Posted on 02/16/2013 1:39:21 PM PST by JerseyanExile
The House Science, Space and Technology Committee will hold a hearing on how to “better identify and address asteroids that pose a potential threat to Earth,” Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) said in a statement on Friday.
The announcement comes after a meteorite exploded in a massive blast above Siberia that damaged buildings, houses and cars and injured about 1,000 people on Friday.
"The light was so intense that it completely illuminated the courtyard of our apartment block," said Sergei Zakharov, head of the Russian Geographical Society in Chelyabinsk, according to The Wall Street Journal. "The sound, the shock wave came around six minutes later. No one could understand what had happened. I'd compare it to the explosion of a large flare bomb."
The blast was unrelated to another rare meteorological event on Friday — a 150-foot-long asteroid passed within 17,000 miles of Earth. It’s the closest encounter of its kind on record, passing within the orbit of many man-made satellites.
“Today’s events are a stark reminder of the need to invest in space science,” Smith said. “Asteroid 2012 DA14 passed just 17,000 miles from Earth, less than the distance of a round trip from New York to Sydney. And this morning, a much smaller meteorite hit near the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, damaging buildings and injuring hundreds."
"Developing technology and research that enable us to track objects like Asteroid 2012 DA14 is critical to our future," Smith said. "We should continue to invest in systems that identify threatening asteroids and develop contingencies, if needed, to change the course of an asteroid headed toward Earth.”
Anybody smell a new tax coming?
And presumably unrelated to the SF bay area bolide last night at 7:45, and no relation whatsoever to the one that damaged houses in central Cuba last night either...
Put NASA back on their original path of exploration, pathfinding, and prospecting. Get them off the earth sciences crap and the folks looking toward asteroid mining will very likely get on board for the sake of their own future.
The asteroid miners will probably end up winning the contracts to eliminate the threats anyway.
Hey Lamar,
Why don’t you and all the rest of the A-holes in Washington work on a budget and spending reductions.
God will take care of the universe!
It's one of those pride things.
At the same time this short-sighted idiot and his doper buddies are eliminating whatever protecting this world can come up with to protect against the very real threat of getting hit with far larger asteroids and even comets.
Step 1) Identify this as an area of great national importance
Step 2) Cut the budget for any new acquisition programs in this area.
Step 3) Blame the Republicans
NASA picked up an existing earth science program ~ Coast and Geodetic Survey, and the Weather Service WAY BACK WHEN.
End global warming, LaMar. That’s what causes asteroids, or haven’t you heard.
I think it would be better to hold hearings on something they can do something about. How about committee hearings on the Obama threat.
Spend a little more time on that A$$teroid threat called Obama!
That's why nickel/iron meteors sitting around museums are targeted by thieves these days.
Asteroid, Schmasteroid.
When are they going to hold hearings on the Hemorrhoid in the White House?
Hopefully someone will tell them that these little pebbles we were dealing with last week are NOTHING LIKE what a REAL asteroid or comet can do.
...but don’t expect much to come of it. Maybe China will take the lead instead.
I feel safer now.
Good thing they are devoting their time to something useful.
about damned time...
Now they should fund it with the money they were going to send to countries that hate us....
Of course they WON’T and will instead create new agencies and government offices etc... that will do nothing but find ways to hurt producers...
Sequestration can’t end human civilization.
Jeeze I hate to see this coming from a Texas Republican. We already have an astronomy expert congresswoman from Texas, Sheila Jackson Lee, I would rather see someone like her worrying about this than Republican Lamar Smith (R-Texas)
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