[ExI] (NASA.gov) NASA to chronicle close Earth flyby of asteroid (fwd)

[Anders Sandberg]

On 16/02/2013 01:59, Tomasz Rola wrote:
> Very unnerving is the realisation that despite whole NEO search, this 
> thing has caught the planet pants down (or I don't know how else to 
> sum this up). 

Nah, this is a too small impactor to be part of spaceguard and the other 
NEO programs (their cut-off is around 140 meters). This size will 
typically be picked up by radar or observations during the final plunge, 
if they are detected at all. As I argue in my commentary
http://blog.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk/2013/02/live-from-the-shooting-gallery-what-price-impact-safety/
looking for them is not a bad idea, but it is not a major way of 
improving planetary safety.


-- 
Anders Sandberg,
Future of Humanity Institute
Oxford Martin School
Faculty of Philosophy
Oxford University