Watch the Skies
March 9th 2007 00:32
In recent years, Hollywood blockbusters have called attention to the threat of an asteroid impact devastating our civilization. Who can forget the brave sacrifices made by Bruce Willis, or the noble speech given by Morgan Freeman? Come to that, how many remember when the debris from a pulverized comet blasted the hell out of Jupiter, the largest planet in this system?
NASA has the experience, the savvy, the sheer brains to find and keep track of everything floating around the inner Solar System large enough to do damage on a planetary scale... they just don't have the cash. They have the budget to have meetings and blue-sky ideas of how to use existing telescopes and equipment, but not the budget. Time on a really big telescope is expensive and has to be scheduled in advance (Think of a very exclusive restaurant- but much cleaner).
Of course the government has to prioritize their hard-taken-by-force-of-law dollars. They could barely scrimp up a few paltry tens of millions of dollars for the party to celebrate Victory in Iraq (and who knows what that amount of money will be worth by then?), and President Bush has yet to even ask Congress for anything remotely close to the green NASA will need for Bush's Man on Mars program.
A real planet-wrecker comes by very rarely, and the threat seems very remote (One could even say it's an astronomical distance away, if one hadn't already spent too much time explaining one's jokes anyway). Also, as we've been assured by Hollywood, so long as we spot the incoming rock a few months or weeks away, that's plenty enough time to do something about it.
Like blowing a few dozen million dollars on an End of the World party.
NASA has the experience, the savvy, the sheer brains to find and keep track of everything floating around the inner Solar System large enough to do damage on a planetary scale... they just don't have the cash. They have the budget to have meetings and blue-sky ideas of how to use existing telescopes and equipment, but not the budget. Time on a really big telescope is expensive and has to be scheduled in advance (Think of a very exclusive restaurant- but much cleaner).
Of course the government has to prioritize their hard-taken-by-force-of-law dollars. They could barely scrimp up a few paltry tens of millions of dollars for the party to celebrate Victory in Iraq (and who knows what that amount of money will be worth by then?), and President Bush has yet to even ask Congress for anything remotely close to the green NASA will need for Bush's Man on Mars program.
A real planet-wrecker comes by very rarely, and the threat seems very remote (One could even say it's an astronomical distance away, if one hadn't already spent too much time explaining one's jokes anyway). Also, as we've been assured by Hollywood, so long as we spot the incoming rock a few months or weeks away, that's plenty enough time to do something about it.
Like blowing a few dozen million dollars on an End of the World party.
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Comment by MelissaA
Fun Facts
The fact that they don't know how to yet deal with this situation yet when it does occur, speaks volumes, especially as there are 3 types of asteroids to deal with that will all react differently.
From what I could see, the best idea, which involves herding the giant rock or globule of rocks slowly back out of our direction will require a lot of scientific discovery and invention well before then, but if they don't have the cash it's going to be, shall we say, fraught with difficulty.
Not as difficult however as living on a planet that no longer exists.
Comment by Francis
Passionate Apathy
In all cases finding it early gives us the best chance. A decade or so in advance, even the little nudge given by the Deep Impact probe would be enough to divert an asteroid out of our orbit.
Comment by Damo
For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics