Re: GEN: (Off topic) Reconsidering My Long Term Investment Strategy
From: art fougner, md (evsono@pipeline.com)
Thu Mar 12 09:19:44 1998
NASA just jumped up a few notches in the national priority list.
art
At Thu, 12 Mar 1998, Geffrey H. Klein, MD wrote:
>
>Perhaps, rather than building a nest egg for retirement in 2028, I should just go ahead and spend it all..
>
>Geff
>
>--
>_____________________
>
>_____________________
>Thursday March 12 7:15 AM EST
>
> Asteroid Might Hit Us, But Not for 30 Years
>
> By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent
>
> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An asteroid will pass close by the Earth in the year 2028 and could conceivably hit us,
> astronomers warned on Wednesday.
>
> They said the asteroid, which had not been seen before, would pass as close as 30,000 miles to the Earth. While
> chances of a collision are small, it would not be out of the question.
>
> "Chances are it will miss," Dr. Brian Marsden of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) said.
>
> Even if it were on a path to hit Earth, technology might be available by then capable of deflecting the asteroid, he
> said. "What would be scary is if it were three days from now or three weeks or even three years. Thirty years is just
> right because it's far enough in the future," Marsden said in a telephone interview.
>
> "If it were going to hit us, and that's a big if, we would would have time to plan to do something about it."
>
> The asteroid, which is estimated to be a mile in diameter, has been named 1997 XF11. It was discovered by Jim
> Scotti of the University of Arizona.
>
> Latest observations show it will pass as close as 30,000 miles from the center of the Earth.
>
> "It was quite startling to find that the nominal orbit that we were using brought it as close as we did. I have not seen
> anything like that," Marsden said.
>
> Even if the asteroid passed by at 200,000 miles away, that would bring it inside the Moon's orbit.
>
> Marsden said calculations showed the asteroid would be closest at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Thursday,
> Oct. 26, 2028.
>
> "If it really is as close as 30,000 miles it will really be quite bright," Marsden said. It will be evening in Europe and
> will be visible there with the naked eye.
>
> "It would actually be a rather nice thing to see."
>
> The IAU said the computations were still uncertain and it was not clear whether the asteroid might come even closer.
> It asked amateur astronomers to look for the asteroid.
>
> "It should be quite accessible for a while with large telescopes, which in addition to helping establish whether a
> collision in 2028 is possible, could usefully provide more definite information about the object's size."
>
> An asteroid that slammed into the Earth 65 million years ago is believed to have kicked up so much dust that it wiped
> out the dinosaurs.
>
> Marsden said the statement was meant to alert astronomers, not to frighten the public. "It's not intended to be scary
> or alarmist," he said. "The Earth as a target is not very big."
>
> Technology by the year 2028 could probably deal with any asteroid, Marsden said.
>
> "Suppose we knew it were going to hit ... That is the time to start doing something about it and sending missions to
> it. A little deflection, that's what you need, and with time on your side you don't need much of a deflection."
>
>----------------------------------
>Geffrey H. Klein, MD
>----------------------------------
>gklein@bcm.tmc.edu
>----------------------------------
>http://members.aol.com/gklein01/geff.html
>List-owner OB-GYN-L
>co-moderator sci.med.obgyn
>Advisory Board Chairman OBGYN.net
>http://www.obgyn.net/medical.htm
>OBGYN.net Journal Review Editor
>http://www.obgyn.net/jr/jr.htm
>Office:
>2200 Nasa Rd #1
>Houston, Texas 77058
>Tel 713 741 2273 x2628
>
--
art fougner, md
SonoScan/Genetic Sciences
forest hills, ny
evsono@pipeline.com
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