Recent News From CCNET Concerning Near Earth Objects

Forum: Spacesettlers
Thread: Recent News From CCNET Concerning Near Earth Objects

# 7355 byalbonnici@... on Dec. 26, 2005, 1:18 a.m.

Member since 2021-10-03

Subject:
CCNet: NASA'S NEW NEO MANDATE: US
CONGRESS DELIVERS PERFECT
CHRISTMAS PRESENT
Date:
Wed, 21 Dec 2005 11:14:59 -0000
From:
"Peiser, Benny"
To:
"cambridge-conference"

CCNet 170/2005, 21 December 2005
NASA'S NEW NEO MANDATE: US CONGRESS DELIVERS PERFECT CHRISTMAS PRESENT
http://www.staff.livjm.ac.uk/spsbpeis/CCNet-21-12-05.htm

The Administrator shall plan, develop, and implement a Near-Earth Object
Survey
program to detect, track, catalogue, and characterize the physical
characteristics
of near-Earth objects equal to or greater than 100 meters in diameter in
order to
assess the threat of such near-Earth objects to the Earth. It shall be
the goal of
the Survey program to achieve 90 percent completion of its near-Earth
object
catalogue (based on statistically predicted populations of near-Earth
objects)
within 15 years after the date of enactment of this Act.
--NASA Authorization Act of 2005, House of Representatives, 17
December 2005

All things considered, this is the perfect Christmas present! NASA now
has the
full mandate and the necessary funds to gradually close the window of
cosmic
vulnerability. By 2030 the risk of dying from the impact of an unknown
asteroid
should be 1000 times lower than NASA estimated in the 1992 Spaceguard
Report
(at a time when less than 200 NEAs were known). We have the technology
now to
essentially solve the asteroid impact hazard for good within the next
one or
two generations. Gradually but surely, we are approaching a historical
milestone
where human ingenuity and technological progress will close the window
of cosmic
vulnerability forever.
--Benny Peiser, 21 December 2005

The news about the NASA Authorization Act, and in particular Section 321

addressing the George E. Brown, Jr. Near-Earth Object Survey Act, is
indeed
very welcome. If it is matched with adequate funding, the Minor Planet
Center
is ready to move from the 1-km towards the 0.1-km mandate.
--Brian Marsden, CCNet, 21 December 2005

(1) NASA'S NEW NEO MANDATE: US CONGRESS DELIVERS PERFECT CHRISTMAS
PRESENT
Benny Peiser

(2) GEORGE E. BROWN, JR. NEAR-EARTH OBJECT SURVEY
House of Representatives, 17 December 2005

(3) THE EVOLUTION OF THE GEORGE E. BROWN, JR. NEAR-EARTH OBJECT SURVEY
ACT
House of Representatives, 27 June 2005

(4) REMEMBERING GEORGE E. BROWN (1920 - 1999)
CCNet, 19 July 1999

(5) NASA'S NEW MANDATE AND THE MPC
Brian Marsden

(6) IS JPL SPOKESMAN CONFUSED ON LAGRANGE POINTS?
Jim Oberg

(7) THE SOLAR SYSTEM ISN'T GETTING CRAZIER - IT'S THE THEORISTS
Oliver Manuel

(8) IMPACT ORIGIN OF THE LONAR CRATER
Geological Society of India

(9) RE: "THE HOTTEST YEAR"
Sonja Boehmer-Christiansen

(10) AND FINALLY: DO YOU KNOW THE ONE ABOUT A LAWYER, A POLITICIAN AND
SANTA CLAUS?

=================(1) NEW NASA MANDATE: US CONGRESS DELIVERS PERFECT CHRISTMAS PRESENT

Benny Peiser

Last Saturday, the US House of Representatives passed the 2005 NASA
Authorization Bill.
What went completely unnoticed was the fact that Congress had just
delivered an amazing,
early Christmas present to the American people and our global village at
large: The 2005
NASA Authorization Bill includes a new NEO mandate that will
revolutionize NEO searches,
research and planetary defense initiatives. The Senate is expected to
approve the bill
later this month and President Bush is expected to sign it into law.

All in all, it would appear that the USA Congress has carefully listened
to the NEO community.
In an admirable decision, it has know mandated NASA to find 90% of all
Near-Earth Objects
(NEO) down to 100m in size! In addition, NASA has been mandated - for
the first time ever -
to assess the technological requirements for asteroid deflection.

The bill directs NASA to

"plan, develop, and implement a Near-Earth Object Survey program
to detect,
track, catalogue, and characterize the physical characteristics
of near-Earth
objects equal to or greater than 100 meters in diameter in order
to assess the
threat of such near-Earth objects to the Earth. It shall be the
goal of the
Survey program to achieve 90 percent completion of its
near-Earth object catalogue
(based on statistically predicted populations of near-Earth
objects) within 15
years after the date of enactment of this Act."

In many ways, the new Bill adopts most of the recommendations made by
NASA's The Science Definition Team back in 2003 (see
http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/neo/report.html). Commenting back then on the
Science Definition Team's report, my optimism has turned out to be on
the money:
"Accepting these recommendations would be NASA's perfect opportunity to
get back on their feet and show the world that American space policy has
neither lost its vision nor its no-nonsense approach that is
tremendously popular both in the U.S. and around the world."
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/asteroid_search_030910.html

The new bill authorizes $20 million each for NASA's fiscal years 2006
and 2007 - significantly more than the current NEO budget of $7 million
per year. This will also enable NASA to finally increase the funding for
the struggling Minor Planet Center. Given the 15 year time-line of the
new NASA mandate, the allocation of funds is slightly more generous than
the estimated price tag calculated in 2003 by the Science Definition
Team ($236 million).

All things considered, this is the perfect Christmas present! NASA now
has the full mandate and the necessary funds to gradually close the
window of cosmic vulnerability. The new goal should be achievable given
that two new, powerful search telescopes (Pan-STARRs, Discovery Channel
Telescope) will go live in the next couple of years. In addition,
Congress has also given the green light for space-based search efforts
in order to achieve the 90% target. Such space-based searches will be
required in any case if we want to find long-period comets well in
advance of their approach.

By 2030 the risk of dying from the impact of an unknown asteroid should
be 1000 times lower than NASA estimated in the 1992 Spaceguard Report
(at a time when less than 200 NEAs were known). We have the technology
now to essentially solve the asteroid impact hazard for good within the
next one or two generations. Gradually but surely, we are approaching a
historical milestone where human ingenuity and technological progress
will close the window of cosmic vulnerability forever.

The new mandate is a huge step forward, particular in view of the fact
that the European Space Agency, a couple of years ago, decided against
spending any funds on NEO search programmes. I am extremely pleased for
the NEO search community in the USA who have been doing almost all of
the drudgery in recent years. They deserve this new mandate which will
almost certainly revolutionize NEO searches, NEO research and planetary
defense initiatives.

