Why is the U.S. so averse to dealing with problems before they become a crisis? Stupidity, irresponsibility, laziness, what? This particular asteroid might not be a problem, but eventually one will. Since we have had some that have come rather close that were not detected until they were close by, or even after they had passed, it would be a good idea to start preparing now, rather than wait and try to do a crash program that would cost much more and be more likely to have problems or failure.
IT people wanted to start fixing the Y2K problem long before 2000, but they couldn't get funding approved until it a crash program was needed. It would have cost much less to fix it if the work had started earlier. And other work had to be put off in the meantime.
The same thing is happening with the greenhouse effect. In this case, at least part of the blame is due to deliberate lies on behalf of some businesses, especially Exxon Mobile.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091230/ap_on_sc/eu_russia_asteroid_encounter;_ylt=Am7.QxE0FvhGFvywnLpJaBGs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTFpbmY5MHRuBHBvcwMzNQRzZWMDYWNjb3JkaW9uX21vc3RfcG9wdWxhcgRzbGsDcnVzc2lhbWF5c2Vu
By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, Associated Press Writer Vladimir Isachenkov, Associated Press Writer – 40 mins ago
MOSCOW – Russia's space agency chief said Wednesday a spacecraft may be dispatched to knock a large asteroid off course and reduce the chances of earth impact, even though U.S. scientists say such a scenario is unlikely.
Anatoly Perminov told Golos Rossii radio the space agency would hold a meeting soon to assess a mission to Apophis. He said his agency might eventually invite NASA, the European Space Agency, the Chinese space agency and others to join the project.
When the 270-meter (885-foot) asteroid was first discovered in 2004, astronomers estimated its chances of smashing into Earth in its first flyby, in 2029, at 1-in-37.
Further studies have ruled out the possibility of an impact in 2029, when the asteroid is expected to come no closer than 18,300 miles (29,450 kilometers) from Earth's surface, but they indicated a small possibility of a hit on subsequent encounters.
NASA had put the chances that Apophis could hit Earth in 2036 as 1-in-45,000. In October, after researchers recalculated the asteroid's path, the agency changed its estimate to 1-in-250,000.
NASA said another close encounter in 2068 will involve a 1-in-330,000 chance of impact.
Don Yeomans, who heads NASA's Near-Earth Object Program, said better calculations of Apophis' path in several years "will almost certainly remove any possibility of an Earth collision" in 2036.
"While Apophis is almost certainly not a problem, I am encouraged that the Russian science community is willing to study the various deflection options that would be available in the event of a future Earth threatening encounter by an asteroid," Yeomans said in an e-mail Wednesday.
Without mentioning NASA's conclusions, Perminov said that he heard from a scientist that Apophis is getting closer and may hit the planet. "I don't remember exactly, but it seems to me it could hit the Earth by 2032," Perminov said.
"People's lives are at stake. We should pay several hundred million dollars and build a system that would allow us to prevent a collision, rather than sit and wait for it to happen and kill hundreds of thousands of people," Perminov said.
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"Apophis is just a symbolic example, there are many other dangerous objects we know little about," he said, according to RIA Novosti news agency.
2 comments:
Yes, asteroids are a serious threat, and we should keep an eye on them. But this is a very tiny possibility for the near future. Climate change is a real threat and impacting us now.
http://www.selfdestructivebastards.com/2010/01/killer-asteroids.html
I agree. I just see this as part of the same pattern, of ignoring problems until they are a crisis, when other countries are doing working on the problem well ahead of us. So it's not that it's just a human trait. It's a characteristic of our own country.
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