this week in the
New York Times. J. Richard Gott III, professor of
astrophysics at Princeton, issued a wake-up call:
To ensure humanity's long-term survival,
we must get a colony up and running on
Mars (within 46 years)

I volunteer!

I've had thoughts about
colonizing Mars since 1986

when my physics teacher taught us

to compute
our weight on other planets.

Multiply
mass by the gravity on the surface.
know your weight on Earth and

the surface gravity on Earth

Then you can
work out your weight on any other planet

using the surface gravity of that planet etc, not
to bore you with the details.

On the surface of the Sun I would weigh 4575 pounds
On the surface of Mercury I would weigh 62 pounds
On the surface of Venus I would weigh 149 pounds
On the surface of Mars I would weigh 62 pounds
On the surface of Jupiter I would weigh 416 pounds
On the surface of Saturn I would weigh 177 pounds
On the surface of Uranus I would weigh 149 pounds
On the surface of Neptune I would weigh 416 pounds
On the surface of Pluto I would weigh 9 pounds

oh, Pluto.

I'd feel better about myself in space.
in those cyclopean space suits even Gwenyth Paltrow
would look like a blob.

Also reported this week, bad news typical of my luck
and timing:
Dava Newman,
svelte professor of aeronautics, astronautics and
engineering systems at MIT, is striving to invent
a space suit designed for “superior mobility.”
Spandex, nylon. Lightweight, skintight.

I had so much hope for the future.

I'll take my chances here on earth.