World 'must tackle space threat

[Bernhard]

_http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7760659.stm

World 'must tackle space threat'

By Julian Siddle
Science reporter, BBC News
Tuesday, 2 December 2008


Scientists say asteroids can be deflected to stop them hitting the Earth
The international community must work together to tackle the threat of asteroids colliding with Earth, a leading UN scientist says.
Professor Richard Crowther's comments come as a group of space experts called for a co-ordinated science-led response to the asteroid threat.
The Association of Space Explorers (ASE) says missions to intercept asteroids will need global approval.
The UN will meet in February to discuss the issue.
In the ASE report, the group of scientists and former astronauts point to the historical record to highlight the dangers of asteroids; an impact 65 million years ago may have wiped out the dinosaurs, and the Tunguska impact in 1908 produced a 2,000 sq km fire in Siberia, big enough to engulf a city the size of New York.
They say the next major threatening event could occur in less than 20 years. Asteroid Apophis is due to pass close to the Earth and analyses suggest a one in 45,000 chance of a collision.

"It's a single event, potentially causing a large number of casualties"
- Professor Richard Crowther, chair of the UN Working Group on NEOs

An impact by Apophis would generate the equivalent of a 500 megatonne blast, at least 100 times more powerful than the Siberian event.
Professor Crowther of Britain's Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), is the chair of the UN Working Group on Near Earth Objects. He says the threat needs to be taken seriously.
"The issue is it's a single event, potentially causing a large number of casualties," be told BBC News.
The UN broadly agrees that action is necessary, though what form this should take is still under discussion.
Collision course
Professor Crowther welcomed the ASE report and said it would be discussed by the UN action team tasked with coming up with a plan, when they meet next February.
"A lot of what's in the report is consistent with what we're suggesting anyway, there needs to be effective scientific co-ordination, enough observatory time, and people looking in the right place at the right time."

The document says most asteroids entering the Earth's atmosphere are small and burn up before reaching the surface. But it is the larger ones - perhaps 200m or more across - that would need to be deflected away from a collision course with the Earth.
The researchers propose several ways of doing this, the most extreme methods being to crash a spacecraft into the asteroid to knock it off course, or to set off a nuclear explosion. They say the earlier the threat is dealt with, the less drastic the course of action need be.
Professor Crowther says the natural forces of gravity can be used to deflect asteroids in many situations.
"We can use the natural attraction of a probe to one of the bodies, to slowly pull the object away."
He says if done at sufficient distance from the Earth, the orbit of an asteroid can be changed slightly to take it away from a collision path.
ASE propose combining scientific monitoring and research with a global political strategy.
Professor Crowther says the scientific consensus is already broadly in place, but political consensus may take longer.
"We have to decide on a political framework, who's going to act and under what authority. That's clearly a role for the UN within the next two to three years. The key is to get it done before its needed, when people are much more reasonable, rational and objective."

 

[Juba]

And seems like turning a blind eye on it:

Quote:

All About Apophis
by Mike Krumboltz


Who says the world is only full of bad news? NASA has largely dismissed a Russian report that an asteroid larger than two football fields could hit Earth by 2036. In other words, you can relax.
Known as "99942 Apophis," the 900-foot-long asteroid has had the attention of scientists for some time. According to an article from SPACE.com, back in 2004, NASA scientists announced that Apophis could hit the planet in 2029. But, after further number crunching, that prediction was later retracted.
The asteroid hurtled back into the news when Russia recently predicted 99942 Apophis may hit Earth on April 13, 2036. NASA acknowledges that there is a chance this may happen, but it is far from likely. Donald Yeomans, who heads up NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office, estimates the odds at around 1 in 250,000. And, don't worry — NASA does have a backup plan. Should the need arise, the space agency will construct machinery to change the asteroid's orbit.
The Russian scientists are also hedging their bets. Professor Leonid Sokolov of St. Petersburg State University remarked that 99942 Apophis would most likely disintegrate before hitting Earth.
Still, a chance is a chance, and Web searchers immediately sought more information on the errant asteroid. Online lookups for "99942 Apophis" jumped sharply while "pictures of asteroids" and "apophis nasa report" also posted strong spikes in the Search box.
And while the odds of 99942 Apophis "hitting home" are blissfully slim, there are some in the scientific community who believe its high time for "Earth protection strategies" just in case. Discovery.com lists several theories as to how best tackle any objects that might be on a collision course with Earth.
Odds are we'll never need them. But it's better to be safe than to end up in a situation that resembles a Michael Bay movie.

End Quote.

More about Aphopis on: http://www.space.com/1740-asteroid-apophis-dealing-earth-future-troublemaker.html