The little Philae lander metal thingy that hurtled
through space so spectacularly from Rosetta, has something in common with me –
or I with it. Our similarity, our resemblance, our parallel experience brings
me out in goose bumps; it’s just lovely because I am so ridiculously INTERESTED
and impressed. Considering how little I actually understand about anything that
is going on out there on scruffy little comet 67P/ Churyumov-Gerasimenko – it’s
a miracle.
WE BOTH TOOK TEN YEARS TO GET THERE.
As I have told the children who ask me how long it
took to write Casey and the Surfmen –
it took a decade to get from a first draft of the first half of Casey to the
version I now have available for download on the internet. And really – 67P/CG
may be an achievement for the ESA but if you’ve read blog 53 I suffer from PANTS (persistent
aversion to new technology syndrome) – you will know that successfully doing
anything with the internet is nothing short of a marvel pour moi.
Also – my granny is short of one leg – just like the
little Philae probe. Unlike Philae she would never ever be foolish enough or
self deprecating enough to land in the shade on 67P/CG. She would always land
right side up in the sun and be the centre of attention. And there is no sign
of her batteries running out.
And yes – I am going to continue shamelessly to find
ways of shoe-horning Casey and the
Surfmen into the limelight. After 10 years it needs showing off.
Where we are different is that the splendid little
metal thingy has travelled billions of miles across the galaxy to search in
infinity for answers to where our world began. Casey deals with the more
pressing problem of what the hell are we
all going to do if we don’t look after the planet we are precariously perched
on at present.
I would not be crass enough in this time of
celebration at – what is undoubtedly an outstanding achievement – to ask
how/why we can do the equivalent – as one scientist put it – of “landing a fly
on a bullet” (crusty the comet is moving at 35,000 MPH or there abouts, depending on which report you read – and to get on her back after 4 billion
miles of space travel is truly mind-boggling). How and why can we do this and
not feed people? How and why can we do this and not get out of the habit of
killing civilians? How and why can we do this and not make sure everyone can
read – be warm – feel safe?
Are those questions too big? Is the world too small?
Are we too stupid?
I don’t think so
So what is the problem?
Philae lander may or may not answer questions about
where the earth came from and how life got started but who is going to sort out
why we can’t behave ourselves with a bit more humanity?
So this is Casey
and thanks to everyone who viewed and ‘liked’ the
2011 recording put up by poetry pal Steve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XblbBrVMuqg