Is there life on other planets? Q&A with Jared Head

Jared Head. Photo by Eric Pierce

Q: Hi Jared! Can you tell us a little about yourself?

A: I’m an aerospace engineer living in Downey. Work at Griffith Observatory and the hometown Columbia Memorial Space Center, both consider me some kind of walking spaceflight encyclopedia. I appear on TMRO, the longest running spaceflight web show [12 years now!], and host TMRO:Space News. In my spare time I like to build rockets in my garage, take my Jeep out and explore the desert, and grab my backpacking gear and climb mountains.

Q: How’s your quarantine going?

A: Going very well! Preparation is everything, and that’s what made the difference. The dogs are loving having us home. Did have a scare of getting somewhat ill a week ago, but it went away quickly. Both jobs and TMRO are keeping me busy: Space doesn’t care if we’re having a pandemic down on Earth. I haven’t eaten all of the quarantine snacks and ice cream…yet…

Q: One thing astronauts are very good at is social distancing. Are there any tips the general public can take from astronauts in relation to social distancing and staying in quarantine?

A: Astronauts are actually taught what are called “expeditionary skills”, which they do exactly what they sound like: make expeditions to space easier. Frequent, clear, and honest communication is critical to making sure everyone is on the same page, and so that tempers don’t flare, or worse, boil over. Remembering that what we’re doing right now is a shared experience, we’re not the only ones who have had our lives disrupted, but also remind ourselves: we’re doing this for a bigger purpose, telling yourself, “Every second I spend at home is a second I’m saving the lives of others.”

Unlike astronauts we’re [mostly] not working in our home, so we’ve got time to pick a skill to hone, or start something we’ve always wanted to do. Unfortunately, unlike astronauts, we don’t have an incredible view of the Earth 250 miles below out the window, but sitting outside in your yard on Earth is pretty good too.

Q: Medical experts advise to wash your hands for 20 seconds, about the same time as humming the “Happy Birthday” song twice. Honestly, we’re sick of that song. Any other song recommendations to wash our hands to?

A: Oh absolutely, tell me about it, been driving me up a wall.

I’ve been using “The Ocean” by Led Zeppelin myself. Jason Bonham on drums, John Paul Jones on bass, and Jimmy Paige on guitar will guide you for the first 20 seconds of lathering, then Jimmy Paige will join to sing the first verse at you for the time you should be rinsing.

Another for me has been “Sabotage” by Beastie Boys. The hook is a few seconds short of 20, so just give it a two count, but that first verse ends at the perfect time for you to be wrapping up the rinse.

Q: The skies look very clear right now. What’s the best way to stargaze from my backyard?

A: Because Downey is right in the middle of the LA Basin, and we’ve got millions of our best friend’s outdoor lights spilling into the sky, light pollution is horrendous - but even with that, a good pair of binoculars is a good place to start, look for 15x70 as the size, that’ll get you amazing views of the Moon’s surface and even Saturn’s rings. Brands like Celestron make good stuff. Grab an app or two as well! I use Sky Safari, and it can help you learn what stars and constellations you can see. I highly recommend learning the sky first before you get a telescope.

Right now in the evening sky you’ve got a very bright point of light, and that’s the planet Venus! In the coming weeks, as Venus catches up to the Earth in its own orbit around the Sun, in a good pair of binoculars you can see that Venus has phases, just like the Moon.

The only bad time to look at the Moon is when it’s full, as there’s no shadows being cast relative to our viewing here on Earth, so you lose surface detail.

In the morning, you’ve got Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn greeting you before sunrise. Sometimes I’ll step out and share a coffee with them. But as the Earth continues in its own orbit around the Sun, we’ll catch up and pass all three, so their positions will change so that prime viewing for Jupiter and Saturn will be July into August, and Mars’ best will be around September.

Q: Do I need an expensive telescope?

A: You don’t! Eyes work! As mentioned before, binoculars too! But if you want a telescope, start small, make sure you want to do astronomy as a hobby. I know folks who have entry-level telescopes that cost them $60 new, I know folks who moved to the desert, built a house around their own private observatory, then dropped a million dollars on equipment for it. Like any hobby, it’s limited only by how much you’re willing to spend. I always recommend start with a reflector telescope, and look for something in the 4” range.

Q: Our newspaper has a couple of readers who insist that the Moon Landings were staged. Can you address this once and for all?

A: The ability to stage the Moon Landing was just not possible in the late-1960s. The Soviet Union and China both had the motivation to embarrass the United States on as big a stage as possible, and they certainly had the technology to know Apollo was actually happening. You’re telling me all of that machinery that was made is perfectly hidden somewhere? In addition, you’re telling me the 400,000 people who worked on Apollo have maintained over half a century of silence on the matter? Get real, they were real. Watch 2001: A Space Odyssey, that was Stanley Kubrick’s perfection of the best special effects of the time Apollo happened, and it just doesn’t cut the mustard. As the joke about Stanley Kubrick faking the Moon landing goes: When hired to fake the Moon landings, Kubrick was such a perfectionist that he shot on-location.

Q: Not to get too political, but what are your thoughts on the Space Force?

A: I think the Space Force is an okay thing actually. It’s really been in the works since 2001 when the US DoD had a panel on US-aerospace challenges, and one of those recommendations was to have a space-specific set of operations and capabilities. It’s just been a matter of moving the right bureaucracy to make the newer, shinier bureaucracy. I feel like in addition to its role of being a standalone version of the Air Force Space Command, it should also track and mitigate space debris from rockets and satellites in orbit around the Earth, and should also hunt for and track asteroids, because preventing your extinction is important, especially if you have the technology to do so.

Q: Do you believe there is life out in the Universe besides Earth?

A: Absolutely. From my point-of-view, knowing just how many planets are in the Milky Way by itself [about 1 trillion, yeah, 1,000,000,000,000 planets - then think about how many galaxies there are in the Universe and multiply those two numbers…], it’s almost arrogant to think that Earth is alone in having life. I would be very surprised if we didn’t find other life or evidence for past life in our own Solar System. Mars at one time had all of the right ingredients to be habitable. We know several moons in our Solar System, like Europa orbiting Jupiter, or Enceladus orbiting Saturn, have multiple parts of what it takes for life to occur, and may have that complete set that makes the survival of life possible. I would be surprised if it was anything beyond bacteria though, and I would also be surprised if it had the same kind of genetic makeup we do. For all we know, life on Earth could be the weird ones in the Universe.

Q: How can readers follow you online?

A: The fastest way to get my brain droppings is my Twitter: @jaredhead, but that’s very raw and not for everyone. YouTube is another place: youtube.com/jaredhead, and if direct contact is more in line with what a reader would like, drop me a line over on Twitter or jaredhead.com