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In the wake of asteroid 2002MN's close shave with the Earth, which was announced yesterday, an online opinion poll by MSNBC suggests that over half of people taking part are worried about impacts. Although the poll is not a scientifically valid survey of public opinion 51% of the 64676 users who chose to vote expressed concerns over the hazards posed by the collision of Near Earth Objects. The majority of these users (28%) agree that something needs to be done now to reduce the threat posed by impacts and thus voted in support of UK and US government observation programmes. Over the last few days, for example, UK astronomers have been testing the suitability of the UK telescopes on La Palma for use in NEO work. Only 24% of people that took part in the poll believed that the hazards from collisions had been exaggerated.
Dr Benny Peiser of Liverpool John Moores University, an expert on the social impact of cosmic collisions, emphasised the psychological aspects of the asteroid's close encounter with the Earth on MSNBC. Noting that the impact of such asteroids would probably occur in an uninhabited area, Dr Peiser said “In that respect, the damage will be limited, but the psychological effects will be dramatic and global, because it would convey the message that we are living in an extremely dangerous universe — which is at the same time true and not true.” MSNBC's poll suggests that events such as close approaches of NEOs does cause public concern despite the low probability of a collision.
At 50 to 120 m in size asteroid 2002MN is a small object. Currently the target of NASA's observation programmes is to identify all asteroids larger than 1 km, since these represent a far greater potential hazard due to the global damage which would be caused if one were to collide with the Earth. Asteroid 2002MN is due to have another, much more distant, encounter with the Earth in 2061, however, it is now known not to pose a significant hazard.
More info: MSNBC Article
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