There have been six manned U.S. moon landings (between 1969 and 1972) and numerous unmanned landings, though no soft landings have occurred since 1976. The United States' Apollo 11 was the first manned mission to land on the Moon, on 20 July 1969.
In 1976 the two American Viking probes entered orbit about Mars and each released a lander module that made a successful soft landing on the planet's surface. The two missions returned the first color pictures and extensive scientific information.
On August 14, 2012, NASA's rover Curiosity successfully carried out a highly challenging landing on Mars, transmitting images back to Earth after traveling hundreds of millions of miles through space to explore the red planet. "This is a stunning achievement. The engineering went flawlessly," said Scott Hubbard, who was the first Mars program director at NASA headquarters and is now a consulting professor at Stanford University. The 10 science instruments aboard Curiosity are in "perfect health," and testing and calibration are under way, NASA said.
Some rover team specialists analyzed the data from the landing, while others prepared Curiosity for exploring Gale Crater, where it landed, NASA said. On its first full day on Mars, the rover is tasked with raising its high-gain antenna, enabling it to communicate directly with Earth at higher data rates. The primary method of transmitting data is through the orbiters, because that is more energy-efficient.
President Barack Obama weighed in on the historic moment: "The successful landing of Curiosity -- the most sophisticated roving laboratory ever to land on another planet -- marks an unprecedented feat of technology that will stand as a point of national pride far into the future," Obama said in a statement congratulating the NASA employees who had worked on the $2.6 billion project.
Meanwhile, here on Earth $100s of billions are lost and populations of millions evacuate coastal regions due to hurricane seasons every year. America’s technological acumen could be guided toward developing a system of sea walls stretching from the northern tip of Maine to the southern-most shoreline extremities in Texas to save lives and protect property. This would be something of more tangible and practical value for all Americans.
Year after year Americans endure hurricane seasons that erase traces of an advanced civilization and momentarily hurl affected areas into the Middle Ages, Dark Ages or the Stone Age depending on the ferocity of the storm and the measures taken by the authorities to minimize casualties.
Oddly enough, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is responsible for emergency management and directs Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The Department of Homeland Security is a cabinet department of the United States federal government, created in response to the September 11 attacks, and with the primary responsibilities of protecting the United States of America and U.S. territories (including protectorates) from and responding to terrorist attacks, man-made accidents, and natural disasters.
The natural disasters are the ones to worry about. There’s hasn’t been a terrorist attack comparable to the smallest hurricane since record keeping on the weather began.
Hurricane Irene
On August 15, 2011, a tropical wave exited the west African coast, and emerged into the Atlantic, characterized by distinct low-level cyclonic rotation and deep tropical humidity.
By August 20, the National Hurricane Center noted that tropical cyclone formation was imminent as the wave neared the Lesser Antilles, and a reconnaissance aircraft confirmed the presence of a small surface circulation center just southwest of a burst of vigorous convection and unusually high sustained winds, indicating sufficient organization for the cyclone to be upgraded into Tropical Storm Irene at 23:00 UTC that day.
With Irene's projected path fixed over much of the United States East Coast, over 65 million people from the Carolinas to northern New England were estimated to be at risk. Due to the threat, state officials, as well as utilities, transportation facilities, ports, industries, oil refineries, and nuclear power plants, promptly prepared to activate emergency plans; residents in the areas stocked up on food supplies and worked to secure homes, vehicles and boats. States of emergency and hurricane warnings were declared for much of the East Coast, including North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.
Tropical-storm-force winds began to affect the Outer Banks hours before landfall, producing waves of 6–9 ft (1.8–2.7 m). In addition to the gales, Irene spawned several tornadoes early on August 27, while approaching the coast. No regular weather station or buoy, however, measured sustained hurricane-force winds from the storm, with the highest winds officially recorded at 67 mph (107 km/h) by a buoy near Cape Lookout. Precipitation totals from Irene in the region were particularly high, ranging between 10–14 inches (250–360 mm); Bunyan recorded a peak amount of approximately 14 inches (360 mm).
