The Lord Tanlaw, To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps are being taken to form a National Spaceguard Agency, as part of a European Spaceguard programme, to improve the assessment and probability factor of impact hazard of a Near Earth Object on the continent of Europe or in the seas surrounding it. By Charles Arthur, Technology Editor Astronomers have lost track of an asteroid hundreds of metres wide that could devastate the Earth in 50 years' time. They latched on to it for two weeks, but have since lost sight of it. Early estimates put the chances of it hitting the Earth at one in 10 million, and astronomers say there are many more objects to be concerned about. Lord Sainsbury of Turville, a science minister, is expected to announce today in the House of Lords, in an answer to Lord Tanlaw, that Britain will try to set up a European effort to track potentially dangerous asteroids.
Astronomers say such a move is overdue.
When you multiply the likelihood of a collision with the potential number of deaths, you get a figure which is very like that which governments try to influence. Some people favour smashing incoming asteroids with nuclear missiles so that they are small enough to burn up in the Earth's atmosphere. Others believe this would multiply the risk. We won't be able to cover it up. The options are either to give up looking and keep your fingers crossed, or do it properly and look for them.