Stars, Space, and Sports

If things hold as planned, the James Webb space telescope will be shot off French Guiana around 5:30 a.m. tomorrow, on Christmas morning. The project is literally locked and loaded into the nosecone of an Ariane rocket and awaiting the moment and weather that gives it its best shot off this rock, and about a million miles away. If it works as hoped, it will literally show us some of the first light that ever existed. In the universe.

But boy, does it have to jump through some serious hoops to work.

Just deploying the tennis-court sized sunshield that must shield the massive gold-covered mirror that does the sexy work takes over three hundred mechanical movements. That happens with millimeters-thick fabric that is intended to go sailing through most of the journey in stages of deployment, hoping to not hit enough debris that would overly damage it enough to blow a ten-b-b-b-billion dollar investment in our scientific knowledge. That is one of numerous items that has to go just right for this to work.

To say that a bunch could go wrong is an understatement. But the payoff if they nail it is insight back to just 100,000 years after this whole shebang started.

When Teddy Bridgewater hit the field and didn’t get up last Sunday, the Denver Broncos suffered one more sizable dent in their hopes to get to the postseason. While it was Drew Lock that led them to close the score on a touchdown drive, Lock also made a costly error that cost them their best chance at a win. With three division contests to go, two of them away, Denver needs several things to go just right. With so many moving pieces, and so many injuries to important cogs in the machine, the Broncos will need to play mistake-free ball for everything to go just right.

To say that a bunch go wrong is an understatement. But the payoff if they nail it is their first playoff trip since their 2015 Championship.

The Mars rover Perseverance landed on the Red Planet a scant 10 months ago, and has filled new cycles with some of its amazing findings. It’s already changed how we look at the planet and it’s history. And it has a freaking helicopter that flies in that ridiculously thin air. It’s… Sharks with freakin’ laser beams, man.

But because of it’s accomplishments and stardom, some folks forget that it’s actually the fifth rover Nasa has managed to land on Mars, and that incredibly, the one before it is still running.

The rover Curiosity is only a couple hundred days shy of its tenth anniversary trucking around Mars. Because of the history of the rovers that have preceded it, Curiosity’s mission was only anticipated to be a two-year trek around it’s landing site. But the rover’s engineers had learned so much from their previous failures that they built an engine and systems that have kept the whole thing running, giving us innumerable revelations about Mars and our first “real-time” video from the surface.

With the right ingenuity, engine, and system running the show, Curiosity has raised all boats in its ability to solve for failures along the way, and find ways to keep going, seeing success after success. She’s not as sexy as her newer cousin, but has gotten the job done above and beyond all expectations.

When the Denver Nuggets drafted one of their most curious picks in the late second round of the 2014 draft, no one suspected they’d have much more than a couple-year experiment on their hands. But Nikola Jokic defied so many expectations on his way to becoming one of the most gifted and entertaining players in the league. He’s outpacing last season’s MVP campaign, and is still an outlier in this seasons most-valuable conversations. He’s not just gifted with his physical skills as a shooter, rebounder, and passer. He’s gifted with an ability to see the game in front of him and bend it to his will. As he often says, he “takes whatever they give” him, and exploits it. He is a savant as much with his basketball IQ as he is with his physical gifts.

With the right ingenuity, and as the engine and OS of the Nuggets, Jokic has raised all boats with whichever teammates he shares the floor with. He is a hoops skeleton key that will unlock whatever scheme you throw at him, finding success after success. He’s not as sexy as some of the other MVP candidates in the league, but gets the job done better and more consistently than all but a few who could even compare.

When I saw Apollo 13 in the movie theatre, I was two-thirds through the film and had not realized I was audibly scoffing. My best friend sitting next to me asked me what had me so hot and bothered, and I told him how preposterous I was finding the story line to be. I had assumed I was watching Armageddon, but with better actors in a more subtle script. When my buddy got done laughing at me he explained I was watching a historical tale. He may have used the word dumbass a few times.

The incredible problem-solving and ingenious solutions of the men and woman involved in rescuing a nearly fatal Apollo 13 mission were astounding. The crew both in space and on the ground found ways time and again to win when everyone was certain they were irretrievably lost. It took a brilliant team effort and everyone at their best, but in the end, they finally saved the day.

When the 2007 Colorado Rockies were staring October just on the horizon, they were a barely-above-.500 sort of a squad. Starting the second half of September, Colorado was only 76-72, and in fourth place out of five in their division.

But then the now-famous Rocktober came to pass because Colorado improbably started racking up win after win, taking 14 of their last 15 games, including a play-in to even make the playoffs. Momentum kept carrying them with a brilliant team effort, and everyone playing at their best. The Rockies swept their first seven playoff games to win the National League pennant, capping the best season in the franchise’s history. While they ultimately fell just short of their prize in the World Series, they still gave Colorado baseball fans their most memorable season, and a Championship appearance not all of their Denver counterparts can claim.

When Apollo 11 landed on the moon, it marked the first time a human being had stepped on the another world. Though the space program had seen both successes and failures at that point, putting a man on the moon truly spoke to the capabilities we have as humans to be more, reach for more, strive for more. It was a first for us all.

That one small step truly was a huge leap for us simply in what we believed was possible. It expanded out imaginations, and made us want… more. Just more.

When the Colorado Avalanche first came to Denver in 1995, they were a proud Canadian franchise that had often knocked at the door of success, but ultimately had never landed their final prize. Yet again, they had some enticing pieces but were weak in a couple of areas that left them exposed for the impending playoffs. With the addition of some key pieces mid-season and some good health, the franchise was finally able to realize those championship dreams in their first year in town. It was the first major sports championship in Denver. In Colorado, a first for us all.

It made us want more. To reach and strive for more. Colorado has seen numerous championships since.

So, on Christmas morning, if you see something streaking across the sky, that may be Santa getting home late, a bit of satellite or comet bouncing off the atmosphere, or simply ten billion dollars worth of telescope on its way to enlighten us all. Hopefully it will eventually show us things both merry and bright, and give us all a few gifts to treasure. Have a happy holiday and give some of that joy to the ones you love most of all. Go Broncos, Nuggets, Rockies, and Avalanche. We would sure like to keep seeing more of those stars.