Bill Nelson

I think we need to get far more of the information... to the American public.

I just, again, want to point out that there is a 30 percent chance that there is a 5-megaton or so impact that is going to happen in a random location on this planet this century.

Does the fact, as we prepare to go to Mars and the stated goal of rendezvousing and landing and returning with a human crew from an asteroid, does that in any way help us perfect our ability to avoid this kind of catastrophe?

Indeed, it has been most enlightening.

There would be nothing like focusing the mind than survival with one of these things heading toward us.

Senator Nelson, you know from, you know, having flown in space, that when you are many orbits ahead of time, very tiny changes in your speed make big differences in the timing of where you are many orbits later.

And you are going to put up, along with NOAA and the Air Force, Discover in late 2014 for giving us early warning on sun explosions, are you not?

Like others who have traveled into space, I myself am no stranger to space threats.

If you have less than a few years' notice, right now we have no options.

And if that one had exploded over New York at 20,000 feet--what would that have done to Manhattan?

Had that occurred 20,000 feet over New York City, other than blowing out windows, what would have happened?

Because they have to be right on the ones that we know to make sure we know their trajectory.

We might get a trailer from 'Armageddon' and show that.

But about a month ago, there was some news that was more scary than exciting.

I think there is a host of not just technical problems but legal and political problems.

A high-altitude/near-space explosion could have a very catastrophic effect on many of the satellites we rely on for weather, early warning, imagery, and other very critical functions.

Wow. Did it flatten the forest?

Clearly, such a thing would be led by the country that has the greatest technological capability, which is the United States and NASA in particular.

America will only stay ahead in space and thus capable of addressing economic, political, military and geostrategic risks and threats, by staying active.

NASA and the U.S. space program have been in the news a lot over the past year for some impressive feats of technology and engineering.

Hearing held on March 20, 2013

And we will want to know, Mr. DalBello, how you 'safe' your satellites when there is a solar flare.

And we want to get into how you are going to nudge it away. And we will get into that.

The threat from these near-Earth objects, as well as threats from space weather, debris, and more, deserves a closer look from this committee.

That's one of the great strengths of our country, is that we assimilate people.