Achenblog - The Washington Post's Joel Achenbach on whatever strikes his fancy - October 4, 2009

Moon Thud a Dud

The next time we decide to blow up the moon, let's do it right. I want to see nothing but smithereens, ya dig? I want moon ejecta lighting up the sky at night with meteors. For this I woke...

I'm at the Newseum, where there's a big crowd awaiting the destruction of the moon. Hard to make it through the lobby. Lots of NASA and Northrup Grumman folks. The moon is on a huge screen. Chip Cronkite spoke...

LCROSS Takes Aim At the Moon

[My story on LCROSS.] America is returning to the moon -- violently. A rocket booster and a small spacecraft will crash into the moon Friday morning at 5,600 miles an hour. The Earth's satellite will have two new craters....

Obama Star Party

[Cross-posted from 44.] President Obama, having spent much of the day pondering Afghanistan, spent a few seconds Wednesday night looking through a telescope at a double-star system roughly one quadrillion miles away. The South Lawn of the White House was...

Asteroid of Doom

I've been at the White House -- traipsed around the South Lawn, looked through some telescopes in advance of this big "star party" hosted by the Obamas and some astronauts -- and what no one bothered to mention is...

My Afghanistan Advice

I'm here to help the president figure out this Afghanistan thing. Unburdened by knowledge of the facts, I feel uniquely free to offer creative advice. The first thought that comes to mind is that Obama should remember the famous...

Two Guys With Much in Common

It occurs to me that Barack Obama and I have a lot in common. We're both 48. We both live in Washington, D.C. We both have school-age daughters. And we both have lots of things to worry about. Like,...

Achenblog: October 4, 2009 - October 10, 2009