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Request for Cosmic Collision Insurance
HobbySpacer writes "According to this article a group of distinguished citizens has sent an open letter to Congress, the President, and other world leaders to request that they begin a serious program to protect the planet from the possible impact of a comet or asteroid. The petitioners include Freeman Dyson, Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt, Neil Tyson (Director of the Hayden Planetarium) and others. They say that for "the first time in human history, we have the potential to protect ourselves from a catastrophe of truly cosmic proportions." A three phase program is urged that includes detection, exploration, and contingency planning. See the full letter at www.CongressNEOaction.org"
Humans seem to be unable to comprehend the need for action in this kind of low probability/extremely devasting situation. Nobody living has seen anything like this kind of catastrophe, so the public won't relate to it even if they hear about it. Our leaders don't grasp that a very low probability just means that given a long enough timeframe, the event will still likely occur.
If you want to make the humanity safe, the best way is the colonisation of another planet. This way, the destruction of one planet will not destroy humanity. In the long run, this is the only way. Sooner or later, an asteroid gonna fail on our heads. Colonisation protects humanity against most major threat.
Of course, colonisation will not protect individual who will always face the same probability of asteroid, nuclear weapons, ect no matter how many planets we can colonise.
Well, maybe i'm a cynic, but...
Why can I see a project like this getting huge funding and support from the government (we're protecting the country, no, the PLANET from weapons of mass destruction!), while NASA has to fight to justify itself? Why will weapons research and detection get more funding, attention and support than space exploration?
ID-10-T is a way of life
Before asteroid deflection reaqlly becomes in the public eye we need a nice small asteroid to take out a city. 10,000,000 people wiped off the Earth is nothing in the long run, but it would wake up the world's governments.
Assuming they dont think it's the first strike of a nuclear war.
Would a city-buster hit in a field be enough? Tungasta wasn't was it?
Chances are the next asteroid to hit Earth will land in the Ocean, probably the Pacific. Would a city-buster cause enough of a tidal wave to knock a few coastal cities off? Anyoen got any predictions of devestation? Perhaps a computer model where you specify impact speed, mass and location and you get a rough idea of numbers killed and where?