A wise and visionary US Congress deserves our sincere thanks for helping
to make our world a saver place.

Benny Peiser
21 December 2005

============(2) GEORGE E. BROWN, JR. NEAR-EARTH OBJECT SURVEY

House of Representatives, 17 December 2005
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/cpquery/?&dbname=cp109&sid=cp109LH9vq&refer=&r_n=hr173.109&item=&sel=TOC_78735&

House Report 109-173 - NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
AUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2005
SEC. 321. GEORGE E. BROWN, JR. NEAR-EARTH OBJECT SURVEY.

(a) Short Title- This section may be cited as the `George E. Brown, Jr.
Near-Earth Object Survey Act'.

(b) Findings- The Congress makes the following findings:

(1) Near-Earth objects pose a serious and credible threat to humankind,
as many scientists believe that a major asteroid or comet was
responsible for the mass extinction of the majority of the Earth's
species, including the dinosaurs, nearly 65,000,000 years ago.

(2) Similar objects have struck the Earth or passed through the Earth's
atmosphere several times in the Earth's history and pose a similar
threat in the future.

(3) Several such near-Earth objects have only been discovered within
days of the objects' closest approach to Earth, and recent discoveries
of such large objects indicate that many large near-Earth objects remain
undiscovered.

(4) The efforts taken to date by NASA for detecting and characterizing
the hazards of near-Earth objects are not sufficient to fully determine
the threat posed by such objects to cause widespread destruction and
loss of life.

(c) Definitions- For purposes of this section the term `near-Earth
object' means an asteroid or comet with a perihelion distance of less
that 1.3 Astronomical Units from the Sun.

(d) Near-Earth Object Survey-

(1) SURVEY PROGRAM- The Administrator shall plan, develop, and implement
a Near-Earth Object Survey program to detect, track, catalogue, and
characterize the physical characteristics of near-Earth objects equal to
or greater than 100 meters in diameter in order to assess the threat of
such near-Earth objects to the Earth. It shall be the goal of the Survey
program to achieve 90 percent completion of its near-Earth object
catalogue (based on statistically predicted populations of near-Earth
objects) within 15 years after the date of enactment of this Act.

(2) AMENDMENTS- Section 102 of the National Aeronautics and Space Act of
1958 (42 U.S.C. 2451) is amended--

(A) by redesignating subsection (g) as subsection (h);

(B) by inserting after subsection (f) the following new subsection:

`(g) The Congress declares that the general welfare and security of the
United States require that the unique competence of the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration be directed to detecting, tracking,
cataloguing, and characterizing near-Earth asteroids and comets in order
to provide warning and mitigation of the potential hazard of such
near-Earth objects to the Earth.'; and

(C) in subsection (h), as so redesignated by subparagraph (A) of this
paragraph, by striking `and (f)' and inserting `(f), and (g)'.

(3) ANNUAL REPORT- The Administrator shall transmit to the Congress, not
later than February 28 of each of the next 5 years beginning after the
date of enactment of this Act, a report that provides the following:

(A) A summary of all activities taken pursuant to paragraph (1) for the
previous fiscal year.

(B) A summary of expenditures for all activities pursuant to paragraph
(1) for the previous fiscal year.

(4) INITIAL REPORT- The Administrator shall transmit to Congress not
later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act an initial
report that provides the following:

(A) An analysis of possible alternatives that NASA may employ to carry
out the Survey program, including ground-based and space-based
alternatives with technical descriptions.

(B) A recommended option and proposed budget to carry out the Survey
program pursuant to the recommended option.

(C) An analysis of possible alternatives that NASA could employ to
divert an object on a likely collision course with Earth.

============(3) THE EVOLUTION OF THE GEORGE E. BROWN, JR. NEAR-EARTH OBJECT SURVEY
ACT

House of Representatives, 27 June 2005
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/cpquery/T?&report=hr158&dbname9&

109TH CONGRESS

REPORT
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session

--GEORGE E. BROWN, JR. NEAR-EARTH OBJECT SURVEY ACT

JUNE 27, 2005- Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed

Mr. BOEHLERT, from the Committee on Science, submitted the following

R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 1022]

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

The Committee on Science, to whom was referred the bill (H.R. 1022) to
provide for a Near-Earth Object Survey program to detect, track,
catalogue, and characterize certain near-earth asteroids and comets,
having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment
and recommend that the bill do pass.

CONTENTS Page
I. Purpose of the Bill 2
II. Background and Need for the Legislation 2
III. Summary of Hearings 2
IV. Committee Actions 4
V. Summary of Major Provisions of the Bill 4
VI. Section-By-Section Analysis (By Title and Section) 4
VII. Committee Views 5
VIII. Cost Estimate 5
IX. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate 6
X. Compliance with Public Law 104-4 (Unfunded Mandates) 6
XI. Committee Oversight Findings and Recommendations 7
XII. Statement on General Performance Goals and Objectives 7
XIII. Constitutional Authority Statement 7
XIV. Federal Advisory Committee Statement 7
XV. Congressional Accountability Act 7
XVI. Statement on Preemption of State, Local, or Tribal Law 7
XVII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, As Reported 7
XVIII. Committee Recommendations 8
XIX. Proceedings of Full Committee Markup 9

I. PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of the bill is to authorize the Administrator of the
National Space and Aeronautics Administration (NASA) to establish a
Near-Earth Object Survey Program to detect, track, catalogue, and
characterize certain near-Earth asteroids and comets.

II. BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR THE LEGISLATION
Near-Earth objects pose a serious and credible threat. Recent press
accounts of asteroids passing close to the Earth have raised public
awareness of the possibility that a near-Earth object could one day hit
the Earth with potentially catastrophic consequences. The monitoring and
tracking of near-Earth objects will provide advanced warning of
potential threats to the Earth, as well as promote advances in the field
of astronomy.

III. SUMMARY OF HEARINGS

On October 3, 2002, the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics held a
hearing to examine the status of nearby and potentially hazardous
asteroids and comets known as near-Earth objects (`NEOs'). Witnesses
included: Dr. Edward Weiler, NASA Associate Administrator for Space
Science; Dr. David Morrison, Senior Scientist, NASA Ames Research
Center; Brigadier General Simon `Pete' Worden, U.S. Air Force; Dr. Brian
Marsden, Director, Minor Planet Center, Smithsonian Astrophysical
Observatory; and Dr. Joseph Burns, Irving Porter Church Professor of
Engineering and Astronomy, Cornell University.

