Monday, February 19, 2007
UN urged to take action on asteroid threat
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Golden Gate at sunsetPosted by Alfie Posted by Ninja T. Penguin
(Irene Klotz - Mail & Guardian).
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 one 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,"...
Read More...
Golden Gate at sunsetPosted by Alfie Posted by Ninja T. Penguin
(Irene Klotz - Mail & Guardian).
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 one 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,"...
Read More...
