2002 - A letter is written to world leaders asking them to protect the Earth The story behind the letter The original idea for the plea dates back several years, said Michael Paine, a volunteer with Planetary Society in Australia and a Spaceguard proponent who helped draft the letter. But a natural impetus came on Jan. 7, when an asteroid the size of three football fields (300 meters wide) passed relatively close to Earth, just twice the distance to the Moon. The rock, named 2001 YB5, was first seen in December -- nowhere near enough time to mount a space mission to deflect it. "Had it been on a collision course, there is little that could have been done to prevent possibly millions of casualties when an area the size of Tasmania would have been devastated," the signatories agree. Tasmania is about the size of Ohio. A similar asteroid flyby occurred last October, when a rock thought to be between 50 and 100 meters in diameter zoomed by Earth at a similar distance. The object, big enough to destroy a city, was first detected just two days prior. The more recent flyby of 2001 YB5 got wide coverage in Australia, however, and a spokesperson for Science Minister Peter McGuaran said the Government would look into renewing the funding of a dedicated Australian Spaceguard program. (McGuaran made a similar statement in 1997, according to press reports from the time.) ------------------------------------------------------------ Meteor Impact Database http://www.unb.ca/passc/ImpactDatabase/ Terrestrial Impact Craters http://www.solarviews.com/eng/tercrate.htm Early guess www.perceptions.couk.com/uef/thump.txt Reclassification www.perceptions.couk.com/uef/thump2.txt Reclassification www.perceptions.couk.com/uef/thump3.txt Higher Risks www.perceptions.couk.com/uef/thump7.txt Calculate the mega-tonnage odds per year www.perceptions.couk.com/chance.txt ----------------------------------------------- Our crowded Solar System http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/lists/OuterPlot.html http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/lists/InnerPlot.html http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/lists/InnerPlot2.html ----------------------------------------------- FURTHER REFERENCES GO - "search perceptions" - in SEARCH-ENGINE file-ID www.perceptions.couk.com/uef/complasens.txt