Experts say NEO searches need more funding
Posted: Mon, Jul 15, 2002, 8:19 PM ET (0019 GMT)
Current efforts to search for near-Earth objects (NEOs) need more funding in order to search for smaller objects as well as research mays to mitigate any impact threat, a panels of experts said last week. A roundtable meeting of experts, held in a US Senate office building last Wednesday and organized by the lobbying group ProSpace, concluded that NASA-funded efforts to detect large NEOs, more than 1 km across, are going well. However, more resources are needed to look for NEOs as small as 50 m across that could devastate a city if they collided with the Earth. Another concern expressed by panelists is the need to coordinate and disseminate data: the Minor Planets Center, the clearinghouse for NEO observations, relies on just a few overworked employees to carry out their work. Pete Worden, an Air Force general and PhD astronomer, noted that US satellites noticed a bright flash over the Mediterranean in early June that is believed to be an exploding meteor. Had it occurred at the same latitude several hours earlier, over India and Pakistan, the explosion could have triggered a nuclear war since the two nations do not have access to the same data as the US.
Current efforts to search for near-Earth objects (NEOs) need more funding in order to search for smaller objects as well as research mays to mitigate any impact threat, a panels of experts said last week. A roundtable meeting of experts, held in a US Senate office building last Wednesday and organized by the lobbying group ProSpace, concluded that NASA-funded efforts to detect large NEOs, more than 1 km across, are going well. However, more resources are needed to look for NEOs as small as 50 m across that could devastate a city if they collided with the Earth. Another concern expressed by panelists is the need to coordinate and disseminate data: the Minor Planets Center, the clearinghouse for NEO observations, relies on just a few overworked employees to carry out their work. Pete Worden, an Air Force general and PhD astronomer, noted that US satellites noticed a bright flash over the Mediterranean in early June that is believed to be an exploding meteor. Had it occurred at the same latitude several hours earlier, over India and Pakistan, the explosion could have triggered a nuclear war since the two nations do not have access to the same data as the US.| <<previous article | next article>> |
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Space Force adds Rocket Lab and Stoke Space to NSSL contract
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Friday, April 4
‘Mind-boggling’: Space Force chief fires off dire warning about Chinese capability to knock out US satellites
Fox News — 5:52 am ET (0952 GMT) How China is expanding its anti-satellite arsenal
Defense One — 5:52 am ET (0952 GMT) Rocket Lab And Stoke Space Join U.S. NSSL Lane 1 Vendor Pool
Aviation Week — 5:52 am ET (0952 GMT) Olivia Munn criticizes all-female Blue Origin space crew: ‘What’s the point?’
The Independent — 5:50 am ET (0950 GMT) Olivia Munn slams ‘gluttonous’ female Blue Origin crew going to space: ‘People can’t afford eggs’
New York Post — 5:49 am ET (0949 GMT) |