The hearing addressed the risks posed by NEOs, the status of the current
U.S. survey effort for NEOs, recommendations for extending current
survey goals to include smaller, more numerous objects, and the
challenges of data management. The hearing also examined NASA's current
goal of identifying and tracking 90 percent of near-Earth asteroids
larger than one kilometer in size by 2008. In addition, the hearing
explored the question of next steps beyond this survey goal, including
the costs, benefits, and technical challenges of extending the survey to
include smaller, yet still potentially very hazardous, objects. Agency
roles and interagency cooperation in the NEO survey effort were
discussed, as well. Finally, the hearing addressed the role of amateur
astronomers in this effort.

Dr. Morrison testified on the threat of collisions with asteroids and
comets. He stated that the greatest risk today is not from objects large
enough to cause global extinctions (such as is believed to have caused
the extinction of the dinosaurs), but rather from objects large enough
to perturb the Earth's climate on a global scale by injecting large
quantities of dust into the stratosphere. Objects of about one kilometer
in size pose such a threat and are thus the target of the current survey
for NEOs. He stated that the next logical goal is to search for objects
that could kill millions of people upon impact. Objects 200-300 meters
in diameter, for example, pose the greatest tsunami danger. Dr. Morrison
emphasized that the goal of the current survey is not to find objects on
their final plunge toward Earth, but rather to identify objects in
nearby orbits for future monitoring.

Dr. Ed Weiler testified about progress of NASA's current ground-based
survey for NEOs, given the current goal of identifying 90 percent of
near-Earth asteroids larger than one kilometer in size by 2008. Dr.
Weiler stated that there are estimated to be about 1,000 such asteroids,
and that the six groups currently funded by NASA for such research have
together discovered over 600 objects and are ahead of the predicted
schedule. Thus, it is likely that the 2008 goal will be reached. As for
extending the survey goal to comprehensively include objects smaller
than one kilometer in size, Dr. Weiler felt that to pursue such a goal
would be premature. Dr. Weiler stated that if such an extended survey
effort were conducted from the ground, then NASA should not play a part
in the survey effort because NASA is primarily an agency for space-based
missions. He stated that NASA's role is better suited for detailed study
of particular asteroids and comets, such as the NEAR-Shoemaker mission
and the upcoming DAWN, Deep Impact, and Stardust missions. He also
stated that new technology from the Nuclear Systems Initiative and the
In-Space Propulsion Initiative should benefit future missions for
detailed studies of asteroids and comets.

Dr. Joseph Burns testified on the recommendations regarding NEOs from
the recent National Research Council report entitled `New Frontiers in
the Solar System.' One of the primary recommendations in the report
calls for NASA and the National Science Foundation to contribute equally
to the construction and operation of a Large-aperture Synoptic Survey
Telescope (LSST), a 6.5-meter-effective-diameter, very wide field
telescope that could produce a digital map of the visible sky every
week. Dr. Burns stated that the LSST could locate 90 percent of all NEOs
down to 300 meters in size, enable computations of their orbits, and
permit assessment of their threat to Earth. Dr. Burns testified that
NASA should continue to be involved in ground-based NEO surveys even if
the survey goals were extended, because of NASA's experience with
ground-based telescopes.

Dr. Brian Marsden testified on the management of the data reported daily
to the Minor Planet Center of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
regarding asteroids and comets. NEOs comprise less than one percent of
the observations of asteroids. Dr. Marsden testified that the Minor
Planet Center collects reports from around the world regarding
detections of NEOs, other asteroids, and comets, and publishes confirmed
detections electronically in the Minor Planet Electronic Circular. Dr.
Marsden stated that augmentation of the Minor Planet Center staff is
essential if the number of asteroid discoveries continues to increase,
as would be expected with an extension of the NEO survey goals to
include objects of smaller sizes. Dr. Marsden testified that most
follow-up tracking observations of NEOs are made by amateur astronomers.
He stated that amateurs also need ready access to electronic equipment
to make their work possible. Dr. Marsden testified that attention should
also be given to long-period comets, which could pose an even greater
risk than asteroids because they are less predictable.

Brig. General Worden testified that the U.S. military is developing
sensitive surveillance technologies that could serve in a `dual-use'
capacity by contributing to the detection of NEOs. Such technology would
augment the current efforts of U.S. military telescopes used by NASA in
NEO projects such as LINEAR. Gen. Worden stated that while developing
mitigation strategies should be a high priority, the `command and
control' structure is even more important, providing timely coordination
of mitigation plans. Gen. Worden stated that the U.S. military could
serve in such a coordination role. Gen. Worden testified that asteroids
explode in the atmosphere roughly once a month (as detected by military
surveillance equipment), and that such explosions could be mistaken for
a nuclear detonation, sparking an unwarranted international response. He
recommended a `clearinghouse' structure for quick worldwide notification
when the U.S. military detects such an asteroid impact in the
atmosphere.

IV. COMMITTEE ACTIONS

On June 9, 2004, Rep. Rohrabacher introduced H.R. 4544, the George E.
Brown Near-Earth Object Survey Act, a bill to provide for a NEO Survey
program to detect, track, catalogue, and characterize certain near-Earth
asteroids and comets. The bill was referred to the Subcommittee on Space
and Aeronautics. No further action was taken on the bill during the
108th Congress.

On March 1, 2005, Rep. Rohrabacher introduced H.R. 1022, a bill with the
same short title and stated purposes as H.R. 4544. The bill was referred
to the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics. On May 16, 2005, the
Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics discharged the bill. On May 17,
2005, the Committee on Science considered H.R. 1022. The motion to adopt
the bill without amendment was agreed to by voice vote. Ranking Member
Gordon moved that the Committee favorably report the bill, H.R. 1022, to
the House with the recommendation that the bill as amended do pass and
that staff be instructed to make technical and conforming changes to the
bill as amended and prepare the legislative report and that the Chairman
take all necessary steps to bring the bill before the House for
consideration. With a quorum vote present, the motion was agreed to by a
voice vote.

V. SUMMARY OF MAJOR PROVISIONS OF THE AMENDMENT

The bill directs the Administrator of NASA to plan, develop, and
implement a Near-Earth Object Survey program to detect, track,
catalogue, and characterize the physical characteristics of near-Earth
asteroids and comets equal to or greater than 100 meters in diameter in
order to assess the threat of such near-Earth objects in striking the
Earth. The bill amends the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 to
include a Congressional declaration that the general welfare and
security of the United States require that the unique competence of NASA
in science and engineering systems be directed to detecting, tracking,
cataloguing, and characterizing near-Earth asteroids and comets in order
to provide warning and mitigation of the potential hazard of such
near-Earth objects impacting the Earth. The bill authorizes to be
appropriated $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 and 2007.

FULL REPORT at
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/cpquery/T?&report=hr158&dbname9&

=========(4) REMEMBERING GEORGE E. BROWN (1920 - 1999)

CCNet, 19 July 1999
http://abob.libs.uga.edu/bobk/ccc/cc071999.html

>From David Morrison

NEO News (7/17/99) George Brown

Dear friends and students of NEOs:

It is with sadness that I report the death of George E. Brown of the
U.S.
House of Representatives, the strongest supporter of Spaceguard within
the
Congress. Representative Brown died in Washington on July 15 of
complications following heart surgery.

