Astronauts: Only thing Preventing a 'City-Killer' Sized Asteroid Hit is Blind Luck."

a reply to: NoFearsEqualsFreeMan

First of all, the data that is to be shown will be showing we have been hit a lot more than we thought.

Second ... How many people have died? Dude, we've had hits that have wiped out nearly all life on the planet.

Third .... it's a necessity. At some point an incoming asteroid WILL hit us in a populated place. The more populated the planet, the less likely that these will be hits in remote places or in places that won't effect populations.

Mostly ... this is high technology. This keeps our scientists and engineers and chemists working and discovering new science and new products. MANY products that we use in our daily life have come from the space program.

originally posted by: shaneR
is there a MAP of those 26 IMPACT SITES...????

The data is being released at the Earth Day conference on April 22 in Seattle.
I'd look for that information to be somewhere on the internet after that.

originally posted by: FlyersFan
a reply to: NoFearsEqualsFreeMan

First of all, the data that is to be shown will be showing we have been hit a lot more than we thought.

Second ... How many people have died? Dude, we've had hits that have wiped out nearly all life on the planet.

Third .... it's a necessity. At some point an incoming asteroid WILL hit us in a populated place. The more populated the planet, the less likely that these will be hits in remote places or in places that won't effect populations.

Mostly ... this is high technology. This keeps our scientists and engineers and chemists working and discovering new science and new products. MANY products that we use in our daily life have come from the space program.

At some point?? So your are saying we should forget about all other stuff killing people at THIS point, like right NOW!

Ok, we will just have to put of saving all the starving humans dying right now, which we apparently for some reason cant fund, and then put some MORE money in to this kind of research.

I didnt say STOP researching this, i was just pointing out that this is not a direct thread, and nothing has chanced! How long was it there has been life on this planet?? How did it survive without asteroid detectors?

This is interesting news, but it is not worthy of doom porn, just saying

Peace

originally posted by: NoFearsEqualsFreeMan
How long was it there has been life on this planet?? How did it survive without asteroid detectors?

about 2 billion years, give or take and it really is subjective as to whether life "survived" before.

For example, the one that killed the dinosaurs off killed every animal above 25kg in weight - 95% of all fauna were killed in that one impact. Yes, "life" survived, but many species did not.

Also, in the grand scheme of things, the cost for protecting ourselves from these is really pennies. Adequate sensory systems could be in place for a few billion and adequate preparedness plans could be drawn up for much less. All it takes is political will and that won't be forthcoming with attitudes like yours.

originally posted by: NoFearsEqualsFreeMan
So your are saying we should forget about all other stuff killing people at THIS point, like right NOW!

I never said anything even remotely like that.

I said that there is a lot of waste in Washington and I'd rather see the money spent on this - which would advance our science and at the same time be a safety thing. I never once said to stop helping people in other areas or to stop dealing with other issues. I have no idea where you got that from.

i was just pointing out that this is not a direct thread,

Direct threat? Yeah ... I think it is.
Maybe when the data comes out on April 22 you might see things differently.

a reply to: FlyersFan

Nice thread

I don't know why so many people doubt our ability to stop rogue asteroids, if a city killer only need be 35 meters in width we might not be able to see it so well until it's near us... Fair enough, but we could easily knock it off it's trajectory or better blow it up into little pieces that burn up in the atmosphere.

It's not like these things are the size of Texas, that's a planet killer.

When one of those come along then people can phone Bruce Willis up to go blow it up, in the meantime I reckon 30-40 meter asteroid could be dealt with via a nuclear bomb or a well placed shuttle of sorts that just burns it's engines out once on the asteroid and pushes it away.

We could probably stick rocks that size into orbit and mine them too.

This says only one thing to me, its setting up for plausible deniability for any nation that can drop a rock on earth from space. Rods from Gods is one thing, Rocks from Gods is another.

I just wonder... what if the capture mission goes terribly wrong and they actually divert one of these suckers right toward us and then can't stop it. Yikes !

leolady

originally posted by: Soylent Green Is People
a reply to: FlyersFan

Obviously it's just a matter of time. That is well understood. Maybe we are due for a city killer real soon -- say in the next 1000 to 5000+ years.

In astronomical time spans, 1000 or 5,000 years is just a blink of an eye. However, while in astronomical terms 1000 or 5,000 years could be considered "imminent", that really is not "imminent" on human lifetime scales, so the threat does not seem that meaningful.

Thanks for putting things into perspective. This does really make sense. I saw a documentary about the future impact of the Andromeda galaxy with our own Milky Way. It was quite scarey until they pointed out that stars are so far away from each other that the chance of stars impacting would be negligible

a reply to: leolady

Or someone could just go to the moon and strap rocket boosters onto the largest rock or rocks they can find and send them to earth. Death Star indeed. No warhead necessary, just add rockets.

a reply to: NoFearsEqualsFreeMan

No one is saying we should stop trying to feed the starving. No one is saying we should stop research on curing deadly diseases.

