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Old January 26th 08, 06:30 PM posted to sci.space.policy,sci.space.history,sci.space.shuttle,sci.space.station
kT
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Default 2007 TU24 to be Radar Imaged in Great Detail.

bob haller safety advocate wrote:
On Jan 25, 4:35�pm, "D. Orbitt" wrote:
.



If they get some really good shots of TU24, maybe they will reconsider.
Asteroids are a major threat.

Not bloody likely, until AFTER a BIG ONE hits and causes major panic.
Only THEN will there be a political scramble for more and better
sapceguard funding and deployment. Absent that major knock onthe head,
don't count on politicians to do anything about it. They can't think
ahead any further than their next election.

"If they get some really good shots of TU24, maybe they will
reconsider."

Not unless they charge 2 million per picture. I think that's the bare
minimum the University spends on annual operations for "El Radar".
Could be more. Federal funding was cut with NASA's official blessing,
of course they just do what the President tells them.

No bucks, no Buck Rogers. �There are none so blind as those who will
not pay to let the telescope continue to see. When they shut down
Aricebo, the Goldstone dish will be the largest remaining operational
radio telescope I know of that's at all steerable. �Goldstone, last I
read, is usually tied up most of the time for DSTN and planetary probe
communications work.

There may be a powerful radar/radio telescope in Russia somewhere
that's bigger, but their programs are even more destitute than ours,
it's probably been turned into condos for nuveau-rich oil oligarcs and
Russian mafiosi.

Things look bleak and the best "hope" is to pray for a disaster, not
good.


nasa cuts all science in favor of ISS, even to the point of cutting
science from ISS


That's not true, they are cutting science if favor of VSE and ESAS.

Back to the topic at hand, there are preliminary images :

http://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=1692

Hopefully Arecibo will do better.