Earth almost put on impact alert

http://news.bbc.co.uk ^ | Tuesday, 24 February, 2004, 17:33 GMT | Dr. David Whitehouse

[GeraldP]

Makes you think about crying "wolf!" too soon.

[GSWarrior]

Hot Fudge Tuesday!

[TADSLOS]

If... the call had been made to the president it would have been disastrous

Why? Because it would have been Bush's fault and three times as lethal if he was informed. /sarc/

[staytrue]

about 500m wide

About 1/15 the width of the one that killed the dinosaurs. Still too large and too close for comfort.

[staytrue]

If... the call had been made to the president it would have been disastrous

Bush would have been called on the carpet by the media for announcing a space based WMD and then having to take it back.

[boomop1]

Wait until the Passion Starts the impact is going to be worse then that, the president may have to make a speach.

[Timesink]

Where is the mailing list where such discussions take place? If amateur astronomers can be on it, we can lurk too. Might be fun!

[GeraldP]

I would also like to know. Guess we'll just have to wait for somebody from it to stumble into this thread and illuminate us.

[Williams]

A few things frighten me. First, that a rock only 90 feet wide could cause devastation. Second, that it turned out to be much larger than they thought. Third, that they had only 36 hours warning. And finally, all the stupid talk about a political "disaster" caused by a false alarm. We're so damn emotional and childish at this point that we can't handle the truth. Isn't this what got us into 9/11? Won't this "false alarm" cause the scientists to bne gun shty next time?

[BrooklynGOP]

What did Bush know and when did he know it?

[Mr. K]

That is the main problem detecting one that is going to hit us. If it is moving across the pictures than it's trajectory is somewhere else, but if it is coming right towards us it does not move- we can only tell it is coming by it growing brighter.

If one hits us I doubt we will have much more than a few days notice no matter what.

[RightWhale]

32 times the Earth-Moon distance

That is a 25% chance? Looks like closer to 1 in a million.

[Williams]

Further, I don't think a warning would have brought ridicule on astronomers. It would have focused us on potential danger. People would have been relieved the danger passed. I think we have become stupid shallow and childish to a degree that endangers us. Some realities, like a piece of space rock wiping us out, do not yield to our emotional, political whims.

[Constitution Day]

Here's the site for the Minor Planet Center.

Don't know about their mailing list, though.

[RightWhale]

Where is the mailing list where such discussions take place?

It's out there, but it's also a short, quiet, and dull list. Generally, even if they call the White House, the citizens will not be notified until the impact point is known. That won't leave much time, and even then, what should the citizens do?

[JimRed]

...bne gun shty... be gun shy?

[WilliamofCarmichael]

Bush's Nasa speech might have taken a different turn

The President lied to the American people by not using the words "imminent threat" in the NASA speech. Pass it on. DNC.

[thoughtomator]

Gee, why call the US President? Clearly, it's a global problem, so we need a multilateral approach. I say dump it in Kofi Annan's lap.

[Timesink]

It's out there, but it's also a short, quiet, and dull list. Generally, even if they call the White House, the citizens will not be notified until the impact point is known. That won't leave much time, and even then, what should the citizens do?

Why, run around screaming, of course!

I don't care about getting "advance warning", I just want to watch the scientists argue like in a bad sci-fi movie.

[CathyRyan]

close to....Oh Shit!