Some people will do anything to avoid the new administration
The Short Version
Six people entered a dome on top of the most active volcano in Hawaii and won’t come out for eight months as part of a NASA-sponsored study of the effects of living in an environment similar to that found on the planet Mars. Scientists are hoping that the results of this study will help them to prepare for eventually putting people on the red planet sometime in the 2030s. One of the “perks” to being in the dome is complete isolation from news media.
A Few More Details
While many of us might like to escape today’s inauguration of the new president, six people found a very extreme way of doing so by volunteering for an eight-month study that places them in a dome that sits on top of the most active volcano in Hawaii. That sounds like fun, doesn’t it?
Actually, this isn’t a political statement but rather a scientific study. That the study started yesterday is purely coincidental. This was planned long before the election. No one really looked at the calendar.
The study, which is sponsored largely by NASA, is designed to take a look at what might happen, physically and psychologically, to people confined in an atmosphere similar to what would be found on the planet Mars. Of course, there’s a lot of difference between Earth and Mars, especially in regards to gravity. Being on top of an active volcano is about as close as scientists could come to replicating the martian environment. Anyone who has ever been on top of a volcano understands just how unfriendly and unforgiving the terrain can be.
The six people who entered the dome, four men and two women, won’t have a lot of space and won’t have much in the way of food choice. Their diets will consist mostly of dried food with the occasional treat of —wait for it—Spam. Sounds thrilling, doesn’t it? I’m anticipating some dramatic weight loss on the part of the participants. Yet, it is still likely better than the environment in Washington, D.C. at the moment.
The University of Hawaii operates the dome, called Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation, or HI-SEAS, and NASA has dedicated more than $2 million to this stage of the project. There are other martian simulations being operated in different places in the world, but this one is special because the terrain so closely resembles what Mars would actually offer. This allows scientists to study not only how the crew interacts inside the dome, but how well they perform simple activities such as using a robot to fetch packages left for them.
Now, don’t go getting the idea that this is all fun and games. The dome has a small kitchen, a lab, and very small sleeping accommodations, such as what might be found in a martian space station. The dome is not airtight, but when members of the crew go outside, they have to wear space suits to simulate the limited movement. They will have no physical contact with the outside world. Even their limited digital communication with the support crew has a 20-minute delay, the amount of time it would take an email message from Mars to reach Earth. On a good day.
And what happens if the volcano decides to get nasty while they’re there? There are extraction plans in place, NASA says. However, there’s no word as to whether those plans include Matt Damon.
Haven’t We Done Domes Before?
Yes, we’ve stuck people in numerous domes before. There have been two previous studies for Mars deployment, one lasting a year and the other eight months. And there will likely be more studies after this as researchers attempt to improve the experience based on what they’ve learned from previous studies.
What they’re hoping to avoid is the complete meltdown that occurred back in the 90s with Biodome 2, an experiment in Arizona that went totally out of control. That dome was air tight and attempted to replicate multiple environments. Carbon dioxide levels were out of control, plants and animals were dying, and the participants were at the point of not even speaking with each other by the time they left the dome.
Of course, even that failure taught us a lot of lessons that factor into this current study. Everyone is hopeful that the test will go well and that participants won’t have too much culture shock when they emerge in eight months.
Had we known the election was going to end like this, a lot more people would have likely volunteered, don’t you think?
Who Is Neil Gorsuch?
The Supreme Court nominee could backfire on the president
The Short Version
The 45th president announced his Supreme Court nomination last night, 10 circuit appeals court judge Neil Gorsuch. Gorsuch is a conservative who says he tries to emulate the late Antonin Scalia, whose seat he takes on the court. However, if Gorsuch’s writings forecast how he might vote, the president could be surprised with the outcome.
What We Know Now
The White House tried to hype the announcement of the president’s Supreme Court nominee as though it were a game show finale. Media was led to believe that two finalists were being flown in and that the “winner” would be announced live on primetime television. That wasn’t what happened.
Instead, the announcement was quite routine, to the point of almost being boring. Gorsuch had been the front runner all through the vetting process. He was the only person standing with the president when the announcement was made. Gorsuch made the obligatory speech where he recognized the solemn duty of the high court and promised to uphold the Constitution. We would have been deeply disturbed had he said anything else.
What happens now, though, is something most of us couldn’t survive. Senator’s interns and legal assistants started immediately last night digging through everything that Gorsuch has ever written and every decision in which he has had a part. They are looking for anything that might indicate he could spell trouble for the court. If Republicans find that he might not hold to their values, they can kill the nomination before it reaches the full Senate.
They’re not likely to find anything that will immediately unseat Gorsuch’s nomination, however. Gorsuch clerked under two Supreme Court justices, including justice Stephen Kennedy who still sits on the high bench. In addition to his Harvard Law degree, Gorsuch holds a doctorate in philosophy from Oxford University. His writings are carefully thought out, not hot-headed and incendiary like those of the late justice Scalia. One isn’t likely to find any serious gaffes or extreme reasoning.
For Republicans, there’s the fact that Gorsuch ruled in favor of Hobby Lobby in a case that allows privately-owned for-profit businesses to base policy on the owner’s religious beliefs. There’s little question that Gorsuch holds religious liberty high through several of his writings and rulings. However, Gorsuch has not been vocal on matters related to abortion or LGBTQ rights, two issues on which he might one day have to rule. In fact, he’s been completely silent on both matters.
Democrats are likely to take a strong look at Gorsuch’s opinions related to government agencies interpreting the Constitution. He has written that such rulings, “permit executive bureaucracies to swallow huge amounts of core judicial and legislative power and concentrate federal power in a way that seems more than a little difficult to square with the Constitution of the framers’ design.” He’s not alone in this opinion. Justice Clarence Thomas holds similar views. The end result could well be that the two could convince the other judges to limit the authority of the president and federal agencies.
A couple of other things worth noting: Gorsuch would be the only protestant on a court dominated by Catholics. Gorsuch is Episcopalian, which tends to tilt to the left in religious teachings. His mother, Anne Gorsuch Burford, was head of the Environmental Protection Agency under President Reagan, which could have some lasting influence in his opinions related to environmental concerns.
There is little question that a fight is brewing. Democrats are still pissed that Senate leadership wouldn’t even consider President Obama’s nominee last year. They’ve already said they don’t view Gorsuch as being “mainstream” enough to fill the position and are likely to block his nomination through any means possible.
At the same time, a conservative group is planning to spend roughly $2 million on ads in Indiana, Missouri, Montana and North Dakota, four states that Trump won and in which Democrats will be defending their Senate seats in 2018.
To some degree, whether Mr. Gorsuch is qualified to sit on the high court is irrelevant. This is political. It’s not the way the framers of the Constitution intended, but it is the reality of this Congress and this administration. Politics are what matters now and that will be what determines whether Gorsuch is confirmed for the bench.
Strap yourselves in. The fun is just starting.
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