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The Canadian Press - ONLINE EDITION
Cdn and American astronauts want world to start getting ready for asteroids
By: Peter Rakobowchuk, The Canadian Press
Posted: 5/09/2010 3:02 AM
MONTREAL - Canadian and American astronauts say the world should already be preparing for the big one ? the asteroid that could some day strike the Earth causing death and destruction.
"You're just sticking your head in the sand if you think the world will live out its entire natural life until the end of our sun and never be hit by another big rock," Canada's Chris Hadfield said in an interview.
"That's just foolishness. That's just ignorance."
The Canadian Space Agency astronaut is the current president of the Association of Space Explorers (ASE), which submitted a report to the United Nations outlining a detailed plan to deal with any asteroid threat.
"We're rolling the dice that the big one is not coming right away," Hadfield warned.
Hadfield, 51, will get a chance to observe asteroids first-hand during his upcoming six-month mission to the International Space Station.
He is due to blast off on his third space trip in late 2012 and will also take charge of the lab for several months, becoming its first Canadian commander.
During his first space flight ? a visit to the Russian space station Mir in 1995 ? Hadfield watched a big rock come bearing down on Earth.
It eventually burned up in the atmosphere, but the 18-year space veteran admits the experience sent a shiver up his spine.
"If it had been a little higher, it would have come right through us (the space station)," Hadfield said.
Former U.S. astronaut Russell (Rusty) Schweickart chaired the ASE international group which issued its 54-page report on the asteroid threat in 2008.
The report focuses on detection and deflection and calls for a unified global response.
Schweickart told The Canadian Press new telescopes will dramatically increase the rate at which asteroids are discovered within the next 10 to 15 years.
"You're going to multiply the 7,000 objects that we have in our catalogue now up to one million objects as we get new telescopes operating," he said in an interview from Sonoma, Calif.
.../
Much more:
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/ca...rt-getting-ready-for-asteroids-102246184.html
The Canadian Press - ONLINE EDITION
Cdn and American astronauts want world to start getting ready for asteroids
By: Peter Rakobowchuk, The Canadian Press
Posted: 5/09/2010 3:02 AM
MONTREAL - Canadian and American astronauts say the world should already be preparing for the big one ? the asteroid that could some day strike the Earth causing death and destruction.
"You're just sticking your head in the sand if you think the world will live out its entire natural life until the end of our sun and never be hit by another big rock," Canada's Chris Hadfield said in an interview.
"That's just foolishness. That's just ignorance."
The Canadian Space Agency astronaut is the current president of the Association of Space Explorers (ASE), which submitted a report to the United Nations outlining a detailed plan to deal with any asteroid threat.
"We're rolling the dice that the big one is not coming right away," Hadfield warned.
Hadfield, 51, will get a chance to observe asteroids first-hand during his upcoming six-month mission to the International Space Station.
He is due to blast off on his third space trip in late 2012 and will also take charge of the lab for several months, becoming its first Canadian commander.
During his first space flight ? a visit to the Russian space station Mir in 1995 ? Hadfield watched a big rock come bearing down on Earth.
It eventually burned up in the atmosphere, but the 18-year space veteran admits the experience sent a shiver up his spine.
"If it had been a little higher, it would have come right through us (the space station)," Hadfield said.
Former U.S. astronaut Russell (Rusty) Schweickart chaired the ASE international group which issued its 54-page report on the asteroid threat in 2008.
The report focuses on detection and deflection and calls for a unified global response.
Schweickart told The Canadian Press new telescopes will dramatically increase the rate at which asteroids are discovered within the next 10 to 15 years.
"You're going to multiply the 7,000 objects that we have in our catalogue now up to one million objects as we get new telescopes operating," he said in an interview from Sonoma, Calif.
.../
Much more:
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/ca...rt-getting-ready-for-asteroids-102246184.html