Bugging Apophis
Phil Plait on motions within the U.S. Congress towards a space mission that would get the dealie on asteroid Apophis' sinister plans by physically popping a radio beacon onto it, well before its scheduled holy-shit-that-was-close.
I really like the idea of this; it's a very satisfying mode of nerdly assertiveness. We are nervous about the big bruiser sauntering leisurely our way, but rather than wait and hope it doesn't wallop us when it gets here, we send a speedy little robot emissary directly to it. It will say "Howdy, neighbor!" and then slap a bug onto its back. That's excellent.
I really like the idea of this; it's a very satisfying mode of nerdly assertiveness. We are nervous about the big bruiser sauntering leisurely our way, but rather than wait and hope it doesn't wallop us when it gets here, we send a speedy little robot emissary directly to it. It will say "Howdy, neighbor!" and then slap a bug onto its back. That's excellent.