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YM COLUMN ARCHIVE

August 12, 2009

Mt. Fuji emerges between Yokohama and Tokyo

(1) Blunder and fatigue

I’ve been feeling worn out since August. Looking back at the latest itineraries makes me understood why so. After I was through with space journey symposium on August 1, my itineraries were fixed; Chiba→Aomori→Tokyo→Gotemba→Tokyo→Kure→Tokyo→Suwa. On top of hectic schedule, stupidly arranged roundabout route has made me even more tired.

On the day for Aomori, I was supposed to go to Haneda airport after finishing my lecture at the workshop held at Makuhari in Chiba pref. Since I left home a little behind the scheduled time, I found out that only the traffic route to make it in time was to take a bullet train from Shin-Yokohama to Tokyo to change there for JR Kaihin-Makuhari station. So I bothered myself to have arrived at Shin-Yokohama station for catching a train in time, which made me relaxed because only the thing I had to do was to change at Tokyo and so I was casually watching outside of the car window to have seen, believe it or not, Mt. Fuji. Although its sixty percent was covered by clouds, no doubt, it was the sacred mountain. There must be no such mountain on the right side on a train from Yokohama bound for Tokyo. I heaved sighs to have looked at the mountain many times to make it sure. It was Mt. Fuji all the same, no matter how many times I saw it.

I said to myself, “Oh boy, what happened to me? Yeah, what’s wrong was Hidekazu Yoshida’s book I was reading on Yokohama JR line to Shin-Yokohama. After having read such a grandiose title “Culture over a thousand years and civilization over a hundred years”, changing trains with light head must have made a mistake to get on a train for Nagoya which I’m accustomed to. Yes, author Yoshida is to blame for. No, no he is not; because he has no way of knowing I read his book at such a rush time. It’s me to blame for reading a book at such time. No, no nothing is wrong with reading a book itself. Any grown up man can make a right change of train no matter what book he may be reading. Then, what’s wrong is my blood type?”

To have made the matter even worse, the train I was on was “Nozomi”, non-stop super express to Nagoya. Then an outrageous idea stirred my head. “Under the circumstances of unavoidable great delay, sorry to the host of the event but I have no other choice but to cancel my giving lecture there. Only the option left for me is to u-turn at Nagoya back to Tokyo and then to Haneda airport for Aomori, or take a direct flight from Nagoya to Aomori. Yes, I remember this is the day of Nebuta festival in Aomori by imagining how the festival will be. And so I cell phoned an event host at Makuhari from a bullet train.

And yet things took an unexpected turn. The host, after having heard my excuse in tone of apology, said in a bright voice “I understand it quite well. We can flexibly change the event program for we are having workshop over days. Please let us know by phone what time bullet train you take back to Tokyo when you get to Nagoya.” Oh my god! It was the moment Nebuta festival gone away. It was midnight I got off the JAL plane of the last service of the day at Aomori airport after having finished my lecture at Makuhari to have hurried to Haneda to catch a plane. I was having a lonely supper by watching videotape on TV at nearby Japanese restaurant bar. It seemed to have been the festival day for children.

I had another trouble with visiting Suwa. I didn’t book a return train-ticket because I was told there would be held “get-acquainted reception” after the lecture was over. After the reception was over, I wanted to buy a reserve seat of “Super Azusa” but it was fully booked until two hours later. I thought for a moment “To kill time, I can eat, at near the station, soba noodle said to be good in Shinshu, besides that’s where I am right now.” At that moment a station staff said to me, “Next super express usually has vacant free seats”. I followed his advice without much thinking and that was the end of luck. Three cars free seats were all occupied. I had to keep on standing at a rattling deck until I got to Hachioji. It was a hard time of one hour and forty minutes ride, grudging for station staff’s saying “usually” in a way a little more accentuated with uncertain tone. Is this, too, because of the blood type B willing to take other’s words in bona fide?

Readers! Please watch out for your changing trains. Particularly, this is Obon homecoming season. Please be secured with return tickets, too. Nevertheless, the past memories and lessons are destined to fade away. Just one night after, I’m back to full of spirits. Where shall I go next?

(2) Manned space program of the USA

Speaking of Suwa, on a way back home by standing on deck I read an article of American newspaper on the Internet about US space program of manned flight after the abolishment of shuttle service.

As I was aware of President Obama’s policy to review manned space program that was made by Bush administration, my eyes unconsciously ran to the article.

The article said that as many as eight hundred and sixty-four proposals were presented to the committee that was held at high pace of every other day. Those proposals will be finally sorted out to the three and as of now it’s down to seven. President Obama is said to reduce the budget on space. Out of the remaining seven proposals, three support to reduce the budget.

One of them is to succeed the plan of Bush administration, which is to send men to moon again with only the alteration to postpone the scheduled target beyond the original 2020. Another is to operate International Space Station (ISS) until 2020 instead of original 2015, which will consequently postpone the lunar exploration. The last is to realize the manned flight over beyond the low-earth orbit, which has been discontinued since Apollo. What attracted my attention with surprise was the third option, which was to aim at terminating ISS operation by 2015 as scheduled and to concentrate scarce budget on larger size “Ares V” instead of “Ares I” that had been under development by NASA up to then. Ares V is to head for moon, however, its lunar landing is to be postponed.

Out of the remaining seven proposals, four are not assumed to reduce the budget. Mr. Norman Augustine (Rockeed Martin) currently serving as chairman of the Review of United States Human Space Flight Plans Committee stated positively that the committee would not advise President of the plan that will be soon spoiled because of insufficient budget. From his affirmative statement the three proposals are to become most likely final candidates but we cannot overlook the attractive ideas presented in the other four proposals such as: to broadly explore the deep space including near earth asteroids and satellites of Mars; to establish the permanent base on moon; to build more space transportation vehicles by using the current known technology being applied for shuttles by abolishing the development of either “Ares I” and “Ares V” so that there won’t be a blank period after the retirement of shuttles at 2010; and lastly to concentrate all US efforts of space activities to be directly directed for Mars.

It is expected that the committee will study the proposals in details from viewpoints of expenses and schedule to reach final conclusion in the committee meeting to be held on August 12. At any rate, I think that the lesson, “the project without clear target and deadline should leave the job unfinished”, which NASA learned from the past experiences, will be most significantly taken into considerations. In this context, how ambiguous the conclusions of Japanese councils or committees are! There must be something done about it in future.

I welcome your opinions on this column to the following E-mail address.
matogawa@planetary.or.jp

(Translated by The Planetary Society of Japan)