Alpha Centauri 2

Community => Recreation Commons => Destination: Alpha Centauri => Topic started by: Buster's Uncle on October 30, 2013, 02:49:03 am

Title: Asteroid incoming! Don’t worry, the U.N. will shoot it down
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 30, 2013, 02:49:03 am

Asteroid incoming! Don’t worry, the U.N. will shoot it down
October 29, 2013, 12:40 PM


(http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/MWimages/MW-BO067_chelya_MG_20131029122627.jpg)
AFP/Getty Images A trail left by a meteor that exploded over Chelyabinsk in Russia.



Cross another item off the “keep watching the skies” list. When an asteroid starts hurtling toward Earth, the United Nations has now promised it will zoom into action to tackle the rogue rock before it can do any damage.

Last week, the U.N. gave the nod to a measure that will set up an international warning group to watch for incoming asteroids, Scientific American reports. As soon as one is detected, the U.N.’s steampunk-sounding Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space will shoot off a spacecraft to slam the rogue rock off course.

It’s not a remote possibility: In February, an exploding meteor rocked Chelyabinsk in Russia, causing a shock wave that blew holes in walls and injured hundreds.  And without an alert system in place, space agencies around the world heard the news via blurry YouTube videos and Twitpics, just like everyone else.

“Chelyabinsk was bad luck,” ex-astronaut Ed Lu said this week, according to New Scientist. “If we get hit again 20 years from now, that is not bad luck — that’s stupidity.”

Lu’s a member of the Association of Space Explorers, which has been pushing for global cooperation on the threat. But they’re not the only ones working on it: Japan has just revealed it successfully test-fired a space cannon designed to shoot down asteroids.

As well as playing Space Invaders with errant hunks of debris, the new International Asteroid Warning Group will put their minds to tracking them down. NASA believes there are more than 1,400 potentially hazardous asteroids out there, with paths that swing close to our planet’s orbit. Lu, whose nonprofit is developing a space telescope for watching the skies, thinks more can be done.

“There are 100 times more asteroids out there than we have found. There are about 1 million asteroids large enough to destroy New York City or larger. Our challenge is to find these asteroids first before they find us,” he says.


http://blogs.marketwatch.com/themargin/2013/10/29/asteroid-incoming-dont-worry-the-u-n-will-shoot-it-down/ (http://blogs.marketwatch.com/themargin/2013/10/29/asteroid-incoming-dont-worry-the-u-n-will-shoot-it-down/)

Title: Re: Asteroid incoming! Don’t worry, the U.N. will shoot it down
Post by: Lord Avalon on October 30, 2013, 03:39:02 am

The UN??!! ZOMG! Black helicopters in space!  :o

Title: Re: Asteroid incoming! Don’t worry, the U.N. will shoot it down
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 30, 2013, 03:48:52 am

The UN won't do crap; mark my words.  This is a study group written up by a dumb "journalist".