Posted on 06/15/2004 8:13:21 AM PDT by missyme
Why do we feel the need to scare ourselves constantly? I know, I know, the media loves to inflate risks to inflate ratings...
Remember when BIC lighters were killing people by the dozen by exploding in people's pocketS?
They were there long before us, and they'll be there long after we're dust. Why worry?
I guess cause "Little Comets" are entering the earth and of course like the thought process f little eartquakes mean impending "Big One" I guess it is the same thought process for Asteroids..
Ok..Mac..you've had you 15 minutes of fame. Now pull on your elbow patched tweed jacket and smoke your pipe! Jeeeeez!
Back in the summer of 2001 it was the "Shark Attack" stories that were all the rage that entire summer. This year it seems that asteroids are the new media scare story.
What's next "Sharks from outerspace"....???
I have wondered what the reaction would actually be if a large natural disaster were to strike. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 - 100 million deaths. Just exactly how would that change man?
"What's next "Sharks from outerspace"....???"
I'm leaning more toward, "Asteroids from the Deep."
With frickin' laser beams on their heads...
There was a meteor/comet/asteroid impact in 2002 that flattened about 40 miles of forest in siberia. there's a discussion of that plus discussion of half a dozen other meteor strikes in the last couple years at fr here.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1152933/posts
It looks like there's a pretty steady rain of space debris.
Although I jest in my post, I have been closely following the info. on recent "Near Earth Objects" on the NASA site. One that is coming near soon is "Ikotawa #25143", scheduled to be near Earth next week around June 24th. Another is "Toutauis" (sp?), scheduled to be close in September.
I can't even wrap my mind around the scope of such an events; and the effects afterwards.
Interestingly, the chance of the average American dying in in a meteor or asteroid impact is about the same as the chance of an average American dying in an airliner crash. (Sounds ridiculous, but think about it carefully.)
The problem with "us" is that "us" hasn't been around for very long. And a lot of life forms before "us" weren't around after large impacts.
Yup. And there's really nothing we can do about it. So, again, why worry?
For an additional fee, I will include my booklet titled "How To Make Money From Foreign Bodies".
Johnny Dork, Mortician
Eh, there are possible ways we could do something about it. It's a bit more complex than simply nuking something incoming, but it may not be an insurmountable problem.
I'd hate to have civilization end and not have explored every possible way to avoid it.
If we get enough fo a lead time, we CAN do something about it.
The NEAR-Shoemaker probe landed on Eros and transmitted scientific data for 16 days after landing. If an unmanned spacecraft carrying scientific insturments can land on an asteroid - an unmanned spacecraft with a "physics package" can land on an asteroid.
Get enough lead time, land the craft on the asteroid, and then activating the "physics package" should make the problem asteroid go away.
Sky is falling bump.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.