ASTEROIDS

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Here, between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, lies a belt of assorted fragments of various sizes orbiting the Sun. They revolve in sometimes unpredictable tracks--"eccentric orbits"--whose properties are not in all cases precisely known or calculated. Some asteroid fragments (believed to have been left over after a collision or cataclysm that destroyed a former planet in that same orbital path) are the size of melons; others measure dozens, even hundreds of miles across. There are thousands of them. Sometimes they careen in toward us at distances that are less than that of our Moon from us, i.e., a couple of hundred thousand miles of even less. It has been estimated that if an Asteroid of only some 3 miles in diameter ever hit Earth's two main oceans, tidal waves miles high would enundate landmasses worldwide. Places like Long Island, the Florida Keys, or Nantucket would be utterly decimated. The toll in human life and property would be intolerable. Yet here on Earth we have deployed no protection whatever against this tangible threat...and likelihood. If there ever was an argument (see Mars) for defense against missiles and other unwanted intruders from inner (cis-terrestrial) or outer space, it is the Asteroid Threat.

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