George Brown was first elected to the Congress in 1962. For many years
he chaired the Committee on Science and Technology in the House, and at
the time of his death he was the ranking Democrat on the Committee. He
held a degree in physics from the University of California at Los
Angeles, and he often described himself as a scientist (one of very few
in the Congress).

In addition to his broad support over many years of scientific research
and space exploration, George Brown took a very real personal interest
in the NEO impact hazard. Under his leadership, the Congress first
asked NASA to study this issue in 1991, leading to the Spaceguard
Report of 1992. After the 1994 impact of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 into
Jupiter, his Committee challenged NASA to accelerarate plans for
Spaceguard and to develop a program plan to find 90% of NEOs larger
than 1 km within a decade. We will all miss his support and friendship.

Following are the remarks made by Mr. Brown at the 1993 Congressional
hearings on the NEO impact hazard, as well as the key language from his
Committee that defined the program that we now call Spaceguard.

David Morrison

Congressional Hearings, March 24 1993

Introductory statement by Mr. Brown:

For Members [of Congress] who are hearing about this subject [the
impact threat] for the first time, I know that the tendency is to be
somewhat skeptical. And, one could certainly ask why this subject
should be of interest to the Congress? None of our friends, relatives,
or constituents have ever been killed by an asteroid. It has probably
been hundreds of thousands of years since the last time a really big
asteroid hit the Earth.

I think it is the duty of the Congress to provide periodic oversight of
all matters that relate to the health and welfare of the citizens of
this country. This is particularly true for issues where Congressional
oversight might spur the Administration forward to taking some
appropriate action. I believe that the topic of Earth-threatening
asteroids is just such an issue.

I hope that [these hearings] will help create increasing awareness of
this issue within the international astronomical community. Indeed, the
problem of a potential large asteroid strike is not just a U.S.problem;
it is a worldwide problem. I believe that all industrialized nations of
the Earth should cooperate on a program to discover and track the large
asteroids that can pose a serious threat to our home planet.

[Today] the emerging scientific consensus seems to be that it is no
longer a question "If the Earth will again be hit with a large
asteroid?"; the question is now "When will the Earth again be hit by a
large asteroid?"

If we invest the time and resources to find these things, we can remove
the guesswork. We will know ahead of time when we are at risk, so that
we can take appropriate actions to deflect the threatening asteroids
years in advance.

I believe that the initiatives we are now getting underway to deal with
this issue in a thorough and scientific manner have the potential for
being one of the most important things that mankind has ever done.

If some day in the future we discover well in advance that an asteroid
that is big enough to cause a mass extinction is going to hit the
Earth, and then we alter the course of that asteroid so that it does
not hit us, it will be one of the most important accomplishments in all
of human history.

1991 statement from the House Committee on Science and Technology as
enacted in the NASA Authorization Bill:

The chances of the Earth being struck by a large asteroid are extremely
small, but since the consequences of such a collision are extremely
large, the Committee believes it is only prudent to assess the nature
of the threat and prepare to deal with it. We have the technology to
detect such asteroids and to prevent their collision with the Earth.

The Committee therefore directs that NASA undertake two workshop
studies. The first would define a program for dramatically increasing
the detection rate of Earth-orbit-crossing asteroids; this study would
address the costs, schedule, technology, and equipment required for
precise definition of the orbits of such bodies. The second study would
define systems and technologies to alter the orbits of such asteroids
or to destroy them if they should pose a danger to life on Earth. The
Committee recommends international participation in these studies and
suggests that they be conducted within a year of the passage of this
legislation.

1994 statement from the House Committee on Science and Technology
passed as an amendment to the House version of the NASA Authorization
bill:

Catalogue of Earth-Threatening Comets and Asteroids

(a) Requirement -- To the extent practicable, the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration, in coordination with the Department of
Defense and the space agencies of other countries, shall identify and
catalogue within 10 years the orbital characteristics of all comets and
asteroids that are greater than 1 km in diameter and are in an orbit
around the sun that crosses the orbit of the Earth.

=========== LETTERS ==========
(5) NASA'S NEW MANDATE AND THE MPC

Brian Marsden

Dear Benny,

The news about the NASA Authorization Act, and in particular
Section 321
addressing the George E. Brown, Jr. Near-Earth Object Survey Act, is
indeed
very welcome. If it is matched with adequate funding, the Minor Planet
Center
is ready to move from the 1-km towards the 0.1-km mandate.

Regards
Brian

=============(6) IS JPL SPOKESMAN CONFUSED ON LAGRANGE POINTS?

Jim Oberg

Nice article on 'Stardust' in a Utah newspaper with comment:
(http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635169942,00.html)
JPL: "Stardust is the first U.S. space mission dedicated solely
to the exploration of a comet, and the first robotic mission
designed to return extraterrestrial material from outside
the orbit of the moon," says a JPL/NASA Web site.

The regular press release on the landing does not make that claim
(http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/science/feature002.html). I couldn't find
those words during a quick search.

As seen at
http://www.space-technology.com/projects/genesis/genesis2.html
the 'Genesis' trajectory lingered at Sun-Earth L1, and passed through SE
L2
on its way back to Earth (to create a daylight landing). Both
points are approx four times the distance from Earth as the Moon.
So the alleged NASA/JPL assertion is not accurate.

Now 'Stardust' really REALLY got a lot farther away, it's certainly true

(see http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/images/mission/traj_s.gif), but
perhaps the
JPL press official confused Sun-Earth L1 with Earth-Moon L1 (which
really IS
not quite as far away as the Moon) when writing this passage. It can
happen.

A nice graphic comparing both sets of near-Earth points is at
http://www.cds.caltech.edu/~shane/superhighway/earth-moon-vicinity.jpg
and all the Sun-Earth L points at http://newton.ex.ac.uk/features/l3.gif

Jim Oberg

============(7) THE SOLAR SYSTEM ISN'T GETTING CRAZIER - IT'S THE THEORISTS

Oliver Manuel

Hi, Benny.

Contrary to the report in CCNet 169/2005 (20 December 2005), the solar
system is not
getting crazier.

New observations simply confirm how crazy astronomers and planetary
scientists have been
to cling to the idea that a cloud of hydrogen and helium formed the Sun
and its planetary
system - after four decades of experimental measurements that falsified
this story.

