mithridates
Joined: 03 Mar 2003
Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency
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 Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 4:43 am Post subject: Canadian / Albertan satellite may save the world |
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This is the kind of thing that nations with relatively small space budgets like Canada, Korea and Brazil should be doing:
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080629/NEOsat_asteroids_080630/20080630?hub=TopStories
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Scientists in Alberta have unveiled plans to launch a mini-satellite that will be able to track the skies day and night, and send back early warning of dangerous asteroids approaching Earth.
Currently, all asteroid tracking is done here on earth. The sun blocks astronomers' view and they can study asteroids only at night.
But the Canadian-designed NEOSat (Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite) is expected to launch in 2010 and its 15 cm-diameter telescope will do 24-hour tracking from space.
NEOSat is small -- described as the size of a large suitcase and weighing only 60 kilograms...The UofC has been working with a contractor since 1999 on planning the project, and chose this week to announce the launch...Today, June 30, is the 100th anniversary of Tunguska Event, when a 50-metre meteorite crashed into a remote region of Siberia.
Tunguska's asteroid devastated more than 7,800 square kilometers and wiped out 60 million trees, with an unleashed energy equivalent to a 15-megaton nuclear bomb.
Hildebrand says there are thousands of asteroids winging through space at least three times bigger than the Tunguska object, and one of them could possibly destroy a major Canadian city. |
It only comes out to a total of $12 for the whole thing, which is a great deal for a satellite that could save the world.
Now Korea should send a probe to land on Ceres and take pictures from the ground. Or maybe Japan. |
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