Rep. Dana Rohrabacher is applauding the head of the Russian space agency for advocating a mission to deflect the asteroid Apophis, which is expected to pass close to Earth in 2029 and 2036.In an interview on Russian radio last week, Anatoly Perminov said:
"People's lives are at stake. We should pay several hundred million dollars and build a system that would allow us to prevent a collision, rather than sit and wait for it to happen and kill hundreds of thousands of people."Apophis first came to public attention in 2004, when it was estimated to have a 2.7 percent chance of colliding with Earth in 2029. Such an impact would, indeed, be devastating -- 100,000 times as powerful as the Hiroshima bomb.
But subsequent observations have shown that Apophis will pass harmlessly by in 2029. Scientists continue to track the asteroid because there is an extremely small chance -- 1 in 250,000 -- that it could hit Earth in 2036.
Rohrabacher, who has been warning of the dangers of an asteroid strike for some time, was heartened to hear of Perminov's interest in the subject. On Tuesday, he wrote a letter to the Russian bureaucrat:
"I want to congratulate you for taking the initiative on a very important challenge to mankind. I agree that a mission deflecting the Asteroid Apophis, which will come shockingly close to Earth in the coming decades, is critical for all people on the planet. You can count on me to try to make this a joint project with the United States."Rohrabacher, that old cold warrior, goes on to invite Perminov to tour JPL in Pasadena with him.
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