The Hunt and the Hunted

Abstract

In a now famous paper published in 1993, Eugene M. Shoemaker calculated that every year, on the average, an asteroid or a group of comet fragments comes traveling at speeds of up to 15 to 20 kilometers per second and has an explosive contact with the Earth’s atmosphere. The average size of the projectiles is 10 meters, but they pack a kinetic energy equivalent of 20,000 tons of TNT. And fortunately for us, the objects are usually annihilated in the atmosphere before they can do any harm on the ground. But how do we keep track of all these possible interlopers? And how can we stay on top of the latest information to keep our “statistics of potential impacts” accurate?

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.

Albert Einstein