February
22, 2007: The UN has been secretly planning on how to protect the earth from
space invaders. Astronomers have noted that the risk of an asteroid impact
exists, and are watching one that will pass very close to earth in 2036. This
rock, called Apophis, has a 1 in 45,000 chance of hitting earth. This 460 foot
long rock, if it hit earth, could take out a major metropolitan area. More
likely, it would hit a thinly populated area, and produce the same effect as a
very large nuclear weapon (but without the radioactivity).
The
United States has already held informal talks with the UN and Russia about what
could be done if an asteroid were found to be heading straight for us. It's
been agreed, off the record, that the no-nukes in space treaty would have to be
dealt with. UN lawyers pointed out that some circumlocutions could be used. For
example, a "save the earth" mission would not use a "nuclear weapon," but a
"physics package." However, many astronomers believe that blowing an asteroid
up might be as bad as letting it hit, because of all the fragments that would
still be likely to strike the earth, putting more people at risk. Another
option would be a "gravity tractor." In this scenario, the space craft would
fly out to the asteroid, take up position near it, and let its gravity
gradually, over days or weeks (depending on the size of the asteroid), change
the rocks trajectory. Such a mission would cost less than half a billion
dollars, and not require any treaty-breaking nuclear explosions.
