There are 365.25 days in a years. Why isn't NASA doing something to fix this? Think of all the lives that would be saved if the year had only 365 or days. I think it's because the big corporations make so much money off of leap years that nothing is being done.
2007-07-17 17:16:57 · 15 answers · asked by Reginald M 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
WHAT???
I seriously just lost a ton of brain cells reading this.
Who's making tons of money off of Leap Year? Do you celebrate that day really huge with all sorts of decorations and everything? It's just 1 extra day.
2007-07-17 17:20:30 · answer #1 · answered by pa 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
There's not much we can do about the length of the day, but we may actually be able to make a very slight adjustment to the length of the month. Life would be so much better if the month were exactly 28 days; don't you think so? By giving a slight nudge to the asteroid Apophis, when it passes earth on April 13, 2029, we could make it pass very close to the moon, thus moving the moon into a lower orbit about the Earth.
On second thought, after looking at the lengths of all the different kinds of months, I'm afraid Apophis just ain't anywhere big enough to do the job---even if we deliberately crash it into either the moon or the Earth. It would be easier to stretch the month to 30 days and shorten the week to 6 days. I don't think it would be popular to have a Monday every sixth day, but a weekend every 6 days wouldn't be so bad.
We'll just have to keep scanning the skies in search of a big enough asteroid to do the trick.
2007-07-17 18:41:24 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's not up to NASA or anyone else to fix Earth's orbit. The problem you mention is a measurement problem. As the Earth travels around the sun, it also rotates on it's axis. These two events happen at rates that aren't evenly divisible. That is, earth's rotation doesn't happen so that the same point on it's surface reaches the same point in the planetary orbit a whole number of times as the Earth reaches the same relative point in it's orbit to be considered one complete orbit. The period of orbit is approximately 365.25 rotations.
At some point in the past, when Earth's orbit, and/or period of rotation differed, the division of the two events into each other might have resulted in a whole number. Similarly, at some point in the future a year might equal a whole number of rotations.
2007-07-21 03:10:07 · answer #3 · answered by yeochief2002 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think it would be simpler to change the length of the day!
But the moon is doing that for us! Some time in the future the gravitational interaction of the moon will cause there to be a far-side of the earth--as seen from the moon. At this time the Earth will have about 13 days of light, followed by 13 days of darkness. So who cares?
2007-07-17 19:27:25 · answer #4 · answered by ThePhysicsSolutions.com 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Any change in the Earth's orbit would destroy life on the planet. We are just in the right place with the right orbit so that we do not get too much energy from the sun or not enough to sustain life. Our planet is just on the edge of extinction and any astronomical change would alter the Earth forever.
2007-07-17 18:00:23 · answer #5 · answered by SgtMoto 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hi. The orbit of Earth and it's daily rotation are simply not in sync. 365.25 is not a correct value. That's why leap years have to be adjusted every 400 years or so. Here is a list of questions about this subject: http://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/ask/arot.html and this might also interest you: http://www.timeanddate.com/date/leapyear.html
2007-07-17 17:21:02 · answer #6 · answered by Cirric 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Some one invented the clock that never needs to be set. You see the reason for fixing the orbit problem was that people always had to change their watches every so often and now they don't.
2007-07-21 06:58:27 · answer #7 · answered by john c 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Are you suggesting that we use rockets to slow the earth. That would probably take millions if not billions or even trillions of rockets that use the Earths gravity, in this case to speed up the Earth. It is an amusing example of how impotent we really are.
2007-07-17 17:23:40 · answer #8 · answered by bravozulu 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Step 1: collect 800 thousand billion kilograms of waste
Step 2: launch it into space at half the speed of light
Simple enough, eigh?
2007-07-17 17:29:43 · answer #9 · answered by MooseBoys 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They are working on now. But they are having trouble finding a foundry big enough to cast a pipe wrench that will fit around the unruly globe.
2007-07-17 17:21:11 · answer #10 · answered by It All Matters.~☺♥ 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