Many of the experimental findings are summarized in this paper "Isotopes
tell Sun's origin
and operation."

http://arxiv.org/pdf/astro-ph/0510001

With kind regards,

Oliver K. Manuel

============(8) IMPACT ORIGIN OF THE LONAR CRATER

Geological Society of India

Dear Dr. Peiser,

A recent paper published in the Journal of Geophysical Research
(Vol.110, p.B12402-B12412)
gives a full description of the structural effects of the Lonar Crater
is a rare terrestrial
crater formed entirely in basalt. It provides an excellent opportunity
to study the impact
deformation in target basalt. The study documents the impact
deformational structures in
the massive basalts, where basalt shows upward turning of the flow
sequence resulting in
a circular deformation pattern. The study of the structural aspects is a
new addition to
the volume of evidence in favour of impact origin. Many figures
accompanying the paper are
of good quality and present incontrovertible evidence for the impact
origin of the Lonar
crater.

B P Radhakrishna

============(9) RE: "THE HOTTEST YEAR"

Sonja Boehmer-Christiansen

Benny, There is surely something wrong with:

"The Hadley Climate Centre of the University of East Anglia has
claimed that
the year 2005 was the hottest year in the Northern Hemisphere
since records
began. They then claim that this can be attributed to increased
human emissions
of greenhouse gases. If this were so, you would expect that the
temperature
rise would be more or less uniform over the whole Hemisphere."
(Vincent Gray)

The Hadley Centre is closely associated with the UK MET Office, not East

Anglia (unless this changed recently)and lives, well, somewhere in the
West
Country, no longer in Bracknell....but far away from Norwich; and I do
not
see why emission increases should lead to uniform temperature rises. The

usual factors causing climate variability do not stop because emission
increase...

Sonja

============(10) AND FINALLY: DO YOU KNOW THE ONE ABOUT A LAWYER, A POLITICIAN AND
SANTA CLAUS?

A kindly lawyer, a perfectly honest politician, and Santa Claus all saw
a 20 note
on the street. Which one picked it up? Santa Claus! (The other two don't
exist).
--Hat tip, http://www.adamsmith.org/blog/

subscribe or unsubscribe,
send an e-mail to: listserver@... ("subscribe
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Subject:
CCNet: "NASA TO SAVE THE WORLD"
Date:
Thu, 22 Dec 2005 09:06:59 -0000
From:
"Peiser, Benny"
To:
"cambridge-conference"

CCNet 171/2005, 22 December 2005
"NASA TO SAVE THE WORLD"

SPACE chiefs have been ordered to save the Earth from a devastating
asteroid impact.
Nasa is to find and track all space rocks more than 100 meters wide. The
space agency
is under orders to work out how to deflect any on a collision course
with us, as in the Bruce
Willis movie Armageddon. Nasa had been hunting such Near Earth Objects
of 1km or more
in size. But the US Congress now recognises that an impact by an
asteroid just a few
hundred yards wide could wipe out a city or cause a deadly tsunami.
--Paul Sutherland, The Sun, 22 January 2005

(1) "NASA TO SAVE THE WORLD"
Paul Sutherland, The Sun, 22 January 2005

(2) NASA CLARIFICATION ON THE GEORGE E. BROWN, JR. NEAR-EARTH OBJECT
SURVEY ACT
Lindley Johnson

(3) NEW NASA MANDATE: US CONGRESS DELIVERS PERFECT CHRISTMAS PRESENT
Benny Peiser

(4) CONGRESS APPROVES NASA AUTHORIZATION BILL
Space Ref, 21 December 2005

(5) NEW TELESCOPE SYSTEM TO SCAN FOR ASTEROID THREATS
MSNBC, 22 January 2005

(6) NASA PREPARES FOR RETURN OF STARDUST MISSION
NASA News

(7) NEW NASA MANDATE WILL MAKE EDWARD TELLER SMILING DOWN FROM HEAVEN
Dr. LR Fuka

(8) SEASON'S GREATINGS FROM THE RUSSIAN NEO COMMUNITY
Anatoly V. Zaitsev

(9) RE: HADLEY CENTRE
Vincent Gray

(10) AND FINALLY: DAMMIT, BENNY!
E.P. Grondine

========(1) "NASA TO SAVE THE WORLD"

The Sun, 22 January 2005
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2005590356,00.html

By PAUL SUTHERLAND
Sun Spaceman

SPACE chiefs have been ordered to save the Earth from a devastating
asteroid impact.
Nasa is to find and track all space rocks more than 100 meters wide.

The space agency is under orders to work out how to deflect any on a
collision course
with us, as in the Bruce Willis movie Armageddon.

Scores of asteroids have orbits that would bring them perilously close
to Earth.
Astronomers fear one called Apophis could hit us in 2036. The
300-yard-wide rock will
just miss us on a pass in 2009.

Nasa had been hunting such Near Earth Objects of 1km or more in size.

But the US Congress now recognises that an impact by an asteroid just a
few hundred yards
wide could wipe out a city or cause a deadly tsunami.

And it is pumping 40million over the next two years into the doomsday
project. A space
rock is believed to have wiped out the dinosaurs 65million years ago.

UK asteroid expert Benny Peiser said: "We have the technology to solve
the asteroid hazard
within two generations."

========(2) NASA CLARIFICATION ON THE GEORGE E. BROWN, JR. NEAR-EARTH OBJECT
SURVEY ACT

Lindley Johnson

Benny,

I hate to throw water on everyone's enthusiasm here, but there's a
saying here in the States,
"It ain't over till it's over".

The NASA Authorization bill to which you refer has not yet been passed
by Congress - it has
passed the House, but has been put on hold in the Senate for unrelated
reasons. If you've been
following US politics this fall, given everything backed up on the
Senate agenda this year,
including Defense Appropriations, who knows when they may get back
around to this one.

Furthermore, contrary to you said in your CCNet below, there is no
funding identified for any
of this. The $20 million you cite was in an earlier version of a House
bill, but is not in the
final version and, more importantly, is nowhere to be seen in the NASA
budget or FY2006
Appropriations Bill. Therefore, this "Christmas Present", if eventually
passed, will quickly
turn into a lump of coal for NASA as we struggle to respond to another
"unfunded mandate" from
Congress. Granted that the language only directs that NASA perform an
"Analysis of Alternatives"
in 2006 and recommend an approach to Congress next year, but even that
costs some additional
money to perform.

One good thing that will come out if eventually passed is that the
language will clearly make
NASA responsible for the capabilities to detect, track and characterize
the potential hazard of
NEOs, hopefully ending what has been an oftenly heated debate about the
issue over here.

Finally on this subject, a couple of corrections. In the final version
of the bill the minimum
size for the survey was changed back to 140 meters to correspond with
what came out of the NASA
Science Definition Team report in 2003. And the current NASA budget for
NEOs is only $4M per
year, not $7M.

Regards,
Lindley
Lindley N. Johnson
NEO Observation Program Scientist
NASA HQ / SMD
202 358-2314
Lindley.Johnson-1@...

