Playing bridge would pass the time on a mission to Mars
Published 1:30 am Monday, June 5, 2017
By Mary Ewing
On Dec. 22, 2015, a rocket carrying 11 communications satellites separated from its SpaceX Falcon 9 booster rocket. The booster rocket then turned around, made a soft landing near its Cape Canaveral launch pad, and became SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s first reusable rocket.
This achievement gives Musk a cost advantage when bidding for space transport contracts, and he hailed it as breakthrough in his mission to make humans a multiplanetary species.
In 2002, Musk, concerned a catastrophe might someday make Earth uninhabitable, founded SpaceX to pursue a colony on Mars. At the International Astronautics Congress meeting in Guadalajara, he spoke of a 162- by 56-foot spaceship propelled by the most powerful rocket yet built. While waiting in a parking orbit, these reusable rockets would boost tankers of fuel to the rocket as well as cargo and passengers to the spaceship. Every 26 months, when Mars came closest to Earth, the spaceship’s would blast off and reach Mars in roughly six months.
I won’t make that trip. After 340 days on the Space Station, recently returned astronauts could barely walk. Weightlessness proved hard on bones, lungs and chest muscles. Exercise helped — but adequate exercise equipment for 100 Mars-bound travelers will present a huge weight problem. Another concern will be radiation damage to brain cells and DNA.
When cramped in a tight space for days with lots of people, how do you maintain sanity? My answer: “Play bridge!”
Bridge exercises the brain, fights memory loss and allays boredom. Players will get plenty of exercise trying to corral floating cards in a weightless environment.
Videos of Musk’s Guadalajara speech are available on the internet. He provides invigorating brain food. Is he a visionary or a flim-flam man extraordinaire? Is his mission to colonize Mars by 2040 possible?
Yes or no, our club’s mission is to make bridge the popular pastime it was when we were young. Our descendents whether on Earth, Mars or anywhere in the solar system must be able to pick up their cards and bid.
This column’s mission in support of that goal is to generate interest in the game and publicize regional bridge events. Contact me care of readerline@heraldnet.com.
Note: Fred Warner’s next beginning bridge class will be 9:30 a.m. June 13 in room 3 of the Carl Gipson Senior Center. For information on this class or on duplicate and party bridge games call George at 425-422-7936.
