[meteorite-list] NASA Overlooks a Lot of Deadly Asteroids: Report

From: Shawn Alan <shawnalan_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 21:16:04 -0700
Message-ID: <20140916211604.e8713c95af9984a493c5db01816d4c10.d89a4c37aa.wbe_at_email22.secureserver.net>

Hello Listers

Here is an article I found. I hope NASA has a back up plan
because I want to live for ever and don't want a mega asteroid
to end it for the HUMANS.

Enjoy

Shawn Alan
IMCA 1633
ebay store http://www.ebay.com/sch/imca1633nyc/m.html
Website http://meteoritefalls.com


NASA Overlooks a Lot of Deadly Asteroids: Report


By Brian Stallard

Sep 16, 2014 05:07 PM EDT

 



If a dangerous meteorite comes heading Earth's way, there's actually
only a 10 percent chance that experts behind NASA's near-Earth object
(NEO) tracking program will even notice it in time to warn an endangered
public.

That's according to a recent audit of the NEO program revealing that
when it comes to medium sized asteroids just large enough to punch
through Earth's atmosphere without burning up, only about 1 in 10 are
detected.

NASA's Inspector General Paul Martin said in a report released on Monday
that the agency estimates that it has identified only about 10 percent
of all asteroids 140 meters and larger.

Worse still, "given its current pace and resources... it will not meet
the goal of identifying 90 percent of such objects by 2020," Martin
wrote in the report.

That's despite the fact that a 90 percent rate of identification by 2020
is exactly what congress is demanding of the heavily funded program. And
they have a right to demand it. Over the past five years the budget to
track NEO's has been raised 10-fold, from $4 million to $40 million
(USD), but little improvement has been made in tracking capabilities.

Martin blames the lack of "overarching program oversight, objectives,
and established milestones to track practice," for the program's current
inadequacies. According to the report, the many many research activates
sapping the program's budget lack collaboration and focus.

Still, not everything is so bad. The report also revealed that when it
come to doomsday-sized asteroids about a kilometer (0.6 mi) or larger in
diameter, the agency can detect them with at least 95 percent accuracy.

But while we WILL be able to see the apocalypse coming, those smaller
meteorites the program is likely to miss can still be destructive.

Martin cites the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor as an example. This meteor was
a mere 59 feet in diameter, yet managed to explode with 30 times the
force of the 1945 atomic bomb detonation on Hiroshima, Japan.
Thankfully, because of the angle and speed at which the space-rock was
plummeting, it experienced an air-burst about 20 miles above Russia.
Still, the resulting debris and powerful shockwave caused notable damage
to the region.

"Recent research suggests that Chelyabinsk-type events occur every 30 to
40 years," the report read, adding that most impacts would occur in the
ocean rather than in populated areas.

However, it would no doubt be nice to know when dangerous space rocks
such as that are headed our way.

Martin suggests adding employees, increasing collaboration with private
initiatives, and simple focusing goals could greatly help, but there is
little chance that we will ever see every meteor coming with the utmost
certainty.


Source:
http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/9061/20140916/nasa-overlooks-lot-deadly-asteroids-report.htm
Received on Wed 17 Sep 2014 12:16:04 AM PDT