65 million years ago, an asteroid more than ten miles in diameter struck the Earth, and is believed to have caused a massive extinction. If it has happened once, it is possible to happen again.
Of course this headline is not true for today. But indeed an asteroid is going to hit the earth someday. Dr. Wenning, a professor at Illinois State University, feels that we need to build a facility dedicated to the observation and tracking of Earth Crossing Asteroids (ECA) and Near Earth Objects (NEO). We strongly support his decision. There are presently over 200 discovered NEOs which is thought to be 10% of all Near Earth Objects in existence. That means that there is over 90% of all NEOs have yet to be discovered. Just recently, a companion asteroid to the earth numbered 3753 was discovered. This asteroid orbits the Earth. Even though this asteroid will never hit us, it is a perfect example that there could be even more asteroids close to the earth that we do not see. (NASA)
Though the likelihood of an asteroid impact is .001% in one century for a larger than one kilometer in diameter asteroid, which is one in 100,000, this facility is still vital because asteroids path is not stable. Any asteroid could be knocked off of its current path by another asteroid, a planets atmosphere, or other objects in space. It is this uncertainty that compels us to the need of a facility to observe and track NEOs.
Along with the chance of an asteroid hitting us come risks. The risks of being hit by an asteroid are tidal waves, nuclear winter, fires, earthquakes, craters, airplane crashes, and global warming. The greatest risks are associated with the asteroid hitting the water, which is two thirds of the Earth. If the asteroid lands in the water, the result will be massive tidal waves that will be very dangerous to the shoreline cities, beaches and other shoreline communities.
Nuclear winter will happen when a very large asteroid causes huge clouds that block out the sun, kill the plant life, cause acid rain, lower the temperature, cause the grass to burn up, the food chain would be at a halt and it will eventually kill most species.
FBI officials are still unsure about the cause of TWA Flight 800's crash. These officials have not ruled out the possibility of a NEO hitting the plane and causing it to crash. Though it is not likely, it is not an unreasonable thought.
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Craters are usually the only remnant of asteroids. Craters are caused by asteroids and meteors. They are usually approximately 15 times bigger than the asteroid. This ends in a destructive hole killing everything in its area. The Yucatan crater was created by a ten mile in diameter asteroid. The crater that was produced is now 150 miles in diameter. |
Earthquakes can be caused by asteroid impacts. A ten mile in diameter asteroid can cause a 10.4 on the Richter scale, such as the one that could have caused the mass extinction of the dinosaurs. The asteroids impact, caused an earthquake and from that earthquake came an energy surge. This energy surge caused dust to be thrown into the stratosphere causing global cooling.
Every day on average, three people die from asteroids or asteroid related causes. Because of the high amount of people that died in one incident, the statistic could still be true. One in every 500,000 people are injured by asteroid or asteroid related causes.
This illustration shows the space that Earth's companion asteroid, 3753, will cover in the present, and next 125, 250, and 385 years. As this orbit of the asteroid shifts, it will cover the space between Mercury and Mars. According to other sources this asteroid becomes closer to Earth then pushes away because the Earth's gravity speeds up the asteroid's velocity.  |
These risks, we believe, outweigh the probability of an asteroid hitting the Earth. If an asteroid is going to hit the Earth, the results will be too great and too devastating that if we do not act now for a defense against this catastrophe, we will wonder why we had not. A ten kilometer in diameter asteroid would act just like nuclear war. But, an asteroid that is less than one kilometer in diameter will not even penetrate the Earth's atmosphere.
There are many proposed ways to prevent an asteroid from hitting the Earth. There is a proposed way of stopping the asteroid that involves a nuclear missile that is launched into the air and explodes right in front of the asteroid and is supposed to knock it clear of the Earth. This, however, we believe is not the best way to prevent the Earth from being hit by an asteroid or meteor, the nuclear cloud that is generated by this blast would then travel back into the Earth's atmosphere and radiate the whole Earth. The way that we think is the safest and easiest, in the picture at left illustrates a "sail" that attaches to the asteroid and steers it clear of the Earth's orbit.  |
We recommend that the United States of America construct a facility to help us to identify dangers made by ECAs and NEOs and to observe and track them. We believe this because, the risks that are given by ECAs and NEOs are too high for us to overlook the small but significant possibility of being hit by an asteroid.
Thus, we have come to our conclusion that asteroids are a threat to all Earth. The people of Earth need to do something, that is why we support Professor Wenning. We need the facility to observe and track these ECAs and NEOs. We feel that the risks associated with an asteroid impact are too great for us to overlook the possibility of this catastrophe at hand.
IMSA Summer 'AD'Ventures |
Jeanna, Patrick, Nate