EDITOR'S NOTE: Dear Lindley, Many thanks for the clarification which is
much appreciated.
I understand that the NASA Authorization Bill was approved last night by
Congress and is
expected to be passed by the Senate later this month. It might be
delayed, as you say.
But once the new Bill is signed by President Bush, it would appear to me
that NASA will
have no option but to implement the new NEO survey mandate. The
estimated price tag for
achieving the new 90% target was calculated in 2003 by the Science
Definition Team to be
around $236 million. To achieve the goal in the mandated 15-years period
would inevitably
lead to a significant increase of NASA's NEO budget. In addition, one
could argue that the
new Bill also calls for new funds to assessment NEO deflection
capabilities that are now
clearly part of NASA's remit. Anyway - all of this is excellent news
indeed, and I can
only congratulate the US law-makers for listening to NASA and the NEO
research community.

Wishing you Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Benny

========(3) NEW NASA MANDATE: US CONGRESS DELIVERS PERFECT CHRISTMAS PRESENT
http://www.staff.livjm.ac.uk/spsbpeis/CCNet-21-12-05.htm

Benny Peiser

The bill directs NASA to
"plan, develop, and implement a Near-Earth Object Survey program
to detect,
track, catalogue, and characterize the physical characteristics
of near-Earth
objects equal to or greater than 100 meters in diameter in order
to assess the
threat of such near-Earth objects to the Earth. It shall be the
goal of the
Survey program to achieve 90 percent completion of its
near-Earth object catalogue
(based on statistically predicted populations of near-Earth
objects) within 15
years after the date of enactment of this Act."

In many ways, the new Bill adopts most of the recommendations made by
NASA's Science
Definition Team back in 2003 (see
http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/neo/report.html). Commenting back
then on the Science Definition Team's report, my optimism has turned out
to be on the money:
"Accepting these recommendations would be NASA's perfect opportunity to
get back on their
feet and show the world that American space policy has neither lost its
vision nor its
no-nonsense approach that is tremendously popular both in the U.S. and
around the world."
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/asteroid_search_030910.html

The new bill authorizes $20 million each for NASA's fiscal years 2006
and 2007 - significantly
more than the current NEO budget of $7 million per year. This will also
enable NASA to finally
increase the funding for the struggling Minor Planet Center. Given the
15 year time-line of the
new NASA mandate, the allocation of funds is slightly more generous than
the estimated price
tag calculated in 2003 by the Science Definition Team ($236 million).

All things considered, this is the perfect Christmas present! NASA now
has the full mandate and
the necessary funds to gradually close the window of cosmic
vulnerability. The new goal should
be achievable given that two new, powerful search telescopes
(Pan-STARRS, Discovery Channel
Telescope) will go live in the next couple of years. In addition,
Congress has also given the
green light for space-based search efforts in order to achieve the 90%
target. Such space-based
searches will be required in any case if we want to find long-period
comets well in advance of
their approach.

By 2030 the risk of dying from the impact of an unknown asteroid should
be 1000 times lower
than NASA estimated in the 1992 Spaceguard Report (at a time when less
than 200 NEAs were known).
We have the technology now to essentially solve the asteroid impact
hazard for good within the
next one or two generations. Gradually but surely, we are approaching a
historical milestone
where human ingenuity and technological progress will close the window
of cosmic vulnerability
forever.

The new mandate is a huge step forward, particular in view of the fact
that the European Space
Agency, a couple of years ago, decided against spending any funds on NEO
search programmes. I
am extremely pleased for the NEO search community in the USA who have
been doing almost all of
the drudgery in recent years. They deserve this new mandate which will
almost certainly
revolutionize NEO searches, NEO research and planetary defense
initiatives.

A wise and visionary US Congress deserves our sincere thanks for helping
to make our world a
safer place.

Benny Peiser
21 December 2005

========(4) CONGRESS APPROVES NASA AUTHORIZATION BILL

Space Ref, 21 December 2005
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid594

PRESS RELEASE
Date Released: Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Source: Sen. Hutchinson

WASHINGTON - The Senate tonight passed the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration Act
of 2005, legislation authored by Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX),
Chairman of the Senate
Commerce Subcommittee on Science and Space. The legislation authorizes
NASA for Fiscal Years
2007 and 2008, establishes a policy objective of uninterrupted U.S.
spaceflight capability
and requires completion of the International Space Station (ISS). It
has been reconciled
with the House version and will now be sent to President Bush to be
signed into law.

FULL REPORT at http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid594

=======(5) NEW TELESCOPE SYSTEM TO SCAN FOR ASTEROID THREATS

MSNBC, 22 January 2005

Smaller, dimmer objects often overlooked by other scans

By Robert A. Myers, space.com

HONOLULU - The solar system is about to look a lot more crowded.

A group of telescopes using the world's biggest digital cameras will
soon start scanning
the sky from the Hawaiian Islands, tracking down thousands of the
smaller, dimmer and over
looked objects in the sun's neighborhood. The reason? Hunting for those
dangerous space
rocks that still elude detection.

When fully operational, the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid
Response System (Pan-STARRS)
project will deeply scan most of the night sky several times a month.
About three-quarters
of the sky are visible from the Hawaiian Islands, and Pan-STARRS will
use four linked
telescopes connected to its enormous cameras to take broad pictures of
unprecedented detail.

Objects as dim as 24th magnitude - 250 times fainter than objects
detected by the current
champ in asteroid spotting LINEAR - will pop out of the background and
be analyzed for their
threat potential.

In January of 2006 the first of the four will see first light, looking
forward to when the
entire system is operational in 2009. Pan-STARRS will bolster the
Earth's early warning system
for threats from asteroids and comets - a congressionally directed
program that currently
consists of LINEAR (Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research), LONEOS
(Lowell Observatory Near
Earth Object Search), NEAT (Near Earth Asteroid Tracking) and
Spacewatch.

Dr. Nick Kaiser of the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy
(IfA) is chief scientist
on the project, and has taken it in a slightly different direction that
first envisioned.

"(The National Academy of Sciences) had in mind a single ~6m (about 18
ft.) telescope but we
had been playing around with the idea of doing this with a cluster of
smaller telescopes, for
reasons of cost and speed of construction, and thought that these had a
competitive advantage,"
says Kaiser. Instead, Pan-STARRS will use a collection of four 1.8m
(about five ft.)
telescopes, set to take wide images and linked via computer to yield a
final image as detailed
as if a single 3.6m (about 12 ft.) telescope were used.

Big cameras, tiny targets

As the first telescope in the array, named PS1, nears completion, work
continues on the four
revolutionary cameras that will make the work possible. Digital cameras,
which use no film and
send their data directly to a computer for analysis, have been the
standard for professional
astronomy for years. But the ability to quickly scan large swaths of the
sky for the faint
lights of possible threats is beyond any current models. The new units
have to be bigger,
better, faster and cheaper.

