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Science Forum Index » Space - History Forum » The Way Space Really Works...
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 Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 6:19 pm |
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Guest
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In his interesting article in The Atlantic (June, 2008) Gregg
Easterbrook emphasizes the threat of asteroid impacts on Earth by
saying, “Wouldn’t shifting NASA’s focus away from wasting money on the
Moon and toward…deflecting dangerous space objects…” be more likely to
increase national prestige? Let’s examine a few of the misconceptions
in this question.
The discovery and characterization of asteroids is a NASA function but
their removal as a threat (at least to the U.S.) would probably be
coordinated by DoD. Legalities aside, the bigger issue is that few
people understand the seriousness of the asteroid threat to Earth. The
last megaton-level impact was in 1908 in Siberia. Not many of us were
alive then and nobody’s been killed since, so it’s hard to identify
with.
Easterbrook quotes the odds as 10% per century “of a dangerous space-
object strike” somewhere on Earth. The last 200 years indicate — and
this blog continues to document –that the next international race to
space will begin within 5 to 10 years (See The Forecasts).
Fortunately, a space-strike that could “kill millions” is very
unlikely in the next few years, and that’s probably the only way in
the short term to focus national attention on this issue.
What do the last 200 years teach us? ....
For more please see: http://21stCenturyWaves.com |
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