ID :
11584
Sat, 07/05/2008 - 12:56
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/11584
The shortlink copeid
Asteroid and comet threat is real challenge to mankind, scientist
ST. PETERSBURG, July 5 (Itar-Tass) -- The asteroid and comet threat is a real challenge to mankind in the 21st century and may as well as be described as "space terrorism", according to Andrei Fenkelshtein,
director of the Institute of Applied Astronomy and correspondent member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Speaking at the regional Itar-Tass centre on the occasion of the
centenary of the Tunguska Event, Finkelshtein said, "This phenomenon is
well studied from the scientific point of view even though speculations
continue to revolve around the event that occurred one hundred years ago."
In his opinion, what happened in Southern Siberia is "a serious
warning to the earthlings".
Filkenshtein said the risk of a new event like the Tunguska explosion
is assessed as quite plausible now that scientists have detected potential
killer Asteroid Apophis just half a million kilometers from Earth, which
is an infinitesimally small distance by astronomical standards.
Most experts agree that Apophis requires closer scrutiny, and to that
end, in February 2008 the Planetary Society awarded 50,000 U.S. dollars
in prize money to companies and students who submitted designs for space
probes that would put a tracking device on or near the asteroid
According to mathematical modeling data, if an asteroid several
kilometres wide or a comet nucleus collides with the planet, "mankind may
be wiped out of the face of Earth instantly or may be thrown back several
centuries in its development".
If a space body falls into the oceans, the effect will be "much more
devastating than, for example, seismic tsunami", Filkenshtein said.
In his words, "The impact of a rock asteroid some 500 metres in
diameter on the surface of the ocean at a speed of 10-20 meters per second
will create a cavern causing circular waves that may come as high as four
kilometers in the centre and 300-400 metres when they hit the continents."
He believes it is quite likely that similar events "caused 90 percent
of all animals on Earth to die millions of years ago".
director of the Institute of Applied Astronomy and correspondent member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Speaking at the regional Itar-Tass centre on the occasion of the
centenary of the Tunguska Event, Finkelshtein said, "This phenomenon is
well studied from the scientific point of view even though speculations
continue to revolve around the event that occurred one hundred years ago."
In his opinion, what happened in Southern Siberia is "a serious
warning to the earthlings".
Filkenshtein said the risk of a new event like the Tunguska explosion
is assessed as quite plausible now that scientists have detected potential
killer Asteroid Apophis just half a million kilometers from Earth, which
is an infinitesimally small distance by astronomical standards.
Most experts agree that Apophis requires closer scrutiny, and to that
end, in February 2008 the Planetary Society awarded 50,000 U.S. dollars
in prize money to companies and students who submitted designs for space
probes that would put a tracking device on or near the asteroid
According to mathematical modeling data, if an asteroid several
kilometres wide or a comet nucleus collides with the planet, "mankind may
be wiped out of the face of Earth instantly or may be thrown back several
centuries in its development".
If a space body falls into the oceans, the effect will be "much more
devastating than, for example, seismic tsunami", Filkenshtein said.
In his words, "The impact of a rock asteroid some 500 metres in
diameter on the surface of the ocean at a speed of 10-20 meters per second
will create a cavern causing circular waves that may come as high as four
kilometers in the centre and 300-400 metres when they hit the continents."
He believes it is quite likely that similar events "caused 90 percent
of all animals on Earth to die millions of years ago".
