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- LONDON (AFP) - Britain's
Science Minister Lord Sainsbury on Tuesday named a three-man task force
to study the risks of the Earth being destroyed by a giant asteroid.
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- The team is tasked with making proposals to the British
National Space Centre on how the country can best contribute to international
efforts to protect the planet from a strike from space.
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- The task force will be chaired by Harry Atkinson, 70,
a past chairman of the European Space Agency's Council.
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- The other members were named as Crispin Tickell, 69,
an environmental expert and diplomat who was Britain's permanent representative
to the United Nations between 1987 and 1990, and David Williams, a 62-year-old
professor of astronomy at University College, London, who formerly worked
for NASA.
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- They are due to report by mid-2000.
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- Lord Sainsbury said: "The risk of an asteroid or
comet causing substantial damage is extremely remote.
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- "This is not something that people should lie awake
at night worrying about but we cannot ignore the risk, however remote,
and a case can be made for monitoring the situation on an international
basis.
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- "I hope that the setting up of this task force will
help the UK play a full and prominent role in international discussions
on this important issue."
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- Of the known asteroids and comets, which scientists have
dubbed near Earth objects, none is believed to pose a significant risk
to the planet in the near future, according to government data.
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- However, over the past millions of years the Earth has
been hit by objects of sufficient size to cause serious damage, including
an impact about 65 million years ago which is believed to have wiped out
the dinosaurs.
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