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NASA Needs More Money to Hunt Killer Space Rocks, Report Says
SPACE.com ^ | Wed Aug 12, 2009 | Tariq Malik

Posted on 08/13/2009 1:41:50 PM PDT by presidio9

NASA needs more cash in order to meet its goal of finding nearby space rocks that could hit Earth in a devastating impact, a new report says.

Congress ordered NASA in 2005 to find and track 90 percent of the large asteroids near Earth by 2020, but did not set aside the necessary funds required to do the job, according to a report released Wednesday by the National Academy of Sciences.

Without that funding, NASA will not be able to build the new facilities and telescopes required to track potentially threatening asteroids down to the size of about 460 feet (140 meters) across, according to the interim report.

"I think they're pretty much right on," said Lindley Johnson, NASA's manager of the Near-Earth Objects program at the agency's headquarters in Washington.

Johnson told SPACE.com Wednesday that NASA has estimated it needs between $800 million and $1 billion over the course of 12 to 15 years to build and support the more sensitive telescopes required to meet its goal of tracking most of the near-Earth objects.

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.

One of the top space rocks under observation is 2007 VK184, a 425-foot-wide (130 meters) asteroid that has a 1-in-2,940 chance of hitting Earth sometime between 2048 and 2057. An impact, if it occurred,

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Front Page News; Government; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: asteroids; bho44; bhobudget; bhospace; nasa; scientists; taxdollarsatwork; theskyisfalling
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1 posted on 08/13/2009 1:41:51 PM PDT by presidio9
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To: presidio9
"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...
2 posted on 08/13/2009 1:48:32 PM PDT by Hegemony Cricket (The emperor has no pedigree.)
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To: presidio9

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


3 posted on 08/13/2009 1:49:19 PM PDT by MIchaelTArchangel (I AM JIM THOMPSON!)
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To: JoeProBono

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


4 posted on 08/13/2009 1:50:01 PM PDT by a fool in paradise (There is no truth in the Pravda Media.)
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To: presidio9

“We have 18 days”

Paging Bruce willis/ Harry Stamper


5 posted on 08/13/2009 1:54:54 PM PDT by Blueflag (Res ipsa loquitur)
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To: presidio9

“We have 18 days”

Paging Bruce Willis/ Harry Stamper


6 posted on 08/13/2009 1:55:08 PM PDT by Blueflag (Res ipsa loquitur)
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To: presidio9
Asteroid high Score Pictures, Images and Photos

Need more quarters...

7 posted on 08/13/2009 1:57:08 PM PDT by Snickering Hound
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To: presidio9

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


8 posted on 08/13/2009 1:57:08 PM PDT by BradyLS (DO NOT FEED THE BEARS!)
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To: Hegemony Cricket; MIchaelTArchangel; a fool in paradise; Blueflag; Snickering Hound

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.

9 posted on 08/13/2009 1:59:57 PM PDT by presidio9 ("Don't shoot. Let 'em burn.")
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To: a fool in paradise

10 posted on 08/13/2009 2:01:42 PM PDT by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet)
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To: presidio9

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


11 posted on 08/13/2009 2:02:00 PM PDT by Little Ray (Do we have a Plan B?)
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To: BradyLS

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.


12 posted on 08/13/2009 2:02:10 PM PDT by ClayinVA ("Those who don't remember history are doomed to repeat it")
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To: presidio9

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!


13 posted on 08/13/2009 2:02:57 PM PDT by BradyLS (DO NOT FEED THE BEARS!)
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To: presidio9

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


14 posted on 08/13/2009 2:03:27 PM PDT by Suz in AZ
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To: Suz in AZ
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.

15 posted on 08/13/2009 2:05:14 PM PDT by presidio9 ("Don't shoot. Let 'em burn.")
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To: BradyLS

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


16 posted on 08/13/2009 2:05:48 PM PDT by Little Ray (Do we have a Plan B?)
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To: ClayinVA
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.
17 posted on 08/13/2009 2:11:00 PM PDT by allmost
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To: presidio9

When government people want money, they create a crisis.


18 posted on 08/13/2009 2:24:13 PM PDT by Leftism is Mentally Deranged
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To: Hegemony Cricket

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

19 posted on 08/13/2009 2:26:34 PM PDT by USNBandit (sarcasm engaged at all times)
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To: presidio9

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

20 posted on 08/13/2009 2:30:30 PM PDT by USNBandit (sarcasm engaged at all times)
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