Hatrack River Forum: Spot a Near Earth Asteroid, Get $3,000

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Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :

Break out the telescopes folks!.

This is a good direction to be going in, but I don't think it goes quite far enough. When I first saw the headline, I assumed that everyone who spotted a previously undocumented near Earth asteroid would be awarded 3K, but it would seem that this isn't the case; once a year, the person who has spotted the most NEAs, as I read the article, is awarded the money.

I think it would be better to actually pony up the money to each person who discovers one of these things. At 3K a pop it wouldn't break NASA's bank (given the number of NEAs they estimate are out there), but would provide sufficient incentive to spur a host of amature astronomers to start actively searching out NEAs.

Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :

Great link

But shouldn't this be in the "Space Related News" thread of yours?
[Wink]

Farmgirl

Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :

Yeah, I thought about posting it there, but I was in a hurry and didn't want to have to search for the link.

Posted by Beren One Hand (Member # 3403) on :

But if you spot a REALLY close one, you won't be able to use that $3,000.

Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :

Didn't Ron Paul run for president on the Libertarian ticket some time ago? That would explain his dissenting vote.

Dagonee