No one is saying we should stop funding programs that are used for research to help other people.

However, in the US alone, how much spending and funding is pretty much a waste? How much of it goes to our military (more than several countries combined).

Nor should this be a single country's problem. This is a global concern. Asteroids could hit any country. And even a small "city killer" could have global impacts.

Given the growth of human population and the growth of cities, the odds of a impact happening in a more inhabited area are increasing.

Most of us are not screaming "DOOM!", we are instead simply agreeing that there is a clear a present danger of this happening, and happening with our pants down, when instead we could have either stopped it, or given enough warning about it.

And no. No one is saying we should stop trying to feed starving people in order to do this.

originally posted by: stirling
Hello Chicken Little.....interesting paranoid thread.....I guess they need more of our tax dollars to justify their existence at NASA......heres some doom porn folks....now give us more money.......meh

So what would you do? Just wait until a few million people get killed by an asteroid impact before doing anything about it or do you think we are somehow protected from such an occurrence?

We build jetties to protect our sea side cities from storms and waves, should we not work toward protecting ourselves from the reality of Asteroid impacts that have happened, are happening, will happen or have you deluded yourself into thinking we are some how special and protected from the reality of the universe?

originally posted by: RAY1990
a reply to: FlyersFan

Nice thread

I don't know why so many people doubt our ability to stop rogue asteroids, if a city killer only need be 35 meters in width we might not be able to see it so well until it's near us... Fair enough, but we could easily knock it off it's trajectory or better blow it up into little pieces that burn up in the atmosphere.

It's not like these things are the size of Texas, that's a planet killer.

When one of those come along then people can phone Bruce Willis up to go blow it up, in the meantime I reckon 30-40 meter asteroid could be dealt with via a nuclear bomb or a well placed shuttle of sorts that just burns it's engines out once on the asteroid and pushes it away.

We could probably stick rocks that size into orbit and mine them too.

Actually we don't have any ICBM's that could reach far enough into space to knock any size asteroid off its path currently. ICBM's are designed to enter low earth orbit and then return to a given spot on earth.

If we do not have sufficient time to prepare rockets that can go deep enough into space with a nuke to knock a asteroid off its path we are doomed.

A nuke hit on a small Iron asteroid in low earth orbit would do very little to it. Since you could not predict where a nuke would change any path of an asteroid intercepted in low earth orbit you may actually end up causing it to hit a city rather than somewhere safer.

Its not easy to deflect an asteroid unless your prepared to do it. Technologically, yes we can do it, but we got nothing made that can do it currently. Even given a month warning we could not build and prepare a rocket to deflect it deep enough in space to cause a miss.

originally posted by: FlyersFan
Earth Day, Tuesday, April 22, will be an interesting and sobering day for us all. Three former NASA astronauts will be presenting evidence at a talk given at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington. They will be explaining the most recent scientific information about asteroid impacts on earth and they will be talking about the need for better observation of asteroids.

Physics Org - Astronauts Reveal Sobering Asteroid Impact Data

This Earth Day, Tuesday, April 22, three former NASA astronauts will present new evidence that our planet has experienced many more large-scale asteroid impacts over the past decade than previously thought… three to ten times more, in fact. A new visualization of data from a nuclear weapons warning network, to be unveiled by B612 Foundation CEO Ed Lu during the evening event at Seattle's Museum of Flight, shows that "the only thing preventing a catastrophe from a 'city-killer' sized asteroid is blind luck."

Since 2001, 26 atomic-bomb-scale explosions have occurred in remote locations around the world, far from populated areas, made evident by a nuclear weapons test warning network. In a recent press release B612 Foundation CEO Ed Lu states: "This network has detected 26 multi-kiloton explosions since 2001, all of which are due to asteroid impacts. It shows that asteroid impacts are NOT rare—but actually 3-10 times more common than we previously thought. The fact that none of these asteroid impacts shown in the video was detected in advance is proof that the only thing preventing a catastrophe from a 'city-killer' sized asteroid is blind luck. The goal of the B612 Sentinel mission is to find and track asteroids decades before they hit Earth, allowing us to easily deflect them."

It's just a matter of time ...

Of course if one would believe there was a god, then it would not be luck at all. BTW, I'm not claiming there is or isn't, but it sure seems like we get "lucky" an awful lot here on earth.

originally posted by: FlyersFan

originally posted by: NoFearsEqualsFreeMan
So your are saying we should forget about all other stuff killing people at THIS point, like right NOW!

I never said anything even remotely like that.

