[meteorite-list] Air Force to Share Its Info on Bolides

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/12/air-force-to-share-intel-on-planet-flattening-meteorites  
Air Force to Share Its Info on Planet-Flattening Meteorites
By David Axe 
Wired
December 15, 2010  

Sixty-five million years ago a five-mile wide meteorite smashed into the
Earth, wreaking havoc on weather patterns and possibly hastening the
extinction of the dinosaurs. In June 1908, a somewhat smaller space rock
exploded over a luckily uninhabited Tunguska, Siberia, flattening trees
and killing reindeer over a nearly 10-mile radius. "The fire was
brighter than the sun," one eyewitness claimed.

These planet-altering meteorites were once thought quite rare. Then came
the Cold War. The U.S. Air Force filled Earth orbit with sophisticated
satellites meant to spot nuclear tests and missile launches. The
satellites, it turned out, were also quite good at detecting the
explosions - the official term is "bolide" - of meteorites like that
over Tunguska. We now know they occur as frequently as several times a
year. Over the decades, the military has periodically released brief
reports on bolides and the other effects of so-called Near-Earth Objects. 
Today, for the first time, the Air Force is considering openly sharing 
this vital intel in a systematic way.

There are clear scientific reasons for better data-sharing. "From past
experience working with U.S. government satellite data, the information
provided is unmatched by any other data source and allows scientific
analyses which are otherwise impossible," Peter Brown told Space.com.
But never mind all that. Planet Earth's safety is at stake. This isn't
national security. It's global security. "Data from NEO air-burst
events observed by the U.S. Department of Defense satellites should be
made available to the scientific community to allow it to improve
understanding of the NEO hazards to Earth," stated a report from the
National Research Council.

The Air Force anticipates sharing a range of data on bolides, including:
date, time, location and altitude of the explosion, meteorite velocity
and total radiated energy of the blast. The trick, from the Air Force's
point of view, is sharing info without giving away the capabilities of
its most secret satellites. The Air Force has run into a similar problem
with its mysterious X-37B space plane. The X-37 is meant, in part, to
boost military space awareness.

But to soothe other space-faring nations, some critics say the Air Force
should share the data the X-37 gathers. Scientists say a shared
bolide-tracking system could be modeled on the current Space Situational
Awareness Sharing Program, which uses U.S. military systems to track 
orbital debris, and shares that data with other government agencies, 
foreign countries and private companies.

"I would say that we're working it," said Robert Rego, chief of Space
and Cyberspace Operational Integration at Colorado's Peterson Air Force
Base, "not from the perspective of 'no and how we can't do it'... but
from 'yes, and how we can do it' and make it beneficial while still
protecting a space capability."