Could this be the face of the Great Galactic Ghoul? (Image found on Discovery.com)
Back when I was a kid, I never wanted to be an astronaut, no matter what my father would say or how many times I watched Star Wars and Star Trek. Seeing movies like "Apolo 13" didn't help either. The fact is, travelling to the stars has always been a daunting task - I mean, come on, it's SPACE!!! - , but is it possible that it is being made more difficult than it needs to be? Could someone – or something – be trying to do its best to keep mankind on Earth, by sabotaging space flight after space flight? This idea has become so widespread that NASA has jokingly referred to this enigmatic and often deadly force as the ‘Great Galactic Ghoul’. But could it be real?
When we stop to think about the high incidence rate of spaceflight accidents, disappearances and technological foul ups it is easy to see that it would have crippled any other endeavour that did not have the benefit of government funding. And this screw ups happen with everybody, no matter if you're Russian or American.
One example was the much vaunted Mars Explorer in 1993, which was to take closer pictures of the mysterious Cydonia Region of Mars. Just as the craft was entering Martian orbit, it suddenly stopped functioning. Other failures include the Soviet Koralb 11 (blew up), Sputnik 24 (blew up), NASA’s Mariner 3 (missed Mars), Mariner 8 (fell into Atlantic) and the fiery deaths of the astronauts involved in the Apollo 1 mission in 1971. The list goes on and on, either a testament to staggering incompetence or evidence of a thorough, worldwide act of sabotage, perhaps even on a galactic scale.
But the strangest part comes when we consider Martian missions. These kind of endeavours fare the worst when it comes to the idea of sabotage. One of the most disturbing was the fate of the Russian Phobos probes. Launched in 1988, the Russians sent the two probes to investigate Phobos, the smaller of Mars’ two moons. They were interested in the irregular orbital patterns, which led many to believe it to either an artificial construct or perhaps even hollow. The first probe was somehow lost on the journey from Earth, while the Phobos 2 made it to Mars. En route to the small moon, the probe took photographs of a cylindrical shaped shadow on Phobos’ surface. Shortly thereafter, the probe was destroyed. Its final picture, beamed back to Russia, has been declared too sensitive to release to the public. The same night, orthodox Russian priests were asked to go to Moscow Phobos 2 Control Centre to discuss the pictures received.
I'm not sure if I want to know what is really out there.
When we stop to think about the high incidence rate of spaceflight accidents, disappearances and technological foul ups it is easy to see that it would have crippled any other endeavour that did not have the benefit of government funding. And this screw ups happen with everybody, no matter if you're Russian or American.
One example was the much vaunted Mars Explorer in 1993, which was to take closer pictures of the mysterious Cydonia Region of Mars. Just as the craft was entering Martian orbit, it suddenly stopped functioning. Other failures include the Soviet Koralb 11 (blew up), Sputnik 24 (blew up), NASA’s Mariner 3 (missed Mars), Mariner 8 (fell into Atlantic) and the fiery deaths of the astronauts involved in the Apollo 1 mission in 1971. The list goes on and on, either a testament to staggering incompetence or evidence of a thorough, worldwide act of sabotage, perhaps even on a galactic scale.
But the strangest part comes when we consider Martian missions. These kind of endeavours fare the worst when it comes to the idea of sabotage. One of the most disturbing was the fate of the Russian Phobos probes. Launched in 1988, the Russians sent the two probes to investigate Phobos, the smaller of Mars’ two moons. They were interested in the irregular orbital patterns, which led many to believe it to either an artificial construct or perhaps even hollow. The first probe was somehow lost on the journey from Earth, while the Phobos 2 made it to Mars. En route to the small moon, the probe took photographs of a cylindrical shaped shadow on Phobos’ surface. Shortly thereafter, the probe was destroyed. Its final picture, beamed back to Russia, has been declared too sensitive to release to the public. The same night, orthodox Russian priests were asked to go to Moscow Phobos 2 Control Centre to discuss the pictures received.
I'm not sure if I want to know what is really out there.
~Ally
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