NASA
PLANNING A PLANETARY DEFENSE AGAINST ASTEROIDS
In 1990, a NASA scientist named David Morrison wanted to know his chances of being killed by an asteroid. It seemed a bit paranoid. After all, no one had ever been killed that way, and there was only one documented meteorite injury. In 1954, an Alabama...
15 February, 2014
The Hunt for Killer Asteroids
Sergey Khaibrakhmanov was sleeping when he heard the explosion. Startled, his heart already pounding, he jumped awake in bed. What the hell was that? It was loud, whatever it was, enough to shake the apartment and scare him half to death. Did a plane just crash? He...
30 January, 2014
Saving the World With Science
As someone who’s taken a fair share of science classes, I know that it can be difficult to tie the daily homework assignments of configuring compounds in chemistry or calculating velocity in physics to a broader world perspective. But that’s precisely what science does: It...
25 January, 2014
PBS News | Asteroid: Doomsday or Payday?
The asteroid that exploded over Siberia—injuring more than 1,000 and damaging buildings in six cities—was a shocking reminder that Earth is a target in a cosmic shooting range. From the width of a football field to the size of a small city, these space rocks...
20 November, 2013
More Asteroid Strikes Are Likely, Scientists Say
When an asteroid exploded over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk in February, shattering windows for miles and injuring well over 1,000 people, experts said it was a rare event — of a magnitude that might occur only once every 100 to 200 years, on average. But...
10 November, 2013
More Asteroid Strikes Are Likely, Scientists Say
[caption id="attachment_615" align="alignright" width="485"] A hole blasted through the ice of Lake Chebarkul, southwest of Chelyabinsk, Russia, by a meteorite. Credit: Eduard Kalinin[/caption] In a special interview for the NYT, Dr. Ed Lu, former NASA space shuttle astronaut who heads the B612 Foundation, says that only...
06 November, 2013
United Nations to Adopt Asteroid Defense Plan
When a meteor exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia in February, the world’s space agencies found out along with the rest of us, on Twitter and YouTube. That, says former astronaut Ed Lu, is unacceptable—and the United Nations agrees. Last week the General Assembly approved a set...
30 October, 2013
T Astronauts point to next frontier: Stopping killer asteroids
For most people, going into outer space would be enough of a claim to fame — but the way astronaut Rusty Schweickart sees it, saving the world from killer asteroids is far more significant. "Apollo and Skylab were great experiences for me personally, but my NEO...
30 October, 2013