NASA Needs More Money to Hunt Killer Space Rocks, Report Says

SPACE.com ^ | Wed Aug 12, 2009 | Tariq Malik

[Hegemony Cricket]

"Astronomer Donald Yeomans, manager of NASA's Near-Earth Object program office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., has said that about 15 percent of the objects 460 feet wide and larger have been found, and only 5 percent of objects down to about 164 feet (50 meters) in size."

Hmmm. I'm sure he is basing this on some statistical model, but I can't help but think there's a certain amount of arbitrariness to these percentages...

[MIchaelTArchangel]

So will just tracking the d@mn things make them miss colliding with planet earth? I didn’t think so.

[a fool in paradise]

Don’t believe them, they really want the money to keep watching the skies for the advancing intergalactic armada.

[Blueflag]

“We have 18 days”

Paging Bruce willis/ Harry Stamper

[Blueflag]

“We have 18 days”

Paging Bruce Willis/ Harry Stamper

[Snickering Hound]

Need more quarters...

[BradyLS]

Between global warming and killer space rocks, it only makes sense to spend like there is no tomorrow. /s

[presidio9]

Who are these guys kidding? This is just a handout request. We've had the ability to destroy hundreds of these things for a quarter since about 1979, and for free at home on an Arari system a couple of years later.

[JoeProBono]

[Little Ray]

So, how ‘bout some money for some asteroid killers to go along with the money to track killer asteroids?

[ClayinVA]

Killer space rocks is a better bet. there is at least some proof of them hitting the earth. Got a few friends in DARPA/NASA biz and they agree with this guy. We have only spotted 15% of the rocks that might be headed our way. Lots of times we have near misses that we find out afterward or only a few days ahead.

[BradyLS]

Actually, deep down, they figure “start small.” Ask for funding for Killer Space Rock Watch Program today. Somewhere down the road, your great grand nephews ask for funding for a Starfleet Command!

[Suz in AZ]

Too bad they just canceled that totally awesome, super-successful missile system that shot down that one satellite.

[presidio9]

Too bad they just canceled that totally awesome, super-successful missile system that shot down that one satellite.

Of course, the rocks we're talking about start at several million times more massive than a satellite.

[Little Ray]

A Starfleet Command I wouldn’t mind funding.
Its the bs, I mind funding.

[allmost]

Lots of times we have near misses that we find out afterward or only a few days ahead.

That recent hit on Jupiter took everyone by surprise. Any of the asteroids in Langrangian points in Jupiter's orbit could easily be knocked out of sync and wipe us all out. I would think that cataloging near Earth objects should be a prerequisite for and one of NASA's top priorities. Going to the moon is nice but what's the point if there's nothing to come back to. The odds are small yes, but we've seen more than one collision in these recent years.

[Leftism is Mentally Deranged]

When government people want money, they create a crisis.

[USNBandit]

Here's a solution.....don't know how to get it into space.

[USNBandit]

We don't need missiles. What we need is a frigging laaassser. We can call it the Alan Parsons Project.