[kj] AP: Space experts tell UN to make contingency anti-asteroid plans - in event of an ASTEROOOOID!!!

[B. Oliver Sheppard]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081125/ap_on_re_us/un_asteroid_threats


Space experts offer anti-asteroid plan

By DANICA KIRKA, Associated Press Writer
Tue Nov 25, 4:37 pm ET

VIENNA, Austria – It is disaster planning on a galactic scale: Space 
experts want to come up with a contingency plan on what to do in case a 
killer asteroid collides with Earth.

The experts, including former American astronaut Rusty Schweickart, told 
U.N. officials Tuesday that the international community needs a plan to 
counter so-called Near Earth Objects in advance of the potential 
catastrophe. Deflecting asteroids — or at least evacuating people in 
areas where they might strike — could save millions of lives.

"This is a natural disaster, which is larger, potentially, than any 
other natural disaster we know of," Schweickart said. "However, it is 
preventable ... that's a very important thing to keep in mind. But it is 
our responsibility to take action to do that."

Asteroids are small planetary bodies that revolve around the sun, 
according to the NASA Web site, which states that many scientists 
believe an asteroid collided with Earth about 65 million years ago, 
helping cause environmental changes that led to the extinction of the 
dinosaurs.

Schweickart, a former Apollo 9 crew member, spoke at a news conference 
after briefing U.N. officials on a recent report called "Asteroid 
Threats: A Call for Global Response." The report was compiled by the 
International Panel on Asteroid Threat Mitigation that is made up of 
members of the Association of Space Explorers, among others.

The report, among other things, calls for an international 
decision-making program within the framework of the United Nations to 
decide on actions to counter asteroids. It also urges the creation of an 
information, analysis and warning system that would operate telescopes 
worldwide to detect and track possibly harmful objects.

Schweickart acknowledged that devastating collisions happen "very 
infrequently" but warned the risk could not be ignored. Next year alone, 
six asteroids have a "very small" probability of hitting the Earth, he said.

He added that over the coming years, researchers will increasingly be 
able to predict possible collisions, enabling early warnings and 
deflection operations.

While rare, Near Earth Objects have caused considerable damage in the 
not-too-distant past. One known as the Tunguska object slammed into 
remote central Siberia in 1908, unleashing energy equivalent to a 
nuclear bomb explosion. It wiped out 60 million trees over a 
2,150-square-kilometer (830-square-mile) area. Had it hit a populated 
area, the loss of life would have been staggering.

For Walther Lichem, an Austrian member of the panel who was also at the 
news conference, investing in preventive measures is key to making sure 
such incidents don't happen again with more devastating effects.

"The damage potential is so incredible that we have to take the 
responsibility," he said.

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On the Net:

Asteroid Threats: A Call for Global Response:

http://www.space-explorers.org/committees/NEO/docs/ATACGR.pdf

NASA on asteroids: http://www.nasa.gov/worldbook/asteroid_worldbook.html