Shooting the Moon

I'll be honest, we Husborne Crawley Beaker People are unhappy about NASA's experiment to shoot two spacecraft at the Moon.

The complaints come on several levels. Firstly we have the annoyance at this typically alpha-male desire to go around shooting at anything that moves. Pheasants, quail, pigeons we can maybe tolerate - they're food, after all. But the Moon? It's not even real sport. It's not like it can duck.

Secondly we have the concern that by behaving in this manner, we are once again putting Humankind's size 11s all over something serene, beautiful and spiritual. But I don't suppose the NASA scientists will care about this.

Thirdly there's the slightly barmy fringe. The Moon Gibbon folk have concerns that their god may get hurt in all this should he be sitting in a crater in the wrong place at the wrong time. And some others are more concerned about the impact on the Clangers, particularly if the Soup Dragon's cave takes a direct hit. They're going to be hoping that the scientific analysis doesn't reveal traces of oxtail in the debris that's kicked up.

And then there's that more general worry. Why is money being spent looking for water on the moon when there's so many people trying to find water down here? And if the search for water is really to enable a shot at Mars - well, Mars is a cold, empty wasteland even further from the Sun than we are. If we completely wreck this joint, going to Mars is not an option.