Well, you could point out that weather and tide and climate predictions need detailed solar, lunar and planetary modelling. You could also point out that car engines need modern mechanics, which is all based on the laws of motion formulated by Isaac Newton, who used the orbits of planets to calculate and build his theories. Or you could point to the humble GPS satellite navigator, which relies on Einstein's theory of relativity and orbiting satellites. Of course, astronomy is useful; after all, it helps us to work out whether it's raining, and how to drive quickly to the cricket and back without taking a wrong turn!

He also has an extensive FAQ with a good amount of dry wit

I note that my desk calendar ends much sooner, on December 31 2009, but I do not interpret this as a prediction of Armageddon. It is just the beginning of a new year.

So remember, NASA's official position is that we will still be around in 2013.

Today, both the L.A. Times and the Pasadens Star-News had opinion articles which supported the JPL employees' case. I found the language and imaginative, flowery writing to be interesting.

The Pasadena Star-New wrote:

In a world wracked by recession, one in which it's easy enough to be cynical about government, the work by the geniuses at NASA's JPL is a bright beacon of hope showing what government can do at its best: explore the universe.

Tim Rutten, at the L.A. Times wrote:

Those great adventures are run from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge. And for that reason, when history comes to honor the starting points from which our greatest enterprises of discovery have set out, it will reckon JPL's quiet, green campus on the edge of the Arroyo Seco alongside the courts of Castile and Henry the Navigator, the Dutch Republic and Elizabethan London.

Both of the articles read like that for their entire length! Very interesting, not like the dry stuff you normally see in scientific articles!

NASA has published a LCROSS Viewer's Guide if you want to try to watch it.

Not only is the spacecraft impacting the moon, but the shepherding upper stage will also crash. The goal is to look for water in the particulates thrown up by the impacts.

Oddly, the Drudge Report headline was "NASA to bomb the moon"

If you're like me, the first question you had was "Wait, do I pronounce that S-map, or smap?" I'm pleased to tell you that it is smap, one syllable.

The high accuracy, resolution, and global coverage of SMAP soil moisture and freeze/thaw measurements are invaluable across many science and applications disciplines including hydrology, climate, carbon cycle, and the meteorological, environmental and ecology applications communities.

It's a big spinning antenna! Dynamically, very cool. Somewhat challenging to simulate, in the computer modeling sense, and very interesting...

Buzz working on his hip-hop style had me and my officemate just staring, trying to figure out how to process what we were seeing!

Poor Spirit. She’s getting old, arthritic and forgetful. The “oldest” of the two Mars Exploration Rovers had another bout of what engineers from JPL are calling “amnesia.” About a week ago, she experienced some unexpected reboots of her computer. Then, she had three good days in a row, completing Earth-commanded activities without incident. But then on April 17 and 18, she became forgetful – she failed to record data into her flash memory (where information is preserved when Spirit is powered down) and rebooted herself again. The last reboot put Spirit into autonomous operation in which the rover keeps itself healthy, and engineers are running diagnostics to try to regain control of the rover.

The rovers are past the 5-year mark, which is still really hard for me to believe.

But they're still rockin' and roll'in, sending back scientific information and fun photos...keep your fingers crossed to see how much longer they can keep it up...

This popular event celebrates JPL's accomplishments with exhibits and demonstrations about the Laboratory's ongoing research and space exploration. Many of the Lab's scientists and engineers are on hand to answer questions about how spacecraft are sent to other planets, how scientists utilize space technologies to explore Earth and how researchers are searching for planets beyond the solar system.

It's really fun, I try to bring all my friends at least once. The JPL Open House webpage has more information.

I watched the press conference, with the announcement. The reporters seemed to really be asking some tough and pointed questions of the NASA leadership. Coming on the heels of Alan Stern's NY Times editorial on NASA's budgets, the fact that the MSL delay will cost $400 million was understandably questioned.

Heck, I wonder the same thing. Why can't the planning be more on track? Why can't the cost predictions come closer than they do?

I think for a lot of the smaller missions, they do. And since those missions are less visible, people don't realize how well they do. When you only have $100 million to work with, you're much more quick to sharpen the pencil and shave off instruments or requirements that you can live without. But hey, that's why I'm an engineer and not a manager! I don't want to work with dollars!

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Credit & Copyright: Dave Jurasevich (Mt. Wilson Observatory)