Astronauts Want Asteroid Collision Plan

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.timesdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051106/APA/511060654&cachetime=5

Imagine last year's tsunami, last month's earthquake in Pakistan, and Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma all rolled into one - and then some. If nations can't handle those calamities, what's going to happen when an asteroid collides with Earth?

In 30 years, there is a 1-in-5,500 chance that a smallish asteroid will land a bull's eye on our planet. At 360 yards wide, it could take out New York City and much of the surrounding area.

Fortunately, experts believe further observations of the asteroid, 99942 Apophis, will almost certainly rule out an impact in 2036. Nevertheless, it's precisely that kind of predictable and preventable threat - and the thought of being ill-prepared for it - that alarms the world's normally intrepid spacefarers who are calling for action.

They issued an open letter at the Association of Space Explorers' annual congress last month in Salt Lake City, making a rare, united push for strategies and spacecraft to prevent a cosmic pileup.

Two of the astronauts - Apollo 9's Rusty Schweickart and shuttle and space station veteran Ed Lu - have even helped establish a foundation to spotlight the issue.

Bird flu? What bird flu?

[TerdlowSmedley]

1. Hey, I know. Let's put Brownie on it.

[paparush]

2. Brownie, Scooter, W, and Turd Blossom..

That's what's wrong with this Administration...their nicknames suck!

[MadHound]

3. The big question is how do we avoid an asteroid collision?

The heroics that we see on the big screen, land on the asteroid and either blow it up or attach an engine to divert it, are just that, sci fi on the big screen. In fact blowing an ateroid up, either by placing a bomb on it or by launching one to it, could be the most foolish thing to do to an asteroid. For in place of one large asteroid you will have several smaller ones impacting the planet.

And as I said, this is all so much sci fi at this point. We don't have a vehicle that can deliver either a manned or unmanned rocket to the asteroid. The shuttle certainly isn't up to the task, and neither is the Saturn or other traditional methods we have of getting out of orbit. Hell, we all know how well the "Star War" project is going. If we can't hit something that is suborbital, what makes us think that we can hit something millions of miles away?

Don't get me wrong, I think that we should be working on prevention of this, but it should be bundled as part of a space resurgence designed to get us back to the moon and starts in general. And the first step on that road is to retire the shuttle and build a vehicle capable of true interplanetary travel.

[Timmy5835]

5. El wrongo

We just sent a rocket to collide with an asterioid not too long ago. So, yes we can do it.

[MadHound]

6. An asteroid that whose dimensions were measured in miles

We're talking about an asteroid that is measured in yards. Not a big target when you're millions of miles away.

[SoCalDem]

4. Or do,"Astronauts Want A steroid Collision Plan"?

:evilgrin: