UN meeting tackles asteroid threats

[UM-Bot]

Distinguished scientists and astronauts met to discuss asteroid mitigation strategies on Friday.

Hosted by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, the event centered around developing and implementing an international contingency plan to defend the planet against an apocalyptic impact from an asteroid.

Read More: http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/news/257008/un-meeting-tackles-asteroid-threats

[little_dreamer]

I hope that someone is watching the sky for objects falling to Earth. Wouldn't want an extinction event to occur because of "budget cutbacks".

[+DieChecker]

I was going to say this was Bull, but then I saw Neil deGrasse Tyson hosting it and suddenly I had hope for the future.

I beleive there is lots of things we can do about asteroids, it is only a matter of what are we willing to spend.

[jesspy]

I hope that someone is watching the sky for objects falling to Earth. Wouldn't want an extinction event to occur because of "budget cutbacks".

I once read somewhere that the amount of people actively looking for asteroids that pose a threat to earth is enough to staff a single Mcdonalds restaurant i.e less then 50.

[paperdyer]

I once read somewhere that the amount of people actively looking for asteroids that pose a threat to earth is enough to staff a single Mcdonalds restaurant i.e less then 50.

With the technology available, does the number of people looking need to be higher? I would think that we'd only start tracking objects that enter the Milky Way and objects that come close to the asteroid belt. Depending on the size of the object anything we do may be a moot point. I wonder if it would be possible to place an object in orbit around the Sun at a 90° angle to the orbits of the planets without eventually colliding with one or having it's orbit changed due to being too close to one. If it was possible we should be able to get a broader-based telemetry on spacial objects.