Collegiate Times

Got any retirement plans? Sure you do ? unfortunately, a 360-yard-wide rock named 99942 Apophis could put a damper on your Centrum Silver years.

That?s because in 2029, the asteroid will zip by Earth at a hair-raising 18,640 miles away ? closer than most communications satellites holding orbit above our planet. And, depending on exactly where it passes us, there will be a 1-in-5,500 chance that it will strike the Earth?s surface in 2036.

And, based on the rock?s size, a direct hit would vaporize an area the size of New York City and its surrounding regions.

To see how the odds of getting smacked down by 99942 Apophis stack up against other uncommon occurrences, consider these figures from the National Safety Council: Over your lifetime, the odds of dying while riding a bicycle are 1:4,857. The odds of dying in a car accident are 1:228. The odds of dying by lightning strike are 1:56,439.

Before you freak out and start spending your life savings on Ramen noodles and duct tape, take heed: The illustriously-overpaid minds at NASA have a plan just in case the asteroid decides to go ?Armageddon? on us.

Their plan would involve launching a spacecraft to orbit around the rock and using the craft?s gravitational pull to slowly divert the asteroid?s path. Another plan involves a nuclear-powered craft actually landing on the asteroid and using thrusters to gradually change the asteroid?s course.

For now, though, the group of astronauts calling for intervention are pushing for a NASA mission to launch a radio transponder to 99942 Apophis and use it to plot the rock?s course in order to determine more accurately whether or not there is a danger. However, NASA has other ideas. Donald Yeomans, manager of NASA?s near-Earth object program, told CNN that he is confident that radar and telescope observations will ultimately rule out any risk of impact.

A scouting mission to the asteroid would cost NASA a few hundred million dollars out of its massive $14 billion budget.

Does anybody else see a problem here?

Should NASA be content and confident enough to rely merely on telescope and radar readings on which we would bet the future of our planet? A scouting mission to 99942 Apophis would be expensive, sure, but it wouldn?t cost nearly as much as all the missions (successful and failed) to Mars, and would certainly be worth investing in more than the decrepit Space Shuttle program, which the Collegiate Times wrote an editorial about a few months ago.

What NASA needs to do is learn some fiscal management. The world is very lucky that we have over 30 years to decide what to do in case this asteroid becomes a problem, so in that time frame, surely NASA will start caring more about it than it does now and start dropping its money where it needs to go.

Until that time, we?ll just have to be content with the fact that the odds of a direct impact are pretty low. But, weren?t the odds of having a Hurricane Beta this season pretty low, too?

Wake up, NASA. Averting a potential catastrophe is more important than driving around a few toy trucks on Mars.