Category Archives: Science And Society

McLEAN, VA – February 15 – Today’s impact in Russia and the near miss by
asteroid 2012 DA14 should shock the world into creating a sentry line of
spacecraft circling the Earth to intercept and evaluate incoming threats, Deep
Space Industries proposed.

“The hundreds of people injured in northern Russia show it’s time to take action
and no longer be passive about these threats,” said Rick Tumlinson, chairman of
Deep Space Industries.

Deep Space Industries proposes establishing several sentry lines encircling
Earth with small spacecraft able to dart after intruders to get close-in photos
and data as they pass. Over time additional spacecraft able to grab samples for
analysis on Earth would join the sentry lines.

Not all asteroids are the same, and to be ready to deflect one that’s on a
dangerous trajectory the world needs to know more about their structure and
composition. Many may be solid but all photos so far have shown gravel and rock
piles. A defense plan assuming the wrong type could make matters worse.

“Placing ten of our small FireFly spacecraft into position to intercept close
encounters would take four years and less than $100 million,” said David Gump,
CEO of Deep Space Industries. “This will help the world develop the
understanding needed to block later threats.”

There are estimated to be more than 10,000 near Earth asteroids that could
destroy a major city and a hundred that would end civilization. Near Earth
asteroids are confirmed at a rate of more than 900 per year, but as yet little
is known about their composition and structure.

“Observations by space telescopes like the Sentinel planned by the B612
Foundation and the smaller units offered by Planetary Resources should be
supported,” Tumlinson said. “Astronomical observations are a good first step but
at Deep Space we believe we need get up close and personal. Then when these
objects are identified, we can launch one or more FireFlies to intercept them,
and give us close-up images so that we understand what we are dealing with.”

Deep Space Industries is preparing the FireFly series to begin prospecting in
2015 for asteroids that are very small, five to seven meters in diameter. The
same FireFly prospecting design would be used in the sentry line of asteroid
interceptors.

Then in 2020, Deep Space will bring one of these tiny rocks back to a parking
orbit near Earth to be harvested for its water, rocket fuel, and metals for
in-space customers such as communications satellites that have run out of gas.
The larger harvesting spacecraft might be the basis for interceptors that could
nudge larger threats into trajectories that miss Earth.

In the coming months Deep Space Industries will be offering plans to develop a
coordinated low-cost commercial solution to setting up humanity’s first line of
defense against asteroid threats.

“While our primary mission is the harvesting of asteroid resources, we believe
that virtually the same effort and technology can be applied to removing this
threat to our precious planet,” Tumlinson said.

I suspect Planetary Resources won’t be far behind.

Political Commentary, Science And Society, Space, Space Science, Technology and Society

Have We Finally Gotten Congress’s Attention?

February 15, 2013 Rand Simberg 5 Comments

Lamar Smith:

“Fifty years ago, we would have had no way of seeing an asteroid like this coming. Now, thanks to the discoveries NASA has made in its short history, we have known about 2012 DA14 for about a year. As the world leader in space exploration, America has made great progress for mankind,” Smith continued. “But our work is not done. We should continue to study, research, and explore space to better understand our universe and better protect our planet.”

The chairman announced a hearing in the coming weeks to examine ways to better identify and address asteroids that pose a potential threat to Earth.

I hope they have Ed Lu testify.

[Update a while later]

Jeff Foust has more.

Political Commentary, Science And Society, Space, Technology and Society

The Russian Asteroid Strike

February 15, 2013 Rand Simberg 14 Comments

I just woke up to the news. I’ve heard some people say it’s not related to the flyby today, but that seems like a remarkable coincidence. Are they both part of a cluster, which could mean that there is potential for more hits, or do they know this one came from an entirely different direction?

Related: what would happen if Tonguska hit New York City?

Oh, this Guardian article says that ESA has ruled out a relationship. I’d still like to know on what basis. It’s also claiming almost a thousand people injured (but no reports of deaths yet, fortunately). I guess it will get sorted out later today.

And this is a good reminder to support the B612 Foundation, because I expect the government to continue to dither, even with these stark reminders.

[Update a couple minutes later]

OK, I see that people had already started to discuss this in comments at yesterday’s post before I was awake.

[Update a few minutes later]

Jorge Frank (who was one of the reviewers of my book when I was drafting it) says that it’s too soon to say.

[Update a few more minutes later]

OK, now Don Yeoman is saying that it’s unrelated:

Yeoman stressed that the bolide event was likely not associated at all with the incoming asteroid 2012 DA14, which will fly within 17,200 miles (27,000 kilometers) of Earth when it passes safely by our planet today.

“The asteroid will travel south to north,” Yeomans said. “The bolide trail was not south to north and the separation in time between the fireball and 2012 DA14 close approach is significant.”

I think the jury’s still out, for reasons that Jorge notes. Yes, they’re far from each other, given the time and velocity, but that doesn’t mean that they’re not part of a cluster that were once a single object, that have spread out from perturbations over the eons.

Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Science And Society, Space, Technology and Society

From The Asteroid Hunters

February 14, 2013 Rand Simberg 33 Comments

A warning:

The chance of another Tunguska-size impact somewhere on Earth this century is about 30%. That isn’t the likelihood that you will be killed by an asteroid, but rather the odds that you will read a news headline about an asteroid impact of this size somewhere on Earth. Unfortunately, that headline could be about the destruction of a city, as opposed to an unpopulated region of Siberia.

The chance in your lifetime of an even bigger asteroid impact on Earth—with explosive energy of 100 megatons of TNT—is about 1%. Such an impact would deliver many times the explosive energy of all the munitions used in World War II, including the atomic bombs. This risk to humanity is similar to an individual’s odds of dying in a car accident. That risk is small, but would you drive a car without air bags and seat belts? The question is apt because our society is effectively doing so with regard to the risk of a devastating asteroid strike.

I’ve been concerned about this for years (actually decades, ever since Alvarez first came up with his dinosaur theory, which seems to have been recently confirmed).

General Science, Science And Society