Asteroids and Meteorites

FishyJay sent these.

Asteroids

FishyJay sent me a wonderful link, which although it may be a bit tedious for Zorro, will probably be of special interest to everyone else.

Washington - The United States is doing little to defend the planet against potentially devastating asteroids and is not doing the basic searches that Congress has ordered, according to a report released on Friday.

While most of the really big and obvious threats are being found, almost nothing is being done to find the smaller objects that are arguably a more likely threat, the strongly worded report from the National Academy of Sciences said.

"It means we are not looking for the small ones which can cause huge damage on earth," astronomer Mike A'Hearne of the University of Maryland, who helped chair the committee that wrote the report, said in a telephone interview.

I've got an idea. How about if gun owners, as a public service, you know to give something back, work in shifts monitoring the heavens. We could have tens of millions of heavily armed folks searching for the tell-tale signs of meteors and asteroids entering the atmosphere. If a fiery ball threatens, they could easily blast that sucker to smithereens, and thereby save the planet. Talk about a grandiose and noble mission. Who could resist it?

Possible Asteroid Attack

MyStateLine.com reports on how seriously the Russians are taking the possibility of an asteroid strike.

The country's top space researchers have set their sights on an asteroid called 99942 Apophis, named for the Egyptian god of destruction.

Apophis has a slim but real chance of colliding with Earth this century and that's all the incentive the Russians need to swing into action.

I think I'm starting to like these comparisons. Doesn't the above story sound exactly like the gun enthusiast who insists he needs weapons for self protection?

Apophis was discovered in 2004.

According to "The New York Times," scientists say it'll swing past Earth three times in the coming decades.

It's surest shot at impact is its second pass in 2032, when it'll have a one-in-45-thousand chance of hitting Earth.

Since it's three times the size of a 1908 meteorite that took out 80-million trees in Siberia, the Russians are understandably nervous.

The space agency says the goal is to deflect the asteroid instead of blowing it up, and there won't be any nuclear weapons used.

What this means of course is it's not only meteorites (murder) but also asteroids (rape and robbery) that must be protected against. Only a fool would fail to take the necessary precautions against these dangers, not that they're so likely to occur, but because if the do the results are so devastating.

What's your opinion? Are you worried about meteorites and asteroids? Are you doing everything you can to responsibly protect yourself and your family from these terrible disasters?

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.