[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 153 (Wednesday, November 3, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13832-S13833]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           ASTEROID RESEARCH

 Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I want to commend a group of New 
Mexicans who are achieving some phenomenal results. In fact, they're 
currently batting .500 and more. If they were baseball players they 
would be acclaimed on every sports page.
  But instead of baseball, this group has discovered half of the comets 
that are currently visible through telescopes. One of their latest 
comet discoveries may be bright enough to see with binoculars next 
year. And it's probably safe to guess that the brightest of comets 
attracts an audience well in excess of those watching major league 
baseball.
  Instead of baseball bats, they are using a telescope at the north end 
of White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. This Lincoln Near-Earth 
Asteroid Research project is run by Lincoln Laboratory of the 
Massachusetts Institute of technology. A second telescope at the site 
started operations in the last week--that may boost their discoveries 
still further.

[[Page S13833]]

  The project grew out of an Air Force study involving space 
surveillance. Now space surveillance isn't a new subject, but in this 
project they're using a new automated system with a highly sensitive 
electronic camera. It's a great tool for discovering objects that move 
in the heavens, like comets and asteroids. The performance of their 
system exceeds any competitor by at least ten times. Today, both the 
Air Force Office of Scientific Research and NASA provide the funding 
for this project.
  Their asteroid batting average even exceeds their comet batting 
average. Since the first telescope started operation in March 1998, the 
project has accounted for about 70 percent of all the near-Earth 
asteroids that have ever been located. That's especially impressive 
since astronomers have been searching for such objects for over 60 
years.
  As they find these asteroids, they also project their future path 
through the heavens and explore any possibility for an impact with the 
Earth. In the course of their work, they've found four asteroids that 
might possibly approach Earth--but so far, careful evaluations of their 
probable future trajectories have shown that each of these objects 
should miss us. So, while the dinosaurs may have become extinct after 
an asteroid impact, so far our coast looks clear.
  The project team is headed by Dr. Grant Stokes, a 1977 graduate of 
Los Alamos High School and a New Mexico native. Dr. Eric Pearce directs 
the team at White Sands. This team has truly revolutionized the art of 
finding comets and asteroids. I want to commend Dr. Stokes and Dr. 
Pearce along with their supporters at the Air Force and NASA. This 
large group of New Mexicans deserves the title of the world's best 
comet and asteroid hunting team.

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