Asteroid Scare Prompts NASA to Formalize Response

[Quetzal]

Asteroid Scare Prompts NASA to Formalize Response


An asteroid flew past Earth last week so close that it nearly entered an orbital halo where weather satellites roam. Scientists spotted it March 15 and watched it zoom by just three days later. It posed no threat, but there are hundreds of thousands more where that one came from.

And while asteroid 2004 FH, as it is known, was watched calmly by astronomers, a more frightening scenario unfolded two months earlier:

An unprecedented asteroid scare in January had astronomers worried for a few hours over a rock that had a 1-in-4 chance of hitting Earth during the next few days. At the time, some of the scientists were unsure who should be notified. The event has prompted NASA (news - web sites) to set up a formal process for notifying top officials in the future of any impending impacts, SPACE.com has learned.

The plan, which has existed on an informal basis for months but was not known to all the key scientists involved, could be put out for review this summer and finalized by the end of the year.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=96&ncid=96&e=1&u=/space/20040322/sc_space/asteroidscarepromptsnasatoformalizeresponse

[RandomKoolzip]

1. Terrorism!

From OUTER SPACE! OooooooOOOOoooohh....

[everythingsxen]

2. That's actually an interesting POV

Asteroids and other space disasters could easily be used as new boogey-men if it becomes clear we are not falling for terra'ists and commies anymore.

[phantom power]

4. I would be OK with that

If it meant that people would get motivated about colonizing space, or at least developing an asteroid defense capability, I wouldn't mind seeing an "asteroid terror" campaign.

[fryguy]

3. who was asleep at the wheel this time?

And they didn't raise the threat level? Would think such imminent danger would warrant at least tangerine or ruby....

[chasqui]

9. ....red grapefruit?

[jayfish]

8. No Doubt, Straight From Klandathu.

Next time we might not be so lucky.


Jay

[NewYorkerfromMass]

5. and in the unlikely event we're in the bullseye....

what to do? crawl under the bed and hide? :shrug:

Anything short of building a giant deflector mechanism means we only need to be notified of our impending doom.

[amazona]

6. agreed...what's the point ?

The people who think the asteroid could be blown up by nuclear weapons -- so that we'd be hit by lots of smaller asteroids instead of one big one -- do not have any understanding of physics if they honestly believe this is an improvement. The asteroid hunt is a boondoggle in the making. Money for nothing. The new Star Wars. It's a win-win for the contractors ripping off the taxpayers though -- as long as no asteroid hits, they've done their job and are worth their billions; an asteroid hits and wipes out the planet, who is going to put them on trial for their stealing?

[jobycom]

7. Or, "Asteroid Scare Seen as Fundraising Op by NASA." You decide.

Not that I mind. NASA needs more money. If we are going to build phony satelite defense systems, let's at least give the money to NASA and pretend to defend ourselves against asteroids. Fewer dead people that way.