And Kaiser says they will be.

"The goal that we set was to build cameras with 10 times as many pixels,
that could be read
out 10 times as fast (to enable us to rapidly scan the sky), and for one
tenth the current
cost per pixel! Amazingly, the IfA detector group (along with MIT's
Lincoln Laboratory) are
rapidly closing in on this goal," he said. "The cameras will each have
1.4 billion pixels
and will be read out in a few seconds as the telescope slews to a new
target."

Photographed through the unusually wide-angled telescopes, each 30-60
second exposure will
take up about 2 Gigabytes of data, and take about a minute for the
computers to process. At
this rate, Pan-STARRS will be collecting about 10 Terabytes of data each
night.

"There has been rapid evolution in wide field (digital cameras) in the
last decade or so,"
Kaiser explained, "with major contributions from the Hawaii detector
group, and many people
realized that the time was right for a major leap forward."

Danger, falling rocks

When these "wide screen" high-definition images finally start rolling
in, turning the trickle
of new potential dangers into a torrent, it could easily overwhelm the
established system for
handling them.

"The current mode of operations for asteroid/NEO searches is for the
various observing projects
(and amateurs) to send their detections to the Minor Planet Center ...
(which) acts as a
clearing house and they determine orbits for the objects and make these
available to the
general community," said Kaiser. "A problem with this model for
Pan-STARRS is that our rate
of detections will be much higher and would swamp the current system."

Kaiser says they plan on handling most of the analysis of orbits
themselves. But it's all
part of how hunting for these dangerous objects have changed in recent
years, as more sensitive
instruments come online, and public awareness (and occasional paranoia)
grows.

"What happens is that every so often an object is detected that has a
small, but not
vanishingly small, chance of hitting the earth some time in the future,"
Kaiser explained. But
one observation is never enough to rule out danger, and it takes the
work of observers across
the globe to nail down a new object's path - a process that can hardly
be done in secret.

"While it may seem confusing to the public," Kaiser explained, "that
discoveries of potentially
hazardous asteroids are announced and then fairly rapidly declared to be
non-hazardous, this
is in fact inevitable."

========(6) NASA PREPARES FOR RETURN OF STARDUST MISSION

NASA News

Dec. 21, 2005

Dwayne Brown/Merrilee Fellows
Headquarters, Washington
(202) 358-1726; (818) 393-075
D.C. Agle

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
(818) 393-9011

RELEASE: 05-562

NASA PREPARES FOR RETURN OF INTERSTELLAR CARGO

NASA's Stardust mission is nearing Earth after a 2.88 billion mile
round-trip journey to return cometary and interstellar dust particles
back to Earth. Scientists believe the cargo will help provide answers
to fundamental questions about comets and the origins of the solar
system.

The velocity of the sample return capsule, as it enters the Earth's
atmosphere at 28,860 mph, will be the fastest of any human-made
object on record. It surpasses the record set in May 1969 during the
return of the Apollo 10 command module. The capsule is scheduled to
return on Jan. 15.

"Comets are some of the most informative occupants of the solar
system. The more we can learn from science exploration missions like
Stardust, the more we can prepare for human exploration to the moon,
Mars and beyond," said Mary Cleave, associate administrator for
NASA's Science Mission Directorate.

Several events must occur before scientists can retrieve cosmic
samples from the capsule landing at the U.S. Air Force Utah Test and
Training Range, southwest of Salt Lake City. Mission navigators will
command the spacecraft to perform targeting maneuvers on Jan. 5 and
13. On Jan. 15 at 12:57 a.m. EST, Stardust will release its sample
return capsule. Four hours later, the capsule will enter Earth's
atmosphere 410,000 feet over the Pacific Ocean.

The capsule will release a drogue parachute at approximately 105,000
feet. Once the capsule has descended to about 10,000 feet, the main
parachute will deploy. The capsule is scheduled to land on the range
at 5:12 a.m. EST.

After the capsule lands, if conditions allow, a helicopter crew will
fly it to the U.S. Army Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, for initial
processing. If weather does not allow helicopters to fly, special
off-road vehicles will retrieve the capsule and return it to Dugway.
Samples will be moved to a special laboratory at NASA's Johnson Space
Center, Houston, where they will be preserved and studied.

"Locked within the cometary particles is unique chemical and physical
information that could be the record of the formation of the planets
and the materials from which they were made," said Don Brownlee,
Stardust principal investigator at the University of Washington,
Seattle.

NASA expects most of the collected particles to be no more than a
third of a millimeter across. Scientists will slice these particle
samples into even smaller pieces for study.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. manages the Stardust
mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed
Martin Space Systems, Denver, developed and operates the spacecraft.

For information about the Stardust mission on the Web, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/stardust

For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/podcast

=========== LETTERS =======
(7) NEW NASA MANDATE WILL MAKE EDWARD TELLER SMILING DOWN FROM HEAVEN

Dr. LR Fuka

ALOHA Benny

I am more than delighted that US congress is moving the NEO potential
problem forward by a
quantum jump. Advice I gave and sent to US Presidents in the 80's is
finally coming to fruition
as well as the recommendations that Edward Teller gave to them and
others independently is
finally coming to pass. I think Edward is smiling down from heaven to
see this finally
happening and hopefully not too late or too little. As much as Edward
and I argued and
disagreed on some of his opinions, this is one area of investigation we
independently agreed
on although I am an engineer and wish many amelioration methods be
investigated and not
totally sold on use of nukes as Edward was.

I imagine NASA will be as capable of this as it was when I was one of
the many engineers who
worked on designing and analyzing the APOLLO in the 60's before going to
LASL, LANL after
lunar landing and more importantly to me as an engineer the safe return
of first then later
moon destination astronauts. I think that your work on CCNet is
responsible for helping to
implement this NEO endeavor and speeded obtaining the interest and US
Congress action.

MAHALO, THANKS. ALOHA, LR

==========(8) SEASON'S GREATINGS FROM THE RUSSIAN NEO COMMUNITY

Anatoly V. Zaitsev

Dear Dr. Peiser,

I wish to express my sincere congratulation with Christmas and the New
Year.
I wish you further success in your work and personal happiness.

With kind regards to yourself and CCNet members for the New Year,

Anatoly V. Zaitsev
Director General
of the Planetary Defense Center
mailto:pdc@...
zav@...

======(9) RE: HADLEY CENTRE

Vincent Gray

Dear Benny

Sorry about the confusion, The Hadley Centre is the UK Meteorological
Office and its website
gives an address in Exeter. The map I mentioned, at
http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/cru/climon/data/tgrid/2005/

is at the website of the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) at the Univesrsity
of East Angla at
Norwich.

Although greenhouse gas emissions are fairly "well-mixed" this does not
mean that the expected
temperature rise over the earth is uniform, as many model projections
show. The models show
a greater warming at both poles, and are all incompatible with the
actuil figures as shown
in the CRU map.

