We've made a major breakthrough in our search for life.
Because of Charlie Brown,
we've discovered an asteroid passing through our solar system.
Sorry, everyone.
We're thanking you, you blockhead!
In that case, you're welcome.
Everything in our solar system orbits in one direction,
but Franklin noticed this asteroid is moving the opposite way.
And that means it must have come from a different solar system,
which makes it an interstellar traveler.
This is not the kind of interstellar traveler I signed up for.
Where are the blobby green aliens?
Where are the flying saucers? Where are the special effects?
This isn't science fiction, Lucy. This isn't science fiction, Lucy.
It's even better!
For untold epochs,
this asteroid roamed the stars on a great celestial journey.
Of the billions of solar systems it could have passed through,
what are the odds it would arrive in ours?
When you put it that way, I guess it is kind of exciting.
For a rock.
Kind of?
This is incredible!
For years, NASA has been hoping to find an interstellar traveler
because they could teach us so much about faraway planets.
Billions of years ago,
the sun's gravitational pull made bits of dust collide into each other,
like making a snowball.
Some of those bits got bigger and bigger until they formed the planets,
while the smaller leftover bits became the asteroids.
Because asteroids aren't protected by an atmosphere,
they don't have wind or rain or storms to change them,
which means they've been preserved since they were formed. which means they've been preserved since they were formed.
So, if we were able to look at one up close,
it could teach us about the materials present billions of years ago
that allowed the planets to form.
We also believe that asteroids contain the building blocks of life.
So, this asteroid might even give us important clues about how life began.
All that thanks to Charlie Brown?
What's the galaxy coming to?
Wait. If we were able to capture the interstellar traveler,
it could have material on it that tells us whether life exists somewhere else.
Wow!
That's right. It would be an amazing breakthrough.
Well, what are we waiting for?
Let's snag us an asteroid.
I love your enthusiasm, gang.
But catching an asteroid would be extremely difficult.
We'll just have to come up with a plan.
Excellent. Excellent. Excellent. Excellent.
Whoops. Looks like I need a quick reboot to clear some computer cobwebs.
This won't take long. Good luck, gang.
I know!
When I wanna catch butterflies, I use a butterfly net.
Okay. That's a good start.
Unfortunately, it seems this asteroid is much too big for a net.
Okay, so maybe not a net.
- What are other ways to catch something? - I've got it.
When cowboys wanna catch something, they use a lasso.
Yeehaw!
Great idea.
Even for a very skilled cowboy, the asteroid would be way too fast.
Yeehaw!
I think I'd be more comfortable with a different approach.
Okay, not that either. What else?
Everyone loves fishing.
If you can catch a fish, maybe you can catch an asteroid.
Sure. Let's give it a shot.
Nets? Lassos? Fishing poles?
None of these silly ideas will ever work.
You might be surprised, Lucy.
All the methods NASA uses started out as ideas.
Even ones we take for granted today,
like safely landing people on the moon
or using robots to explore distant space.
Good scientific practice involves testing many different theoretical solutions, Good scientific practice involves testing many different theoretical solutions,
no matter how wild they might seem at the time.
Hey!
Of course! That's it.
If we could send a craft to orbit the asteroid,
then we could use the grabbing action of a robot arm to get a sample.
We don't need the whole asteroid. We could study a piece of it.
That's a great idea, Franklin.
Really?
It'll take some time to organize the logistics,
but I'd say you've come up with a fantastic plan.
NASA will definitely be putting this mission into place.
What a terrific way to end the day.
Yeehaw!
Thanks for the idea, Snoopy.