Puck

The threat of an asteroid crashing into Earth has captivated the imaginations of movie audiences for years. Now, however, Russia is working to develop a very real plan to counter such a threat.

The Russian space agency says it is working to prevent a large asteroid from colliding with Earth.

Without giving many details, a spokesman for the agency said it is working on a way to divert the path of the asteroid, named Apophis, without destroying it.

NASA’s latest calculations put Apophis at having only a one in 250,000 chance of hitting Earth by, or during, the 2030s.

via Russia, US at Odds Over Future Asteroid Hit | Science and Technology | English.

There’s more! Russia’s Armageddon plan to save Earth from collision with asteroid

OK, people, let’s cut the crap. You’ve heard about the Bush Administration’s Big Idea: we’ll go “back to the Moon” within 10 years. Why? In order to build a base on the Moon that will serve as a jumping-off point for a “manned” (their sexist language, not mine) trip to Mars. Can we talk? If the U.S.–or anybody else, for that matter, wants to send a human’d flight to Mars, OK, that’s one thing. But why do it from the Moon? Why go all the way to the Moon–which takes 3 days and billions of dollars–to then take off for Mars? Read the rest of this entry »