In a very short story released today by Melissa Eddy from the Associated Press, scientists around the world say that it is time to collectively work harder at tracking and avoiding near-Earth asteroids. In a story like this, the asteroid numbers are important and a good thing to include towards the beginning: starting in second paragraph, “NASA has tracked nearly 7,000 near-Earth objects that are bigger than several feet across. Of those, 1,157 are considered ‘potentially hazardous asteroids’…risky asteroids are those that come within 4.6 million miles of Earth’s orbit.”
The article continues to quote scientists from around the globe, but there is very little else that is substantial in this short story. It ends abruptly, without fully explaining what the game plan is for the United Nations in addressing this issue. The huge question that most readers will be asking themselves about this topic is left unanswered: how are we going to respond to a legitimate asteroid threat once we find it? The only statement that directly refers to this question is the second to last paragraph/sentence that reads, “The technology exists that would effectively allow scientists to send a craft into space to rear-end an asteroid, and slightly change its velocity.” But more details about such an operation would inform and interest the reader, and would have probably strengthened this story—a story that is relevant to not just a select group of readers, but to everyone on Earth.
No comments:
Post a Comment