Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Russian Response To Possible Asteroid Impact
According to Russian Colonel General Vladimir Popovkin, commander of the Russian Space Force, Russia's national satellite cluster does not have a spacecraft able to prevent an asteroid strike. According to Popovkin, it would be inexpedient to spend the money needed to neutralize the threat.
The Russian government has been active in studying the problem for the last few years. Russia established the Space Shield Foundation involving scientists from the Snezhinsk nuclear center and the Makeev State Rocket Center. The 3-year-old Planetary Defense Center is made up of the defense-industry facilities, aerospace enterprises, as well as academic and sectoral research.
NASA's Spaceguard Survey, established in 1998, adopted the objective of locating 90% of the ojects larger than one kilometer in diameter before the end of 2008. One object in particular, Asteroid 99942 Apophis, will be naked-eye-visible on April 13, 2029. This object is approximately 1,000 feet in diameter; a collision in a populated area could kill millions of people. The B612 Foundation, chaired by former astronaut Russell Schweickart, requested that NASA respond formally to the problem, possibly by putting a transponder on the object to facilitate tracking. NASA's Mary Cleave provided the following response on October 12, 2005:
Cleave noted in the letter that while Apophis “is an object whose motion we will continue to monitor closely in the coming years, we conclude a space mission to this object based solely on any perceived collision hazard is not warranted at this time.”
Ground-based tracking has a 99.8% chance of fully resolving the possibility of impact.
Deflection or destruction of an oncoming meteor is still in the realm of science fiction; however, a variety of initiatives and studies have been proposed. Read about the proposal to move asteroids and the MADMEN robot swarm. Science fiction fans recall what is (as far as I know) the first really detailed story about a strike; Lucifer's Hammer, by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, is still a great read. The novel details the discovery of a new comet, and the events leading up to a very close approach to Earth. Very close.
Read more about Russian response to asteroid threats or the
Apophis asteroid.
“The key conclusion to be taken from this analysis,” Cleave explained in the letter, “is that aggressive (i.e., more expensive) action can reasonably be delayed until after the 2013 observing opportunity. For Apophis, the 16 years available after 2013 are sufficient to recognize and respond to any hazard that still exists after that time.”
(From Asteroid Apophis: Dealing with Earth's Future Troublemaker)
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 4/23/2006)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 1 )
Related News Stories - (" Space Tech ")
Tumblin' Tumbleweed Rovers To Eplore Mars
'His sensors out and working, and the whirring of the tape that sucked up sight and sound and shape and smell and form...' - Clifford Simak,
Tentacled Robot Captures Space Debris
Preventing annoying space debris build-up.
Reflect Orbital Sunlight On Demand
'I don't have to tell you about the seven two-mile-diameter orbital mirrors that circulate around the satellite, making it habitable.'
Elon Musk Wants Data Centers In Space
'Internally it’s made up of millions of components, but the most important ones are the thinking and memory parts of the Mind proper.' - Iain Banks, 1987.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Health Kiosk Has No Human Doctor
'The electronic body analyzer had been developed...'
Meta's Horizon Studio's Unique Avatars From Text Prompts
'Looks like she has bought the Avatar Construction Set and put together her own...'
VaMEx Biomimetic Mars Robot Inspired By Skink
'Across the ground something small and metallic came, flashing in the dull sunlight of midday.'
NEO Brain Computer Interface (BCI)
'The remains of the lace took on the rough shape of a brain...'
Did Frank Herbert Predict Bistable Displays Like E-Ink?
'A broken circle with arrows pointing to a right-hand flow appeared in the chalf.'
Monolith One Giant Industrial Metal 3D-printer
'The object seemed melted together like wax — nothing was distinguishable.'
'Mooncrete' Lunar Regolith Concrete (LRC)
'And here they began to build...'
China's 'Magpie Drone' Ornithopter
'Midges have many capabilities. To the untrained eye, they look like sparrows.'
MAI-Voice-2 Microsoft Text-To-Speech
'I made disks of my own voice to the number of five hundred very carefully chosen words.'
Tumblin' Tumbleweed Rovers To Eplore Mars
'His sensors out and working, and the whirring of the tape that sucked up sight and sound and shape and smell and form...'
Tentacled Robot Captures Space Debris
Preventing annoying space debris build-up.
Prufrock-MB2 Ready In Nashville
'It sounds to me as though you had invented a kind of metal earthworm.'
DIY Robotic Content Farming
'The chief wheeled to the master machine and pressed a button.'
Reflect Orbital Sunlight On Demand
'I don't have to tell you about the seven two-mile-diameter orbital mirrors that circulate around the satellite, making it habitable.'
The Amazing Lightfoot Electric Scooter With Solar Assist
'The steel tortoise gave MacKinnon a feeling of Crusoe- like independence.'
Fully Electric, Fully Automated Vegetable‑growing Agribots
'...then back to their work, though little enough it was on these automatic cultivators.'
