You’ve got to wonder sometimes what could be going on behind the scenes. Could it be that the early results of the WISE mission and other disturbing government science projects are encouraging the bold (but not entirely unexpected) move of the White House to ditch the return to Moon in order to land on an Asteroid, or — dare we say — a Comet!? It could be. I think the building evidence of a greater than appreciated threat from space is starting to have some effect.
God (and several Tusk readers, strange to think) only knows what they might have Classified. So it is hard to tell what is getting their attention.
But I sure like the direction the administration is going. This announcement and the privatization of our manned lift program are right up the Tusk’s alley:!
On the day the president announced the goal [Landing on a asteroid], a NASA task force of scientists, engineers and ex-astronauts was meeting in Boston to work on a plan to protect Earth from a cataclysmic collision with an asteroid or a comet.
Obama’s asteroid goal: tougher, riskier than moon
April 16, 2010, Seth Borenstein, Associated Press, 3000 news sources