to three! NASA and the MPC have mapped only twenty thousand of the potentially hazardous asteroids. They're tracking the largest Near-Earth Objects, or NEOs. The Earth destroyers. The ones larger than a kilometer across. That's an asteroid three thousand two hundred eighty feet wide," Jin explains.
"The dinosaur killers," says Curtis. He makes an explosive sound, picks up a plastic toy dog from his desk, and throws it in the air while making a louder explosive noise. "Ka-boom! That dinosaur doggie is toast." The plastic toy dog flies across the room to a bookshelf, knocking over a display of Anime characters.
Becky looks concerned. "What about the other million asteroids? Who's searching for them? Isn't NASA or somebody trying to discover the orbits of all those, those rocks that could smash into us?"
Curtis stuffs a piece of mega-meat pizza into his mouth. Chewing and talking with a full mouth, "You're looking at 'em, sweetheart. These days it's us and others like us who are doing most of the searching. NASA ran several programs after the turn of the century. They found and tracked over seven hundred thousand asteroids. That was until NASA got their budget whacked to support the Four Wars. It will be some backyard astronomer, or a high school astronomy club that spots the big one. I just hope we detect it early enough to give NASA and the government time to find a solution. NASA discovered many of the asteroid near misses just days before they flew by, and sometimes not until days after. Complete surprises. Most of these asteroids are dark and too small to reflect much light, so they're tough to spot and track until they're close."
Jin adds to Curtis's explanation. "The real problem is that less than 10 percent of asteroids ranging from five hundred to a thousand feet in diameter have been identified and tracked, and only one percent of asteroids two hundred feet in diameter are being tracked. These aren't dinosaur killers but, if one lands in your backyard, you and the neighbors in the next town will have a crappy day. So, it's up to us to find these asteroids and track their orbits. People need to know what's out there and what might come at us so we can help protect mankind."
"We are Space Guard!" Curtis proclaims.
"You can't use that name," says Jin. "It's overused, and we can't guard anything. How about Sky Snoopers?"
"That's dumb. You were never good at coming up with names," counters Curtis.
"How about Comet Chasers or Sky Scanners?" Becky suggests.
"Becky, leave this to us professionals," says Curtis, waving his Giant Gulp cup.
A new video window opens in the chat room. "Speaking of professionals, glad I can be of service."
"Marcus. How's it going, man?" asks Curtis. Marcus looks like the stereotypical Aussie with uncombed blond hair, tanned skin, and a broad smile.
"Great mate. How you going? And who is this beauty we have in the room tonight? Not speaking of you, mate. Sorry."
"This is Jin's new—wait, correction—first ever girlfriend, Becky. Say hi, Becky. This is Marcus. He's from Australia."
Becky gives a slow wave. "Hi."
Curtis views Becky's image. She looks like a tomboy clothed in a denim shirt with no jewelry or make-up. She wears her long, dark hair pulled back with her face hiding behind large framed glasses.
"Now I understand why Jin's been getting in shape. All the jogging and push-ups. Guess we can't call you 'Box' any longer."
Jin's face turns red. "Curtis, you know how I feel about that name. Why would you? Shit! Nice friend."
Curtis looks at the angry image of his lifelong friend but says nothing.
Becky looks confused. "Why would they call you 'Box'?"
"It's a mean childhood nickname. Never mind. I'll tell you later."
"Guess that's a touchy subject. Nice to meet ya, Becky. Moving on with the business of the day. Curtis, did you get that scan from Pan-Starrs for me?" asks Marcus.
"No, I can't get any time on the scope. It's off-line," says Curtis.
"How about Klet?"
"Nope, shut down. Budget cuts," says Curtis.
"Siding Springs?"
"Restricted hours."
Marcus goes down the list of resources from memory, hoping to find an active scope they can log into for some viewing time.
"How about Catalina Sky Survey?" suggests Jin.
"Come on. You know it's been down for months."
"How about Neat or Space Watch?" asks Marcus, checking off the last two on the list in his head.
"Both down. Every telescope that has allowed public access for the past decade is down for repairs or shut down because of budget cuts. I heard they defunded the Department of Astronomy for Public Access. It's as if someone shut down our eyes on the sky on purpose. I don't get it."
"We're flying blind. Earth orbiting the sun. The solar system orbiting the Milky Way, and we can't even watch where we're going. It's scary!" Jin exclaims.
"It's not as if you're driving this planet through the solar system, Jin. The Earth and solar system have been orbiting the galaxy for billions of years just fine without our help," says Becky.
Becky's comment makes Curtis irate. He slams down his Giant Gulp cup. "Sure, Earth has been just fine. No problems at all, at least during humans' short-term memory. What about the meteor crater in Arizona? That crater is three quarters of a mile in diameter. Oh, and how about the Vredefort crater in South Africa? The original crater was two hundred miles across. We should not forget the Sudbury crater in Ontario, now called the Sudbury basin. It's thirty-nine miles wide, nineteen miles long, and nine miles deep! It happened two billion years ago, but it was a big one! Then there is the Chicxulub crater in the Yucatan. The crater is 110 miles in diameter and twelve miles deep. That one hit us sixty-six million years ago; The dinosaur killer. 1908 in Tunguska, Russia, there was an aerial meteor explosion. It destroyed everything eight hundred miles from the center of the blast. Lucky for mankind, it was all forest. Imagine if the meteor stayed aloft for a few seconds longer and exploded over London or Paris. It would have annihilated those cities. Ever look at the moon? Looks like it took a few thousand hits, doesn't it? It's been a long time since Earth has had a major hit. But what if our time is up?" Curtis ends his tirade, picks up his Giant Gulp with authority, and sucks hard on the straw.
"OK, Curtis. You made your point. Take it easy on her. She's still learning." Jin scolds.
"Wow look at Curtis get overheated," says Marcus.
"It's OK. Curtis made some good points. So, Earth isn't exactly safe. But you said they shut all the telescopes down, so what do we do?" asks Becky.
"It's simple. We do what astronomers have always done. Break out our personal telescopes find the highest spot we can and search the skies. We don't need government or university funded telescopes. They are bigger, but we can still discover asteroids. Curtis discovered four already. You never know it could be an amateur astronomer like you, me, or Curtis who makes the next big discovery."
"That sounds great, Jin. Can I go with you guys? It would be great to meet Curtis in the real, if you don't mind," says Becky.
"Ah, I think I'm gonna be busy whenever you meet up," says Curtis.
"Becky, Curtis lives in Henderson, Nevada near Las Vegas where we grew up and Marcus lives in Perth. Curtis and his dad got me interested in science and astronomy. Lifelong buds isn't that right, Curtis?" Jin explains.
"Yup, lifelong." Curtis sucks on the Giant Gulp straw, but he's drained the cup, and it makes a loud gurgling sound.
"Becky, I'll message you. We'll set a time. I'll take you to my favorite viewing site," Jin says.
"OK, you lovebirds have fun. Let me know if you spot anything," says Curtis.
"Guess this is my cue to sign off. I'll chat you up later, Curtis," Marcus says as his stream goes dark.
"Bye." Becky drops her side of the stream.
"Later, Curtman." Jin says as screen goes dark.
Curtis, in his comfy oversized chair flicks a finger in the air and the entire wall-sized thin screen changes to the startup icon of his Celestron GXE 8K Super Star Tracker. The fourteen-inch telescope mounted on the rooftop patio of the house is controllable from his desk.
"Going outside is so overrated."