Area : ESPRIT
Date : Nov 18 '95, 21:16
From : Silverstreak, 1:3418/3.6
To   : All
Subj : Asteroids CP


 Posted to Esprit with permission of publisher-David Sunfellow

 Copyright 1995 By NewHeavenNewEarth Published By NewHeavenNewEarth / 
 nhne at www.sedona.net  Please feel free to pass the following 
 information on to as many people as you like.  If you do share this 
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                          DOOMSDAY ASTEROIDS
                          By David Sunfellow 

Most of us probably think the most serious threats planet Earth faces 
come from earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, tornadoes, holes in the 
Earth's ozone, global warming, nuclear explosions, maybe even pole 
shifts. But a recent National Public Television special presented by 
NOVA uncovered another, much more serious threat. Called, "THE 
DOOMSDAY ASTEROID," the NOVA special spelled out in chilling detail 
the threat planet Earth faces from being struck by marauding comets 
and asteroids. 

Science has long believed that the Earth was pummeled by asteroids, 
comets and other massive heavenly bodies in the early days of its 
formation--over 3 billion years ago. But, until recently, most 
scientists thought this was an event limited to Earth's distant past. 
They also believed the ancient celestial pounding eventually gave way 
to billions of years of gradual, non-catastrophic, evolution. 

Now, however, a series of stunning new discoveries have proven that 
the Earth has not only been catastrophically pummeled, repeatedly, in 
the last few million years, but it is also in danger of being 
plummeted again, at any moment, by asteroids and comets, some of which 
are as large as entire states. If we could see what is sailing in 
between the distant stars and our tiny little planet, one expert says 
we would see 100 million chunks of ice and rock ominously whizzing 
through the skies. 

These modern day revelations are currently traced back to Gene 
Shoemaker, an astronomer with THE UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY'S 
LOWELL OBSERVATORY. In the 1950's, Shoemaker sent shock waves through 
the scientific community by suggesting that various craters on our 
planet (and the moon) were formed by asteroids or comets, rather than 
volcanic eruptions, which was what most scientists believed at the 
time. 

Using the moon's potholed surface as a reference point, Shoemaker set 
out to see how often celestial objects smashed into the moon and, by 
extension, also struck the Earth. With the help of modern satellite 
and aerial surveillance, Shoemaker and other scientists soon 
identified over 200 impact sites around the planet. One of these 
impact sites, which measured 100 miles across and which was buried a 
mile beneath the Earth surface, dated back 64 million years ago--the 
exact same time dinosaurs mysteriously vanished from the earth. 
Supporting the idea that whatever struck the Earth 64 million years 
ago unleashed a global catastrophe, geologists the world over have 
discovered a dark ring in the geological history of the planet that 
contains elements very common to asteroids, but very rare on Earth. 
The geological records above the dark layer contain records of mammals 
and other recent life forms, while the geological records below 
contain the records of dinosaurs and other prehistoric crea tures. The 
dark layer also bears witness to some kind of massive global 
firestorm. And while scientists still aren't sure how, exactly, the 
dinosaurs were killed off (or, for that matter, how exactly, two 
thirds of the rest of the Earth's species were killed off and 90% of 
the Earth's biomass burned up), there is evidence: 

The skies of the Earth exploded into flames Wild fires engulfed the 
planet's forests The skies were probably darkened for months, possibly 
for years All kinds of geological disturbances, such as volcanic 
eruptions and lava flows, were ignited 

That was 64 million years ago. What about now? 

In June of 1908 another heavenly body exploded in the air above 
Siberia with a force 100 times greater than the atomic bomb that was 
dropped on Hiroshima. While some people have speculated that a UFO of 
some kind was responsible, the NOVA special indicated that scientists 
are now certain that the Siberian explosion was the result of another 
meteorite. If a similar explosion took place over New York City, 
experts predict that a half million people would die. Eyewitnesses in 
cities all over Europe at the time of the Siberian explosion said that 
one could read a book by the light of the midnight sky. 

More recently, in July of 1994, much of the world watched as the 
Shoemaker-Levy Comet, which was made up of 21 different chunks, 
smashed into Jupiter. Along with leaving black marks the size of 
planet Earth on Jupiter's surface, the spectacular crash also made it 
clear that comets and asteroids are a serious threat to our fragile 
little planet. 

Unfortunately, most of the Earth's current telescopes are designed to 
study large planetary bodies far from Earth, rather than smaller 
celestial bodies merrily zipping past the Earth in close quarters. Now 
that "Earth-crossing" asteroids and comets are beginning to emerge as 
an extremely dangerous threat, scientists are already saying that it 
is not a matter of "if" these flying chunks of space debris strike, 
but "when." 

Driving home the point, the NOVA special indicated that the only 
Earthly presence that is systematically monitoring Earth-crossing 
materials is the defense industry, in particular, the U.S. Defense 
Department. And some U. S. Defense Department records indicate that 
the Earth has, indeed, been recently struck by meteorites. What few 
records have been made public indicate that the Earth has been struck 
so often that scientists who have been studying the situation are 
saying that there may be a great many more Earth-crossing asteroids 
and comets than previously thought--which would make the situation 
even more dangerous. 

So what should we do? 

Shoemaker and others suggest a good place to start would be 
identifying as many Earth-crossing asteroids and comets as possible. 
These experts indicate that even a modest effort could locate as many 
as 90% of the celestial bodies that pose a potential threat to planet 
Earth. At the current rate, with only Shoemaker and the handful of 
other astronomers working on the problem, they estimate it will take 
500 to 600 years to get the job done. 

After the skies have been mapped, then it would be time to figure out 
what to do with the heavenly bodies that are on a collision course 
with our planet. Vaporizing them with nuclear missiles and/or altering 
their courses are possible. But while the technology exists to defend 
our planet from wayward celestial bodies, an effective job would 
require serious study. Scientists would need to know what, exactly, 
the asteroids are made of and how, exactly, to deal with them. A 
carelessly aimed missile, for instance, could end up breaking a huge 
asteroid into a bunch of smaller ones, which could then strike the 
Earth in several places--and be all the harder to stop. 

At this point, only two things are certain: 1. The Earth could be hit 
at any moment by some roving asteroid or comet; 2. It will be hit, 
again, unless something is done to prevent it. 

--- PPoint 1.98
 * Origin: RMS (1:3418/3.6)