Starry starry night

3º 02.483n 124º 01.281w

Sun Apr 28 2019

With apologies to Don McClean. . .

Growing up in London, Isabel endured a night sky polluted by light. But when the family went the boat they were more in the countryside, and the dark night sky, when visible on those nights when the English weather was nice, offered a great view of the night sky. The locals don’t call it “Old Blightey” for nothing. . .

I grew up in a small town and mostly lived out in the country. On any clear night we could gaze at the Milky Way, and because I was steeped in the science fiction writing of Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov my imagination went into overdrive when I stared toward distant worlds.

Working life found me living in various metropolitan locations. I moved to where the jobs were as a matter of necessity. Light pollution obscured the night sky, but even in Phoenix the International Space Station was bright enough to pick out when it zoomed over. I remember emailing back and forth with my pal Alvin Drew, an astronaut and mission specialist who ended up flying two shuttle missions. Kinda cool to get an email from space. One night when the ISS was zooming overhead and we were sitting in our outdoor hot tub, I mooned him. Alvin claimed he didn’t see that. I’m still not sure if I believe him.

Out here at sea it’s dark. Not dark like deep down in the Bisbee mine when the tour guide tells everyone to put their hands in front of their face then turn off their headlamps. Now that’s dark - you can’t see anything. But if Mr. Moon is not above the horizon and the visibility is good, the only light pollution is our own chart plotter and other instruments, the navigation lights and the red cabin lights we use to protect our night vision. Pretty easy to turn those off.

On those nights when the sky is clear, the stars are absolutely amazing. Enhance the view with a pair of 7x35 binoculars and there are perhaps 10 times as many stars visible. It makes my imagination run wild, and I feel even more insiginificant.

Years ago a particular flight test program had me working in the boondocks with access to night vision goggles. Looking at the dark night sky while wearing those puppies damn near blew my mind. Maybe a hundred times as many stars were visible.

I’m rooting for Elon Musk. He might seem a little crazy at times, but that dude’s got a dream and he’s executing on it.

Give us a holler! jollydogs@myiridium.net