Time for some space news – let’s talk Corporate Conquest and China’s Asteroid Weapon. First things first, corporate conquest, as facilitated by NASA. Chris Barnett-Woods’ job at NASA is ‘electrical lead and instrumentation engineer at the E-1 Test Stand, supporting the four test cell positions and as part of the versatile four-stand E Test Complex at NASA Stennis.

This is the guy who supports commercialization – a guy who hasn’t worked in the private sector in twenty-four years??

I get it – this is PR fluff and good for Chris Barnett-Woods. When it comes to saying he ‘supports the commercialization of space,’ that invites all kinds of interesting questions. Number one – is Chris Barnett-Woods guy to talk about it? 

C’mon folks – this one shouldn’t have left the assembly building. Now you’ve launched Barnett-Woods into the public science discussion and  good enough just ain’t good enough. I mean, come on, we’re talking about space here – the final frontier, the great unknown, the place where we hope to make groundbreaking discoveries and advancements for humanity. And yet, we have an electrical engineer spending seventeen years of his career supporting the commercialization of space through hot fire testing.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying hot fire testing isn’t important – it definitely is. But shouldn’t we be striving for more than just “good enough” in our space exploration efforts? Like, say – someone at NASA who does this for a living, talking about public / private sector space exploration projects? Shouldn’t we be pushing the boundaries, taking risks, and constantly searching for ways to improve and innovate?

One thing you should know is that NASA’s mission is to “pioneer the future in space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research.” So why are we settling for someone whose main job is to prioritize safety and customer satisfaction? Don’t get me wrong, those are important factors, but shouldn’t we also be prioritizing groundbreaking discoveries and pushing the limits of what is possible?

Barnett-Woods may have dreamed of being an astronaut or rocket scientist as a child, he has now settled into a job that is far from glamorous and instead focuses on the mundane tasks of running system calibrations and doing red line checks.

We deserve better science and technology focus than just hot fire testing. We should be striving for more than just “good enough” in our space exploration efforts. And let’s quit dumbing things down to make everyone happy. Because let’s be real, space exploration isn’t about making everyone happy – it’s about pushing the boundaries and making groundbreaking discoveries for the betterment of humanity. So let’s aim for the stars, not just the bare minimum.

So that’s one thing. Meanwhile, China has their own version of NASA’s DART mission but minus the actual results. Where DART yielded causing a 32-minute deviation in its target’s orbit, China can’t guarantee a successful impact, let alone a measurable one.

Per Gizmodo: “China first announced its plans to launch an asteroid deflection mission in late 2022, targeting asteroid 2019 VL5 with a pair of spacecraft launching in 2025. According to the new paper, however, China is now targeting a different asteroid, 2015 XF261, with a launch date no earlier than 2027. The target of the mission may change as China refines its launch window.”

There’s nothing inherently wrong with China’s asteroid deflection mission, even if it’s twist on NASA’ project. I hope it works, but they could potentially jeopardize the success of the mission by constantly changing their target asteroid.

When it comes to saving the world, good enough isn’t good enough. I wish each space agency well, but wish they would commit to a sense of urgency when it comes to doing good for the people of Earth.