Asteroid Threat: Defending Our Planet from Deadly Near-Earth Objects

by William E. Burrows

Presents a realistic, workable plan for defusing a potentially lethal threat from a rogue asteroid or comet.The explosion of a large meteor over Chelyabinsk, Siberia, in February 2013 is just the latest reminder that planet Earth is vulnerable to damaging and potentially catastrophic collisions with space debris of various kinds. In this informative and forward-looking book, veteran aerospace writer William E. Burrows explains what we can do in the future to avoid far more serious impacts from "Near-Earth Objects" (NEOs), as they are called in the planetary defense community. The good news is that humanity is now equipped with the advanced technology necessary to devise a long-term strategy to protect the planet. Burrows outlines the following key features of an effective planetary defense A powerful space surveillance system capable of spotting a serious threat from space at least twenty-five years in advance* A space craft "nudge" that would throw a collision-course asteroid off target long before it poses the threat of imminent impact* A weapons system to be used as a last-ditch method to blast an NEO should all else fail.The author notes the many benefits for world stability and increasing international cooperation resulting from a united worldwide effort to protect the planet.Combining realism with an optimistic can-do attitude, Burrows shows that humanity is capable of overcoming a potentially calamitous situation.

Genres: Science

282 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Jolene · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m being generous right now for giving it 2 stars but I feel bad for the author if I give it less than that. The book is simply a summary of events, organizations, movies, groups which isn’t quite educational and doesn’t add much value. The title, ‘The asteroid threat’, is in that sense misleading since the book doesn’t cover enough about the actual topic, an asteroid threat and ways of defending our earth. That summary of ‘irrelevant’ information makes it hard to read the book and actually get something out of it, it also made it unpleasant to read. The author didn’t do a great job at translating the scientific and historical information to something more readable (sorry William E. Burrows). It’s poorly written and I don’t recommend it to anyone who just wants to learn more about asteroids or asteroid threats.

[David Czuba · Rating 2 out of 5]

Science writing of any kind tends to get, let's say, a chilly reception by the general public, and so, science writers often must hype up their telling to give the reading audience a compelling reason to go on. Few subjects are as open to hyperbole as the asteroid threat, and a writer can make as grandiose statements as he or she likes about the end of the world. Yet, Burrows narrowly misses (or is it, as George Carlin would say, a near hit?). No one argues that humans are fascinated by Doomsday. There are even the cold and religious among us who would hurry it up, or at least wish the end near. Burrows borrows from popular culture, mainly the films Armageddon and Deep Impact to underscore our mass hysteria. So, you might think the international community would pull together on this one and 1) detect and catalogue all the space rocks likely to harm us, 2) plan ways to mitigate (Burrows loves and loathes this word) the threat, 3) develop and test technology to do so, and 4) make an early warning system to notify people for disaster response. Burrows tries to sound the alarm for the general public, telling his readers that disparate groups both governmental and private are trying to tackle the project, but are grossly underfunded and loosely coordinated. Burrows makes no mention of Eleanor Helin, a profound asteroid hunter. He makes no mention of citizen science efforts to identify previously unknown asteroids from the Catalina Sky Survey. Given that, if Burrows weren't so darn repetitive on other topics, he'd get his point across. He almost loses us from the start, taking a perfect example in the Chelyabinsk event, a frighteningly real encounter with a meteor that could have been fatal for tens of thousands, and then ambling down some winding side roads, taking the ripeness from our rapt attention. Burrows laments his writing and says so in his acknowledgements where he says an editor culled out even more repetition. Can you imagine? He declares pet peeves in sayings and acronyms. But to his credit, the public doesn't get very many readable books on this subject. The news is that it will happen again. What should be news? That we're doing precious little as a planet to prevent it.

[Jason Enns · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very repetitive, needs editing.