About that 25-ton Chinese rocket that came apart on re-entering the earth’s atmosphere July 30? There was serious concern that pieces of it would fall on populated areas. Not a lot of concern in San Francisco, since we’re a long way from the Indian Ocean; still, it messed with my day for a while.
A very close friend of mine is an expert on all things scientific and technological, covering these from one spot on the globe or another for several major TV news networks. But he still finds time to help his elderly friends in San Francisco.
So we were set up for him to help me make the rather scary (well, if you’re as technologically challenged as I am it’s terrifying) move from my beloved PC to a brand new MacBook. The data transfer adventure was scheduled for the morning of July 30. I called, therefore, right after breakfast.
“I’m not sure we’re going to get this done right away,” he said, from a car that was taking him toward the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. “Looks like China might be aiming a rocket at San Francisco. I got called in and I’m on my way to investigate.”
“Uh, oh,” I said. “That’s more important than my data migration? Do you think it’s going to wipe out Japantown?”
“Not sure yet,” he replied. “As soon as I get my makeup on and see where we’re going to shoot we can probably do a screen share.”
“OK,” I said. “I’ll get some other stuff done for the next few hours while you keep an eye on the falling debris.”
“Sounds good,” he said. “Just be sure not to go outside.”
Checking back over the past few days, it looks like we dodged the rocket.