Vincent Gray
75 Silverstream Road
Crofton Downs
Wellington 6004
New Zealand
Phone/Fax 064 4 9735939

"It's not the things you don't know that fool you.
It's the things you do know that aint so"
Josh Billings

==========(10) AND FINALLY: DAMMIT, BENNY!

E.P. Grondine

Hello Benny,

Dammit, Benny! Have you taken leave of your reason? Here you go and
thank the Congress for passing the
Brown Amendment by taking a cheap shot at their honesty. Just because
the NEO community is too damn
broke to offer them bribes is no reason for you to go and insult their
honesty. Here they at last finally
give you not just a pot to pee in, but a whole damn heated bathroom, one
with running water no less, and
this is the way you go and thank them!

I mean, instead of that cheap shot you could have complemented them for
having at shown at least enough
sense to want to keep their voters alive. But Nooooo! Instead of that,
you take that easy cheap shot at
their honesty. After all, it costs money to run for office, and to buy
all those vital 30 second
television ads, and just because you don't have any money to give them
is no reason for you to go and
insult those corporations which do.

Oh well. You couldn't have done too much damage. Passage of the Brown
Amendment in the Senate is pretty
much assured, as with MN4 coming back around soon, it is generally
assumed that the Senators want to keep the states of California, Oregon,
and Washington in the future, and furthermore, keep them then roughly
the way they are now.

But this is an assumption, and while the House has done its work, your
facile comment could easily cause
the Senators to reconsider. After all, there is the possibility that
Schwarznegger may run for President
someday, and as many Senators have so little intelligence as to actually
want that job for
themselves, they may want to hand Arnold something to keep himself
occupied with in the meantime. Also,
many, many Senators have often indicated that they would like to have
Microsoft relocate in their own
state, and perhaps they may hope that MN4 might encourage Bill Gates to
reconsider such a move. Add in
Senate votes from Wisconsin wanting to eliminate a competing cheese
manufacturing state, and votes from
New York wanting to remove competiting states from the wine and apple
markets, and your easy cheap shot could easily end up scratching the
whole deal.

Its no wonder that the European politicians haven't funded the European
NEO searchers. With thanks like
that in the offing, its likely they never will. Thank G*d that so few
Japanese politicians read the CC in
English. As far as the Chinese leadership goes, you have not lost all
with your cheap shot, as I
understand that they have recently rounded up some 5,000 local
politicians for bribery, and a booming
business in transplants is expected shortly. After all, China is a
country with a market economy now.
Of course, it's not all bad, and I suppose that just like you we should
all learn to be optimistic about
the future. From my current point of view, if MN4 is going to hit, then
if the real peoples can just be
moved out of the way in time, why then they could return to lands once
again free of Europeans.

Well Benny, that's it.

Keep up all of your good work,
Ed

In memoriam Walter Crouch, the Choctaw astronomer

PS - In many ways, the late Rep. George Brown's career reminds me of
that of Warren Beatty's fictional
politician "Bullworth". I highly recommend renting a copy of that video
if you need a really good laugh.
Among my most precious souvenirs from the years is the handwritten
draft of one of Representative Brown's
speeches which he gave me years ago, when I could not write fast enough
to get his statement at a hearing
down in full. As it was probably one of the best speeches, if not the
best speech, I ever heard, and I
approached him immediately after the hearing about getting a copy of it.
He then thought for a moment and
smiled, and then simply reached over and gave me the hand printed draft
which he had used to give it. I met
my deadline.

I can't help but thinking how different all of our lives would have been
if only George Brown had lived
longer, and I'm sure that many CC participants will be taking more than
a few moments to do the same. I
particularly want to thank Republican Representative Rohrabacher for the
magnanimous spirit which he showed in remembering in this legislation
the contributions
of his Democratic colleague from across the aisle.

subscribe or unsubscribe,
send an e-mail to: listserver@... ("subscribe
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scholarly and educational use only. The attached information may not be
copied or reproduced
for any other purposes without prior permission of the copyright
holders.
DISCLAIMER: The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed in the
articles and texts and in
other CCNet contributions do not necessarily reflect the opinions,
beliefs and viewpoints of
the editor.

Subject:
CCNet: SANTA CLAUS ON TIME: NASA'S
NEO BILL HEADED TO THE
PRESIDENT'S DESK
Date:
Fri, 23 Dec 2005 07:40:45 -0000
From:
"Peiser, Benny"
To:
"cambridge-conference"

CCNet 172/2005, 22 December 2005
SANTA CLAUS ON TIME: NASA'S NEO BILL HEADED TO THE PRESIDENT'S DESK

Early this morning the Senate approved the Conference Report for S.
1281,
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Authorization
Act
by a unanimous consent agreement. On Saturday, December 17, 2005, the
House approved the Conference Report by a unanimous voice vote. The bill

will now be sent to the President for his expected signature, marking
the first
time in five years a NASA authorization bill has been signed into law.
--Space Ref, 22 December 2005

(1) NASA AUTHORIZATION ACT HEADED TO THE PRESIDENT'S DESK
Space Ref, 22 December 2005

(2) NASA ADMINISTRATOR'S AUTHORIZATION BILL STATEMENT
NASA News >

(3) GEORGE E. BROWN, JR. NEAR-EARTH OBJECT SURVEY ACT
The Library of Congress

(4) AND FINALLY: ASTEROID THREAT 'TO CEASE WITHIN 30 YEARS'
The Scotsman, 9 August 2004

======
(1) NASA AUTHORIZATION ACT HEADED TO THE PRESIDENT'S DESK

Space Ref, 22 December 2005
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid597

PRESS RELEASE
Date Released: Thursday, December 22, 2005
Source: Rep. Calvert

WASHINGTON, DC - Early this morning the Senate approved the Conference
Report for S. 1281,
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Authorization
Act by a unanimous
consent agreement. On Saturday, December 17, 2005, the House approved
the Conference Report
by a unanimous voice vote. The bill will now be sent to the President
for his expected signature, marking
the first time in five years a NASA authorization bill has been signed
into law.

Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Corona) authored the House-version of the bill, H.R.
3070, and chairs the
Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics on the House Science Committee.
"Senate passage
of S. 1281 culminates a year's worth of effort by the House, Senate and
the Administration," said
Rep. Calvert. "This bill will provide the 'rules and tools' to help
America succeed in the Second
Space Age."

FULL STORY at http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid597

=========(2) NASA ADMINISTRATOR'S AUTHORIZATION BILL STATEMENT

NASA News hqnews@...

Dec. 22, 2005

Dean Acosta/David Mould
Headquarters, Washington
(202) 358-1400/1898

RELEASE: 05-
(Message over 64 KB, truncated)

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