Every discussion of episode 1 must begin with the screw.
The screw is probably no more than an inch long, and maybe 2 or 3 grams. But that little screw is moving at 8km/s--that's about 18,000MPH, instantly converting 96,000 joules of kinetic energy. And while something that gets hit won't be pulverized, it will be breached, and the air inside will vent out. No one in that passenger cabin had a chance.
According to NASA, there are approximately 17,000 pieces of space debris larger than 10cm in diameter, and over 200,000 larger than 1cm in diameter. By the time of Planetes in 2075, seven years after the terrible disaster shown above, the problem is surely much worse.
It's true that it would take forever for anyone to try to pick up all the space debris. In Planetes, we suspend disbelief for this issue. But we don't ignore that no one wants to be a janitor. A janitor in perhaps the most dangerous conditions known to humans--the vacumn of outer space.
Given the undesirability of the job--wouldn't you want to be a pilot, scientist, engineer, or at least do more glamorous outer space work--the people who do it aren't the most upper crust. The managers are pathetic, the pilot is a chainsmoker, the copilot has a minature zoo, the main character is a naive klutz, AND you have to wear diapers!
But somehow these people do get something done, and they do care. And at the end of the day, they might make someone's day a little happier.
Welcome to Planetes.
No comments:
Post a Comment