I said that there is a lot of waste in Washington and I'd rather see the money spent on this - which would advance our science and at the same time be a safety thing. I never once said to stop helping people in other areas or to stop dealing with other issues. I have no idea where you got that from.

i was just pointing out that this is not a direct thread,

Direct threat? Yeah ... I think it is.
Maybe when the data comes out on April 22 you might see things differently.

Sure, but RIGHT NOW, in this moment of time, all i see is someone promoting fear...

If you told me: "look at this, this could give serious problems, you want to help me figuring out a solution?" i would listen, but your more saying this "We should give more money to goverment, or else we die... SOON!"

Someone promoting fear, to me is either a scammer or a scammed... you choose

Thanks for the info, lets do something, but please stop make it sound like were all "winning the lottery" every single day by not getting hit by an asteroid... please

Got nothing further to add, at this point so iam out on this discussion, we can agree to dissagree

Peace

originally posted by: eriktheawful
a reply to: NoFearsEqualsFreeMan

No one is saying we should stop trying to feed the starving. No one is saying we should stop research on curing deadly diseases.

No one is saying we should stop funding programs that are used for research to help other people.

However, in the US alone, how much spending and funding is pretty much a waste? How much of it goes to our military (more than several countries combined).

Nor should this be a single country's problem. This is a global concern. Asteroids could hit any country. And even a small "city killer" could have global impacts.

Given the growth of human population and the growth of cities, the odds of a impact happening in a more inhabited area are increasing.

Most of us are not screaming "DOOM!", we are instead simply agreeing that there is a clear a present danger of this happening, and happening with our pants down, when instead we could have either stopped it, or given enough warning about it.

And no. No one is saying we should stop trying to feed starving people in order to do this.

No no one did say that except the poster i addressed..

The point was this:

IF
-Goverment only spend money on crap
-So lets spend more money on this

Then why would this be any better??

Then i used the example of people starving, cause people die by starvation every single day. And if we spend money (It wouldnt even cost much) on that, we could actually save lives now and here... why dont we start there?

I guess what iam saying is: If we REALLY wanted to save human beings, improve life on earth for ALL, and give everybody a chance to pursuive their dreams, well we could have done it... so why is this any different?? what are we trying to save??

all i see is someone promoting fear...

Common sense isn't 'promoting fear'.

Someone promoting fear, to me is either a scammer or a scammed... you choose

Oh brother .. how insulting. How about this ... Someone refusing to use common sense is either stoooopid or stoooopified. you choose.


As I said .... those in the space field know what they are talking about. They have the scientific information showing that we have been hit 10 times more often than previously said. They say we should be vigilant. Common sense says to be vigilant. And, IMHO, we should take the money Washington wastes on ignorant pork projects and instead put it into our science and space research. That way we are working on a problem that WILL happen; our best minds will be employed and helping humanity; and the world gets to use the technology and products that are developed via a healthy space program. it's a win/win/win.

Products from the space program
Everything from freeze dried food to dust busters to cochlear implants and teflon.

originally posted by: NoFearsEqualsFreeMan
No no one did say that except the poster i addressed..

That's a LIE. No where did I say to take money from good programs or to stop them. I said VERY CLEARLY to take the money that is being wasted in Washington and use it for scientific advancement in this area instead.

originally posted by: FlyersFan

originally posted by: NoFearsEqualsFreeMan
No no one did say that except the poster i addressed..

That's a LIE. No where did I say to take money from good programs or to stop them. I said VERY CLEARLY to take the money that is being wasted in Washington and use it for scientific advancement in this area instead.

Iam sorry, i should have explained that better, and you are of course right

originally posted by: FlyersFan

all i see is someone promoting fear...

Common sense isn't 'promoting fear'.

Someone promoting fear, to me is either a scammer or a scammed... you choose

Oh brother .. how insulting.

How about this ... Someone refusing to use common sense is either stoooopid or stoooopified. you choose.


As I said .... those in the space field know what they are talking about. They have the scientific information showing that we have been hit 10 times more often than previously said. They say we should be vigilant. Common sense says to be vigilant. And, IMHO, we should take the money Washington wastes on ignorant pork projects and instead put it into our science and space research. That way we are working on a problem that WILL happen; our best minds will be employed and helping humanity; and the world gets to use the technology and products that are developed via a healthy space program. it's a win/win/win.

Products from the space program
Everything from freeze dried food to dust busters to cochlear implants and teflon.

I guess what iam saying is: If we REALLY wanted to save human beings, improve life on earth for ALL, and give everybody a chance to pursuive their dreams, well we could have done it... so why is this any different?? what are we trying to save??

Iam just saying, YES lets look into this, but lets make sure we got something to SAVE first

Dont want to derrail the thread any further
Didnt want to offend you, but only discuss some, in my oppionen, valid points.
This was NOT about the OP itself, but about your specific post where you mentioned we should spend more TAX money on this. I do aggree we should spend more great minds on these matters, just to be clear

Peace