I was skimming through Drudge Report today and read these two articles from different parts of the page. The first article described Thursday morning's lunar eclipse in the context of historical eclipses.
"Lunar eclipses have long been associated with superstitions and signs of ill omen, especially in battle.
The defeat of the Persian king Darius III by Alexander the Great in the Battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC was foretold by soothsayers when the Moon turned blood-red a few days earlier.
And an eclipse is credited with saving the life of Christopher Columbus and his crew in 1504.
Stranded on the coast of Jamaica, the explorers were running out of food and faced with increasingly hostile local inhabitants who were refusing to provide them with any more supplies.
Columbus, looking at an astronomical almanac compiled by a German mathematician, realised that a total eclipse of the Moon would occur on February 29, 1504.
He called the native leaders and warned them if they did not cooperate, he would make the Moon disappear from the sky the following night.
The warning, of course, came true, prompting the terrified people to beg Columbus to restore the Moon -- which he did, in return for as much food as his men needed. He and the crew were rescued on June 29, 1504. "
So this lunar eclipse heralded the destruction of Native Americans at the hands of the Europeans. OK. Interesting but not a big deal. Then I read another article about a massive satellite full of rocket fuel that is supposed to plummit back to earth sometime soon after the lunar eclipse.
The defeat of the Persian king Darius III by Alexander the Great in the Battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC was foretold by soothsayers when the Moon turned blood-red a few days earlier.
And an eclipse is credited with saving the life of Christopher Columbus and his crew in 1504.
Stranded on the coast of Jamaica, the explorers were running out of food and faced with increasingly hostile local inhabitants who were refusing to provide them with any more supplies.
Columbus, looking at an astronomical almanac compiled by a German mathematician, realised that a total eclipse of the Moon would occur on February 29, 1504.
He called the native leaders and warned them if they did not cooperate, he would make the Moon disappear from the sky the following night.
The warning, of course, came true, prompting the terrified people to beg Columbus to restore the Moon -- which he did, in return for as much food as his men needed. He and the crew were rescued on June 29, 1504. "
So this lunar eclipse heralded the destruction of Native Americans at the hands of the Europeans. OK. Interesting but not a big deal. Then I read another article about a massive satellite full of rocket fuel that is supposed to plummit back to earth sometime soon after the lunar eclipse.
"Because the 5,000-pound satellite malfunctioned immediately after launch in December 2006, it has a full tank of fuel. It would likely survive re-entry and disperse potentially deadly fumes over an area the size of two football fields, officials have said."
Well fuck me running. You'll notice that the one thing the article doesn't mention is where this motherfucker might hit...but don't worry, the Navy is taking care of it. They plan to blow it out of the sky on Wednesday night with some scantily tested missile defense system. Now I'm sure the government, the military, and NASA will try their best to make sure that we don't have a toxic garbage bomb rain down on us. This could go two ways. If I can be stoned and get to watch a massive explosion in the sky on Wednesday night it would be dope. Or our missiles could miss and it could land in a major city, killing hundreds of thousands of people. All I know is that, especially omenous lunar eclipse + crazy shit rocketing towards us while we take pot-shots at it with an untested missile system = pretty fucking nuts. Best of luck to us all, and be sure to duck and cover.
1 comment:
Have faith brothers
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2008/02/21/pentagon.sat.shoot7a.cnn
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