Prayer and Asteroids

[kevincthieke]

Hello Tim & Co.

An official at NASA recently told a congressional committee that the agency lacks the funding or resources to protect us from a massive asteroid strike. Our best current defense, if one shows up on the horizon tomorrow, is to "pray." Here's an article from the San Francisco Chronicle, which gets into some of the details from a March 19, 2013 meeting of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee:

http://blog.sfgate.com/hottopics/2013/03/21/why-nasa-chief-said-prayer-is-the-way-to-go-with-an-asteroid/

Should we be concerned? Is this just a play for more funding? Can we get Bruce Willis to the launch pad, just in case?

[tim]

Hi Kevin,

Thanks for the link. I'm hoping to write about this topic soon. If the budget mentioned in the article is accurate, then it seems like a bargain--a few hundred million a year for a program that might save a city--or our civilization:
Detection efforts = $100 million a year.
Mitigation efforts = $2 billion between now and 2025.
Air Force Space Command = $200-300 million a year