U.N. urged to take action on asteroid threat

[GaryC 7]

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - An asteroid may come uncomfortably close to Earth in 2036 and the United Nations should assume responsibility for a space mission to deflect it, a group of astronauts, engineers and scientists said on Saturday.

Astronomers are monitoring an asteroid named Apophis, which has a 1 in 45,000 chance of striking Earth on April 13, 2036.

Although the odds of an impact by this particular asteroid are low, a recent congressional mandate for NASA to upgrade its tracking of near-Earth asteroids is expected to uncover hundreds, if not thousands of threatening space rocks in the near future, former astronaut Rusty Schweickart said.

"It's not just Apophis we're looking at. Every country is at risk. We need a set of general principles to deal with this issue," Schweickart, a member of the Apollo 9 crew that orbited the earth in March 1969, told an American Association for the Advancement of Science conference in San Francisco.

Schweickart plans to present an update next week to the U.N. Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space on plans to develop a blueprint for a global response to an asteroid threat.

The Association of Space Explorers, a group of former astronauts and cosmonauts, intends to host a series of high-level workshops this year to flesh out the plan and will make a formal proposal to the U.N. in 2009, he said.

Schweickart wants to see the United Nations adopt procedures for assessing asteroid threats and deciding if and when to take action.

The favored approach to dealing with a potentially deadly space rock is to dispatch a spacecraft that would use gravity to alter the asteroid's course so it no longer threatens Earth, said astronaut Ed Lu, a veteran of the International Space Station.

The so-called Gravity Tractor could maintain a position near the threatening asteroid, exerting a gentle tug that, over time, would deflect the asteroid.

An asteroid the size of Apophis, which is about 460 feet

long, would take about 12 days of gravity-tugging, Lu added.

Mission costs are estimated at $300 million.

Launching an asteroid deflection mission early would reduce the amount of energy needed to alter its course and increase the chances of a successful outcome, Schweickart said.

NASA says the precise effect of a 460-foot (140-meter) object hitting the Earth would depend on what the asteroid was made of and the angle of impact.

Paul Slovic, president of Oregon-based Decision Research, which studies judgment, decision-making and risk analysis, said the asteroid could take out an entire city or region.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070218/sc_nm/..._deflector_dc_5

[RosaMystica7 0]

PHAs (Potentially Hazardous Asteroids) are nothing new. On February 7th a 180 meter asteroid missed earth by 4.5LD (4.5 times the distance between earth and the moon). Considering how big the universe is, that's not really a big distance to miss earth by. Or how about this, look at the orbit of this one that's 2 kilometers in size. 2006 VV2 is the asteroid, the light blue orbit. That one's gonna come awful close to us on March 31st! (SpaceWeather.com lists these things at the bottom of its website.)

I agree it's a great idea to come up with a gameplan because these things fly within dangerous distances of us all the time, and someday one of them just might hit us... but I don't think there's any use in the media hyping it up and flipping people out about it. Then again, I guess the media wouldn't be the media unless it did that!

Edited February 19, 2007 by Angilla

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

The UN will save us.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

The UN will save us.

...from Bush.

[eric&gen 0]

Ill be 60+ years old by the time that asteroid hits. I guess if old age wont get us the asteroid will lol

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

The UN will save us.

...from Bush.

I thought Bruce Willis would save us from a Killer Asteroid..

[one...two...tree 2,762]

The UN will save us.

...from Bush.

I thought Bruce Willis would save us from a Killer Asteroid..

Yippy Tay Yay - Yo! (from Die Hard ...which BTW...he's making another DH movie)

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

The UN will save us.

...from Bush.

I thought Bruce Willis would save us from a Killer Asteroid..

Yippy Tay Yay - Yo! (from Die Hard ...which BTW...he's making another DH movie)

I know... After all they made two more Lethal Weapon movies after Danny Glover announced that he was "too old for this $hit".

[bucknekkid 0]

I think we have far greater concerns for our longevity than a flippin asteroid...

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I think we have far greater concerns for our longevity than a flippin asteroid...

Or do we have the technology to stop an asteroid, if we found out that one was coming our way?

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

I think we have far greater concerns for our longevity than a flippin asteroid...

Or do we have the technology to stop an asteroid, if we found out that one was coming our way?

I read somewhere that it's not too hard. We just have to nudge it off course.

NASA has a plan for asteroid deflection

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

I say it's time that Bush takes the fight to the Astroids before they bring it to us!

Edited February 19, 2007 by ET-US2004

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I say it's time that Bush takes the fight to the Astroids before they bring it to us!

War on Asteroids.

This is all a little ironic to me - I watched When World's Collide on DVD last night, along with Forbidden Planet. I quite like those old B-Movies.

[DeadPoolX 9]

I say it's time that Bush takes the fight to the Astroids before they bring it to us!

Heh. I'd rather the U.S. put it's time and energy into deflecting potentially harmful asteroids than waging war in Iraq. I mean, if they have to spend money on something other than helping the United States itself, it seems something like that would be at least somewhat worthwhile...

[Mags 112]

I say it's time that Bush takes the fight to the Astroids before they bring it to us!

War on Asteroids.

This is all a little ironic to me - I watched When World's Collide on DVD last night, along with Forbidden Planet. I quite like those old B-Movies.

Old movies are the best, they really are.