WASHINGTON (AP) - NASA officials say the space agency is
capable of finding nearly all the asteroids
that might pose a devastating hit to Earth,
but there isn't enough money to pay for the task so it won't get done.
The cost to find at least
90 percent of the 20,000
potentially hazardous asteroids and comets
by 2020 would be about $1 billion, according to a report NASA will release
later this week. The report was previewed Monday at a Planetary Defense
Conference in Washington [VIDEO:
Killer Asteroids and Comets].
Congress in 2005 asked NASA
to come up with a plan to track most killer asteroids and propose how to
deflect the potentially catastrophic ones [VIDEO:
The Asteroid Paradox].
"We know what to do, we
just don't have the money," said Simon "Pete" Worden, director of NASA's Ames
Research Center.
These are asteroids that
are bigger than 460 feet (140 meters) in diameter - slightly smaller than the
Superdome in New Orleans. They are a threat even if they don't hit Earth
because if they explode
while close enough - an event caused by heating in both the rock and the
atmosphere - the devastation from the shockwaves is still immense. The
explosion alone could have with the power of 100 million tons of dynamite,
enough to devastate an entire state, such as Maryland, they said.
The agency is already
tracking bigger objects, at least 3,300 feet (1,005 meters) in diameter, that
could wipe out most life on Earth, much like what is theorized
to have happened to dinosaurs 65 million years ago. But even that search,
which has spotted 769 asteroids and comets - none of which is on course to hit
Earth - is behind schedule. It's supposed to be complete by the end of next
year.
NASA needs to do more to
locate other smaller, but still potentially dangerous space bodies. While an
Italian observatory is doing some work, the United States is the only
government with an asteroid-tracking
program, NASA said.
One solution would be to
build a new ground telescope solely for the asteroid hunt, and piggyback that
use with other agencies' telescopes for a total of $800 million. Another would
be to launch a space infrared telescope that could do the job faster for $1.1
billion. But NASA program scientist Lindley Johnson said NASA and the White
House called both those choices too costly.
A cheaper option would be
to simply piggyback on other agencies' telescopes, a cost of about $300
million, also rejected, Johnson said.
"The decision of the agency
is we just can't do anything about it right now," he added.
Earth got a scare in 2004, when
initial readings suggested an 885-foot (269 meters) asteroid called
99942 Apophis seemed to have a chance of
hitting Earth in 2029. But more observations showed
that wouldn't happen. Scientists say there is a 1-in-45,000 chance that it
could hit in 2036.
They think it would mostly
likely strike the Pacific Ocean, which would cause a tsunami on the
U.S. West Coast the size of the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean wave.
John Logsdon, space policy
director at George Washington University, said a stepped-up search for such
asteroids is needed.
"You can't deflect them if
you can't find them," Logsdon said. "And we can't find things that can cause
massive damage."
VIDEO:
Killer Asteroids and Comets
VIDEO:
The Asteroid Paradox
2007 Guide:
Find Bright Asteroids This Year
Catastrophe
Calculator: Estimate Asteroid Impact Effects Online
First
Strike or Asteroid Impact? The Urgent Need to Know the Difference
IMAGES:
Asteroid Gallery
IMAGES:
The Great Comets
All About Asteroids
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