NASA, the United States space program with a projected 2008 budget of $17.3 Billion, had their published math corrected by a 13 year old. NASA had calculated a 1 in 45,000 chance that an asteroid would hit the earth in 2029. The German schoolboy re-performed the calculations himself, finding that the chances were better estimated at 1 in 450, off by a factor of 100! After more ‘careful’ consideration, NASA fully agreed with the German boy’s correction, but stand by their estimate of $19 million for a toilet.
It is important to focus on the large waste of key finances by a large inept agency…. wait, 1 in 450 chance? WE ARE DOOMED! PANIC! SUCK ON LOOSE CHANGE FOR SUSTENANCE! USE YOUR SEAT AS A FLOTATION DEVICE! DON”T DRINK FROM THE CHOCOLATE RIVER!
Update: The answer to the title question “Is your $17 billion space program smarter than a 7th grader?” is quite possibly the obvious choice. A European Space Agency (ESA) spokesperson has since stated that NASA was correct and the annoying German kid was mistaken.
For those of you that do not recognize the gentleman in the suit in the lowest photo, it is the actor who played Augustus Gloop in the original 1971 Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The photo above it is of the same actor in his famous role. If you think I will make a ‘fatty sucked up the old chocolate pipe’ joke, you are mistaken. Well ok if you ask for it, I haven’t seen something that fat going up a chocolate tube since they declassified a CIA torture training film.
