 |
 |
||
 |
|
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||||||
 |
ProjectsTarget Earth
New Target Earth Update, April 15, 2008: The Tunguska Riddle: How Powerful was the Greatest Asteroid Impact in Recorded History? A column of bluish light as bright as the Sun streaked through cloudless skies above the Taiga forest. Minutes later, local herdsmen and recent settlers saw a brilliant flash followed by the sound of explosions, like an artillery barrage from a great battle raging over the horizon. An ashen cloud rose in the distance, and could be seen from hundreds of miles away. And then – silence. We Live in a Busy Solar System! 2008 marks the beginning of "Target Earth" -- a year-long focus on Near Earth Objects (NEOs) and the hazards that marauding space-rocks pose to our planet. The program will focus on a variety of NEO projects supported by The Planetary Society, including the Apophis Mission Design Competition, the Gene Shoemaker Near Earth Object Grants, NEO research advocacy, and a one-hour HD TV special on asteroids being produced by Discovery Canada. Target Earth coincides with the 100th anniversary of the largest asteroid impact on Earth in recent history -- the Tunguska event. The tracking of near-Earth objects has been a priority for The Planetary Society since its inception. Of more than a quarter-million dollars donated by the Society to NEO research over the years, more than half has come in the form of Shoemaker NEO Grants to amateur observers. One of the grant's recipients, Roy Tucker from Arizona, co-discovered Apophis, the 300-meter-diameter asteroid that will make a spectacularly close passage by our planet in 2029 and again in 2036. "The solar system is a busy place, said Louis Friedman, Executive Director of The Planetary Society. "We live in a dangerous neighborhood, and keeping track of NEOs is like organizing a neighborhood watch in our corner of space." Target Earth encompasses The Planetary Society's three-pronged approach to NEO research: funding researchers who discover and track asteroids, advocating greater NEO research funding by the government, and helping spur the development of possible ways to avert disaster should a potentially dangerous asteroid be discovered. Find this interesting? Send it to a friend or share it at:
Slashdot - Digg this - Reddit - Del.icio.us - Newsvine - NowPublic Find out more! Shoemaker NEO Grants Apophis Mission Design Competition Advocacy for NEO Research Learn more about asteroids and comets and near-Earth objects. Recent Related Headlines
|
|||||
 |
 |
|||||
Copyright © 1993 – 2008 The Planetary Society. All rights reserved.
Privacy Policy | Contact Us | Society Updates
[ what is this? ]
[ what is this? ]