Ned Potter is the science correspondent for ABC's "World News with Charles Gibson." He has reported on such topics as space exploration, the human genome and climate change.
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How to Stop an Asteroid
February 20, 2007 3:04 PM
Rusty Schweikart was regarded by his fellow astronauts in the 1960s as a bit of a renegade. Most of the others were pilots; he was a scientist. He grew his hair long. And he seemed to think--well, he thought more broadly than some of the others, and they weren't crazy about that. 
In his retirement -- he's hardly retired -- he founded the Association of Space Explorers, and lately he's taken up another cause: trying to save the earth from catastrophe.
Schweikart and several colleagues -- Space Station astronaut Edward Lu is perhaps the best-known -- have taken up the cause of protecting the planet from "Near Earth Objects" -- asteroids, in other words, whose orbits around the Sun happen to come close to the Earth's.
We've reported on them before, but Schweikart et al made new, er, impact when they presented their case at the meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, one of the world's big science meetings.
Greg Croft's piece on this has been one of the most widely read on our site this week.
"While the probability of a highly destructive impact in the immediate future is slight, the consequence of such an occurrence is extreme, and mitigation efforts should begin now," says the website of another group Schweikart has started, the B612 Foundation.
They proposed to the AAAS that an international effort--perhaps organized by the U.N.--make plans now to track of orbits of Near Earth Objects. This can be done with great precision. If it appears something could be a threat in 30 years, that gives you plenty of time to nudge it out of the way.
And it so happens there's a tiny chance that an asteroid called 99942 Apophis (2004 MN4) could hit us in 2036. The chances really are vanishingly small--one in about 45,000--but Schweikart figures a robot spacecraft could be launched to deflect it for about $300 million.
"Be equal to the cost of one scientific mission, many of which are done every year by NASA and the European Space Agency and others," he tells ABC News.
For a fraction of that, NASA is already tracking Near Earth Objects; more HERE.
The site includes a simple, but mathematically precise, solar system animation that can show the paths of known asteroids. Go to this LINK, figure out the controls, and you can watch Apophis as its orbit approaches ours in 2036.
Close call? Worth our trouble?
February 20, 2007 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (3)
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We should take the trouble and expense. Sooner or later, we'll need the knowledge gained to stave off some rogue rock. Unless, of course, we don't think it's worth it. In which case, we'll get what we deserve.
Posted by: Andy | Feb 20, 2007 3:12:59 PM
Although the movie "Armageddon" (and its less-successful but more spectacular cousin "Deep Impact") seemed quite farfetched, I always thought there was something important in the message about being prepared for disaster. Forewarned is forearmed, and having a robot spacecraft ready just in case disaster looms seems to be a good idea to me.
Posted by: chuck | Feb 20, 2007 3:38:49 PM
It seems like a great international effort to begin preparing to develop a capability stave off a rouge asteroid. Even if a rock doesn't come close in the next 100 years the technology developed will serve humanity is ways much better then squandering resources on stupid wars here on earth.
Posted by: cowgirl chocolate mom | Mar 6, 2007 3:42:09 PM
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