Dateline: April 1 2038
In an ironic twist of fate, Nasa’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) that slammed into the perfectly harmless asteroid Dimorphos while it minded its own business circling the larger asteroid Didymos, is now the target for a real, live deflective mission event by the Planetary Defence Force. The DART impact shortened Dimorphos’ orbit by only a tiny 1% but it upset the delicate binary orbital balance achieved over millennia.
Back in 2022, Nasa assured us that “DART targeted the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos, a small body just 170m in diameter. It orbits a larger, 780m asteroid called Didymos. Neither asteroid poses a threat to Earth”. Newly observed data though, shows that the pair of asteroids are heading for a collision with a cluster of larger asteroids, close to Amzo Corporation’s Mining Colony 47.
The resulting debris storm will eliminate the mining operation and the bipedal robots deployed there. This is, however, not the big issue; what is more concerning is that the debris field will intersect with Earth’s trajectory in 2119. The Planetary Defence Force (PDF) is rushing to launch a new mission, DARE (Double Asteroid Redirection Execution), but the project is informally nicknamed “OOPS” at NASA.
Nasa has admitted that with Dimorphos’ changed shape, their mission now feels more like trying to catch a fumbled football than hit a relatively steady rock, which has ballooned the project cost to a staggering $27bn. “Oops …”, as one Nasa employee posted on X and BS (BlueSky) late last night.
US President Jasmina Jackson announced from the White House that, in the absence of a clear and present danger, she will “drive the implementation of a ‘Do Not Disturb Policy’ for all celestial bodies.” /First published in Mindbullets on April 4 2024
Solar storm maroons astronauts on Lunar Gateway
Who switched off the internet?
Dateline: September 24 2031
That’s the problem with the digital, connected, electronic age. When you’re used to the lights always being on, and everything available, on demand, it’s a shock to the system when the world goes dark and silent.
The Sun has been so quiet for so long that we’ve become complacent and were totally unprepared for the solar “superflare” that hit us yesterday. The coronal mass ejection created a geomagnetic storm of charged particles streaming around our planet, generating catastrophic electrical surges on earth and knocking out satellite systems in space.
But you know this. Your city is probably suffering a total blackout too. Your Wi-Fi is down, and there’s no signal for your phone. And no dial tone either, because landlines are as obsolete as chequebooks. Your solar inverter is fried, and your car’s display is a mess of warning lights. There’s no Uber or Amazon to fall back on, and what’s left in your scorched fridge won’t last long. Unless your neighbour has one of those old-fashioned petrol generators, or you have a bicycle, you’re stuck and in deep trouble.
It’s even worse in space. There’s no GPS, no Satphone, or TV or Starlink. Airlines are grounded, shipping is stalled, and banking is bust. Smart devices on the “internet of everything” are zombies. Drones are dead and cameras are kaput. Hospitals are helpless. It’s like the apocalypse finally arrived. Thankfully the National Guard still uses diesel trucks and reservists are out on the streets to prevent inevitable looting.
But spare a thought for those poor astronauts orbiting the Moon in the Lunar Gateway outpost. They might as well be marooned on a desert island, with no way of knowing what’s happening back home. It could be weeks or even months before Nasa establishes radio comms and mounts a rescue mission. Mind you, if they have enough supplies they should stay there — it’s better than the chaos down here!
I’d better post this article before my iPad dies, but how the heck am I going to do that? /First published in Mindbullets on September 23 2021
• Despite appearances to the contrary, Futureworld cannot and does not predict the future. The Mindbullets scenarios are fictitious and designed purely to explore possible futures, and challenge and stimulate strategic thinking.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.