• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

How the UN Should Deal With a Nasty Dose of Asteroids

Posted on: Friday, 23 February 2007, 06:00 CST

By Mike Swain

EXPERTS have called for a pounds 150 million "Armageddon-style" space mission to deflect an asteroid which may be heading for Earth.

Astronomers believe the asteroid Apophis has a one in 45,000 chance of hitting the planet on April 13, 2036.

But reaching speeds of 28,000mph, a planetary collision could be 80,000 worse than the Hiroshima blast.

It could wipe out a whole city - or even an entire region.

Scientists hope a space mission using a device called a gravity tractor could knock the asteroid off course.

It bears striking similarities to the mission led by Bruce Willis in the hit film Armageddon.

But using nuclear bombs to deflect the asteroid - as seen in the film - has been branded impractical by physicists.

Instead, the gravity tractor would maintain a position near the threatening asteroid, exerting a gentle tug that, over time, would deflect it.

Apophis - named after the Egyptian god of evil and destruction - is just over 150 yards long.

But it would take roughly 12 days of gravity-tugging to deflect it, according to Ed Lu, a veteran of the International Space Station.

Details of the plan will be unveiled at the United Nations committee on peaceful uses of outer space next week.

But a recent instruction to NASA to update their tracking of asteroids is expected to reveal hundreds, if not thousands, of potentially dangerous space rocks hurtling into the world.

Former astronaut Rusty Schweickart said: "It's not just Apophis we're looking at. Every country is at risk."

The Association of Space Explorers, a group of former astronauts and cosmonauts, will host a series of high-level workshops this year to flesh out the plan and will make a formal proposal to the UN.

Schweickart, a member of the Apollo 9 crew that orbited the Moon in March 1969, wants to see the UN adopt procedure s for assessing asteroid threats and deciding if and when to take action.

NASA say the precise effect of a 150-yard object hitting the Earth would depend on what the asteroid was made of and the angle of impact.

Usually, an asteroid would burn up when it entered Earth's atmosphere.

But if it had a large iron content, it could smash into the ground or sea, causing devastation.

Paul Slovic, president of Oregon risk analysts Decision Research, confirmed the asteroid could destroy a city - or worse.

Source: Daily Record; Glasgow (UK)

More News in this Category