Risk perception:
NEOs vs Mir
by David Morrison *
Recent "the sky
is falling" news stories have dealt with the
fall from orbit of the Mir Space Station rather
than NEO impacts. The press and public are
clearly interested in the risk of falling
objects, but sometimes risks are perceived in
ways that are quite different from the hazard as
calculated numerically. The following is a very
rough estimate of risks, in "order of
magnitude" terms only. It is intended to be
illustrative, but certainly not precise. By risk
I mean the chance or probability that any
individual will be killed as a result of either a
spacecraft atmospheric entry or the impact of a
NEO.
Click here for the full
article
David Morrison * - NASA AMES
Research Center |
Small objects discovery and recovery
Is the next Tunguska
predictable?by Andrea
Milani*
Let
me first state clearly that I fully agree with
the goal of the Spaceguard Survey, namely
discovering the potential impactors with diameter
1 kilometer or larger. The smaller objects are a
minor fraction of the impact risk, since each one
of them would only be capable of local damage, if
any. Indeed the objects smaller than about 50
meters in diameter may not reach the ground...
Click
here for the full article
Andrea Milani *- Director of NEODyS
|
|
|
