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August 13, 2009
Well at least they track a third
It's kind of like monitoring a third of the countries trying to build nuclear weapons, or a third of the terrorist organizations focused on destroying the world, or making a third of buildings earthquake proof, but I guess it's better than a sixth?
NASA is charged with spotting most of the asteroids that pose a threat to Earth but doesn't have the money to complete the job, a federal report says.That's because even though Congress assigned the space agency that mission four years ago, it never gave NASA the money to build the necessary telescopes, according to the report released Wednesday by the National Academy of Sciences.
Specifically, the mission calls for NASA, by the year 2020, to locate 90 percent of the potentially deadly rocks hurtling through space. The agency says it's been able to complete about one-third of its assignment with the current telescope system.
NASA estimates that there are about 20,000 asteroids and comets in our solar system that are potential threats. They are larger than 460 feet in diameter — slightly smaller than the Superdome in New Orleans. So far, scientists know where about 6,000 of these objects are.
Posted by Mike at August 13, 2009 02:44 AM
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