JAN 4, 2010 - B612 Foundation is what the ancients would have called proactive astrology: if there's something out there in space that might conceivably cast a shadow on your future . . . well then, chase it away. Today we know that there are lots of things out there in space that could make for a bad day down here on Earth; things like NEOs and NEAs - Near Earth Objects (a term which includes comets) and Near Earth Asteroids. Any number of these fellow travelers in space could, if it crossed Earth's path, cause anything from a local spectacle to a real disaster. Just ask the dinosaurs - at least, that's how the currently accepted myth goes. (Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it didn't happen.) Obviously, our home planet has taken some hits from asteroids and comets in the past, and will again in the future. B612 Foundation is trying to prevent such events, and aims to significantly alter the orbit of an asteroid in a controlled manner by 2015 to show how it can be done. Headed up by astronaut Rusty Schweickart, B612 Foundation isn't an armchair operation. Get the whole story and decide for yourself. And then pray those numbskulls in Congress get a clue. Oh, dear. If that's our only hope, then we're all screwed.