The large hurricane left extensive damage in its wake and produced tornadoes that damaged homes and overturned vehicles. Following the touch down of a potent tornado, at least four homes were demolished in Columbia, while up to three others sustained significant damage. The hurricane caused multiple flooded areas and uprooted trees along coastlines; in Nash County, a snatched tree limb struck and killed one person. Prior to the storm, a resident in Onslow County suffered a fatal heart attack while applying plywood to his house. Two people in Pitt and Sampson Counties were additionally killed by falling trees, as were two others in Goldsboro and Pitt County in traffic accidents. A man also drowned in the flooded Cape Fear River. In all, over 1,100 homes were destroyed. The estimated $71 million in damage did not include agricultural losses.
The Effects of Hurricane Irene in New York were the worst from a hurricane since Hurricane Agnes in 1972. Hurricane Irene formed from a tropical wave on August 21, 2011 in the tropical Atlantic Ocean. It moved west-northwestward, and within an environment of light wind shear and warm waters. Shortly before becoming a hurricane, Irene struck Puerto Rico as a tropical storm. Thereafter, it steadily strengthened to reach peak winds of 120 mph (195 km/h) on August 24. Irene then gradually weakened and made landfall on the Outer Banks of North Carolina with winds of 85 mph (140 km/h) on August 27. It slowly weakened over land and re-emerged into the Atlantic on the following day. Later on August 28, Irene was downgraded to a tropical storm and made two additional landfalls, one in New Jersey and another in New York. The storm quickly began to lose tropical characteristics and became extratropical in Vermont.
Irene produced heavy damage over much of New York, totaling to $296 million (2011 USD). The storm is ranked as one of the costliest in the history of New York, after Hurricane Agnes in 1972. Much of the damage occurred due to flooding, both from heavy rainfall in inland areas and storm surge in New York City and on Long Island. Tropical storm force winds left at least 3 million residents without electricity in New York and Connecticut. Ten fatalities are directly attributed to the hurricane.
As officials in North Carolina reportedly ordered more bodybags for locals refusing to leave what may be Hurricane Irene's first U.S. landfall zone, the menace has managed what nothing else has been able to do further north -- shut down the city that never sleeps.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced the first ever mandatory evacuation of low-lying waterfront areas of the city. Those areas include parts of the financial district in Lower Manhattan, as well as sections along the Hudson and East rivers. The "danger" zone, which includes 250,000 people, was ordered emptied by 5 p.m. Saturday. In fact, up and down the East Coast more than 2 million people were told to evacuate.
Mayor Bloomberg also ordered that the city's sprawling subway and bus system -- Gotham's lifeline -- be shut down from Saturday afternoon until Monday. Closing down the transit system will paralyze a city in which most people don't drive cars. A spokesperson for the MTA said that the entire subway system has only been shut down twice in recent memory, on Sept. 11, 2001, and during a strike in 2005.
After it became clear that the subway system would be shutdown, the Broadway League declared that all weekend Broadway performances would be cancelled, and the New York Mets canceled Major League Baseball games scheduled for Saturday and Sunday. Five New York hospitals began to evacuate and transfer patients. Bloomberg warned New Yorkers to not be fooled because "the sun is shining." He said Irene is a "dangerous storm," and "it's heading basically directly for us." President Obama signed an emergency declaration for New York and urged people in the path of the storm to heed evacuation orders.
Are ordering annual evacuations during hurricane season the best response for the country that has plans for sending men to Mars? People don’t want to evacuate every year because of hurricane season. They also don’t relish cleaning up wreckage left in the aftermath. This is an opportunity for regional planners, Department of Homeland Security, architects, engineers and general contractors to design and build structures that protect the eastern shore, Gulf Coast and central plains from losses of life and property every year due to severe storms.
The climate experts have said Hurricane Irene was a once in
a hundred year event. Other experts estimate a Hurricane Irene could appear once
in 30-years. This should send red flags up to city, state and regional planners
everywhere. Who would want to rebuild in an area where Hurricane Sandy-like
superstorms are predicted every hundred years, much less every thirty years? It’s
like leaving your descendants a curse, a pile of rubble and possible violent deaths for
an inheritance.
Should anyone be allowed to build beach front property that
is guaranteed to be submerged by hurricane storm surge or rising sea levels
before the next century unless infrastructure is upgraded to protect it?
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