From the JPL NEO (Near-Earth Object) news list�


<http://www.nationalpost.com/home/story.html?f=/stories/20020325/441062.html>

Sentry of outer space

A NASA Web site keeps track of asteroids that could cross Earth's path

Chris Knight
National Post (Canada)
March 25, 2002

There's good news for anyone trying to calculate the end of the 
world.  Earlier this month, NASA launched a Web site dedicated to reporting 
how many asteroids are in our planetary neighbourhood, how big they are, 
and how likely it is that one will crash into Earth.

The site, called Sentry, is operated by NASA's Near Earth Object office.

Sentry offers a mixture of technical data for scientists, and general 
information for people who like to gamble on when the world will come to an 
end. Donald Yeomans, who manages the office in Pasadena, Calif., calls the 
new site, at <http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov>, a "one-stop shopping place for 
information on Near Earth Objects," or NEOs.

Yeomans says the site, which gets thousands of visits a day, is educational 
for the public: "They enjoy it and it gives them in a few seconds a view of 
what the object looks like.

"And it drives home how it gets close to Earth."

By tracking asteroids, NASA hopes to have enough advance warning, should a 
big one be heading toward Earth, to send up a spacecraft to nudge it out of 
the way.

Full story here:

<http://www.nationalpost.com/home/story.html?f=/stories/20020325/441062.html>

Reply via email to