On July 4, 2005, NASA will celebrate American Independence by smashing an expensive, tax-payer funded, 820 pound (370 kg) piece of high-tech hardware into Comet Tempel 1. These fireworks should be visible from Earth, maybe even with the naked eye. And that is not all. You too can be part of this explosive moment. If you sign up with NASA, they will put your name on board the equipment so you can be part of the deep impact. If you read the fine print, your name will be in teeny, tiny letters on a CD-ROM, but NASA also gives you a cool certificate.

After writing this educational piece of prose, I feel close to Dave Barry. Maybe his blog is infecting other bloggers. That could make for a scary movie script.