Asteroid attack: Putting Earth's defences to the test

BROOK · 09-24-2009, 05:17 PM

Asteroid attack: Putting Earth's defences to the test

IT LOOKS inconsequential enough, the faint little spot moving leisurely across the sky. The mountain-top telescope that just detected it is taking it very seriously, though. It is an asteroid, one never seen before. Rapid-survey telescopes discover thousands of asteroids every year, but there's something very particular about this one. The telescope's software decides to wake several human astronomers with a text message they hoped they would never receive. The asteroid is on a collision course with Earth. It is the size of a skyscraper and it's big enough to raze a city to the ground. Oh, and it will be here in three days.
Far-fetched it might seem, but this scenario is all too plausible. Certainly it is realistic enough that the US air force recently brought together scientists, military officers and emergency-response officials for the first time to assess the nation's ability to cope, should it come to pass.
They were asked to imagine how their respective organisations would respond to a mythical asteroid called Innoculatus striking the Earth after just three days' warning. The asteroid consisted of two parts: a pile of rubble 270 metres across which was destined to splash down in the Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Africa, and a 50-metre-wide rock heading, in true Hollywood style, directly for Washington DC.
The exercise, which took place in December 2008, exposed the chilling dangers asteroids pose. Not only is there no plan for what to do when an asteroid hits, but our early-warning systems - which could make the difference between life and death - are woefully inadequate. The meeting provided just the wake-up call organiser Peter Garreston had hoped to create. He has long been concerned about the threat of an impact. "As a taxpayer, I would appreciate my air force taking a look at something that would be certainly as bad as nuclear terrorism in a city, and potentially a civilisation-ending event," he says.
The latest space rock to put the frighteners on us was 2008 TC3. This car-sized object exploded in the atmosphere over Sudan in October last year. A telescope first spotted it just 20 hours before impact - at a distance of 500,000 kilometres - and astronomers say we were lucky to get any warning at all.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/...-the-test.html

Did not want to post the whole article...but on page three..it reads like science fiction.....they talk about shooting in "enough" to move the trajectory of the path...wow..can we actually do that? And the spending is extreme for this kind of research....but it also makes me think..they are thinking about using it for something else...like UFO's maybe?

happyhollergal · 09-24-2009, 05:41 PM

Hey Brook, thanks for posting this. I tried to click on the link, but it showed an error. Was this article from today?

BROOK · 09-24-2009, 05:45 PM

Sorry ...fixed it

I will add...that this does not sound like a solution...but a plan of ATTACK....attack what though?

09-24-2009, 05:17 PM	#1
BROOK Avalon Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 3,117	Asteroid attack: Putting Earth's defences to the test Asteroid attack: Putting Earth's defences to the test IT LOOKS inconsequential enough, the faint little spot moving leisurely across the sky. The mountain-top telescope that just detected it is taking it very seriously, though. It is an asteroid, one never seen before. Rapid-survey telescopes discover thousands of asteroids every year, but there's something very particular about this one. The telescope's software decides to wake several human astronomers with a text message they hoped they would never receive. The asteroid is on a collision course with Earth. It is the size of a skyscraper and it's big enough to raze a city to the ground. Oh, and it will be here in three days. Far-fetched it might seem, but this scenario is all too plausible. Certainly it is realistic enough that the US air force recently brought together scientists, military officers and emergency-response officials for the first time to assess the nation's ability to cope, should it come to pass. They were asked to imagine how their respective organisations would respond to a mythical asteroid called Innoculatus striking the Earth after just three days' warning. The asteroid consisted of two parts: a pile of rubble 270 metres across which was destined to splash down in the Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Africa, and a 50-metre-wide rock heading, in true Hollywood style, directly for Washington DC. The exercise, which took place in December 2008, exposed the chilling dangers asteroids pose. Not only is there no plan for what to do when an asteroid hits, but our early-warning systems - which could make the difference between life and death - are woefully inadequate. The meeting provided just the wake-up call organiser Peter Garreston had hoped to create. He has long been concerned about the threat of an impact. "As a taxpayer, I would appreciate my air force taking a look at something that would be certainly as bad as nuclear terrorism in a city, and potentially a civilisation-ending event," he says. The latest space rock to put the frighteners on us was 2008 TC3. This car-sized object exploded in the atmosphere over Sudan in October last year. A telescope first spotted it just 20 hours before impact - at a distance of 500,000 kilometres - and astronomers say we were lucky to get any warning at all. http://www.newscientist.com/article/...-the-test.html Did not want to post the whole article...but on page three..it reads like science fiction.....they talk about shooting in "enough" to move the trajectory of the path...wow..can we actually do that? And the spending is extreme for this kind of research....but it also makes me think..they are thinking about using it for something else...like UFO's maybe? Last edited by BROOK; 09-24-2009 at 05:45 PM.

09-24-2009, 05:41 PM	#2
happyhollergal Avalon Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Rutherfordton, NC Posts: 181	Re: Asteroid attack: Putting Earth's defences to the test Hey Brook, thanks for posting this. I tried to click on the link, but it showed an error. Was this article from today?

09-24-2009, 05:45 PM	#3
BROOK Avalon Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 3,117	Re: Asteroid attack: Putting Earth's defences to the test Sorry ...fixed it I will add...that this does not sound like a solution...but a plan of ATTACK....attack what though? Last edited by BROOK; 09-24-2009 at 05:48 PM.