[meteorite-list] The need to find impactors before they hit

From: Richard Kowalski <damoclid_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sun, 9 Aug 2009 11:13:31 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <163507.44061.qm_at_web33902.mail.mud.yahoo.com>

We're rapidly closing in on the goal of the original Spaceguard, detecting 90% of NEOs 1-km and larger, if we have not already achieved that goal...

We have found NO civilization ending, or mass extinction capable impactors and the chances of finding one are rapidly diminishing. That's not to say we won't find one, just that is is becoming more unlikely.

A proposed space based NEO survey is NEO-VIS

http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006DPS....38.4507R

but it has not received much attention, much less any real funding due to cost and budget constraints.

"Dead" comets will continue to be found during the normal operations of the Catalina Sky Survey, and its sister survey LINEAR. We are the only two programs left in operation worldwide.

We have zero capability to deal with a Long Period comet if one is found to be an impactor, now and well into the foreseeable future, so the question becomes, do you need several years to make peace with your god or are a couple of years sufficient?

--
Richard Kowalski
      

Received on Sun 09 Aug 2009 02:13:31 PM PDT