Giant Freakin Robot

After the insane success of the Veronica Mars movie Kickstarter, the concept of crowdfunding has leapt back into the public eye. Most of the stories these past few weeks have been centered around which other beloved but cancelled TV shows could be resurrected, but crowdfunding isn’t limited only to entertainment. It can just as easily be used for more important things, such as attempting to inspire a whole new generation to become passionate about space exploration.

That’s the goal of the “We Are the Explorers” project at IndieGoGo. The goal is to raise enough money to air an edited version of the following NASA trailer in movie theaters across the country, beginning with the premiere of Star Trek Into Darkness. Utilizing the voice talents of the legendary Peter Cullen (Optimus Prime from Transformers), the video is designed to call out to the adventurous spirits of kids who may one day shape the path of our continued expansion into and exploration of space. I’ll admit it: this old space junkie got a little choked up. Here’s the full version of the trailer, which would be edited down to a 30-second spot for theaters.

Despite their name, the band 30 Seconds to Mars doesn’t really have a whole lot to do with space, beyond an occasionally ethereal synth-driven sound and some lyrical references. For better or worse, their sound has definitely travelled from trippy guitar rock to something larger and more encompassing. Anti-aggro arena rock for the lover’s soul.

30 Seconds to Mars’ new album LOVE LUST FAITH + DREAMS, their first since the popular lawsuit-tainted 2009 album This is War, will be out on May 21, and their first single has already taken the band farther than they’ve ever been: to outer space. It would have taken a tad longer than 30 more seconds to get to the red planet, but any cosmos road trip is better if you’ve got tunes. Put on your astronaut helmet and give the song a listen below.

Everywhere you look, there are similarities to be found. For instance, who’d have thought that the problem holding NASA back from identifying and tracking large near-Earth objects (NEOs) in space is the same problem keeping me from opening my line of Beer and Bacon eateries? It all comes down to Congress not footing the bill, really, but at least I don’t have Congress on my back about it.

It’s been a little over a month since the double-billed meteor strike in Russia and the fly-by of the DA14 asteroid, so Congress gathered officials from NASA, the White House, and the Air Force and asked what’s being done to squash future NEO threats. After some agreement that last month’s episodes were purely coincidental, the seriousness of such an imposing disaster guided the rest of the conversation, which could seemingly be summarized as: No money, no progress.

In 2005, Congress gave NASA the explicit directive of NEO classification, with a goal of identifying 90 percent of these Armageddon-bringers, rocks larger than 459 feet across (140 m). But NASA’s chief, Charles Bolden, had few encouraging words for the space rock-headed governing body.

There are a thousand little things that we all take for granted on a daily basis that suddenly become a whole different challenge once you decide to relocate to a microgravity environment. Say, for instance, on the International Space Station. Even if you’re a space junkie like us, I’m betting there are still lots of stories astronauts could share that would make you go, “Well of course that would be tricky in zero-g!” Most of us won’t ever be lucky enough to make it into space, but thankfully we’ve got ISS Commander Chris Hadfield up there for us, answering submitted questions and beaming back one fascinating video after another. For instance, how the hell do you make a sandwich up there?

Well, first thing’s first. You need to wash those filthy hands of yours, you disgusting pig. Didn’t your mother teach you anything? So go over there and flip on that faucet and — Ack! Water everywhere! Things with blinky lights are shorting out! You’re having flashbacks to The Abyss! I hope you’re happy, because now the ISS is filled with runaway water balls and everybody has wet socks. Wet socks are the worst.

Fear not: Commander Hadfield is here to show you how it’s done.