Asteroid risk to Earth lowered, scientists sayAfter a fresh round of radar observations, astronomers said Thursday that the chances of a catastrophic asteroid impact in the year 2036 are lower than previously thought -- and they're hoping the threat will be completely ruled out once more readings are made. The chances of collision with the asteroid Apophis in 2036 now stand at 1 in 24,000, said Steve Chesley, an expert on near-Earth objects at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. That's a significant advance from the previous orbital predictions, which set the odds of impact at 1 out of about 6,000... Astronomers estimate its diameter at about 1,300 feet (400 meters) -- which means a collision would spark a regional catastrophe, though not a global extinction event on the scale of the dinosaurs' demise... Apophis is a special case because it spends most of its time within Earth's orbit, making observations difficult... "We were able to improve our understanding of its motion by about 6 millimeters per second," Giorgini.
by Alan Boyle
May 18, 2006
Without the Kyoto Treaty? Mon Deu, how is this possible?