Thanks, Ed -

Right now Brian Marsden and his staff at the US Minor Planet Center are putting in 16 hour days 6 to 7 days a week tracking asteroids. This is not fair - we're asking them to give up their own time to ensure our safety, and people can work those hours for only so long before they collapse.

NASA needs to give the MPC more money immediately so that they can hire more people. I don't have any problem transferring that money from the astrobiology programs out of Ames, if it turns out that that is the only place to get it.

First off, we don't know for sure if this a crater yet. If it is, if Saddam would only "pass away", we could name it after him. He's had about the same effect as this impactor on the people of Iraq and their neighbors.

If this is a crater, then this physical evidence will force the anthropological community as a whole to deal with historic impact events. Written records of impact events in this area have been available for some time - see my commentary on Guterbock's translation of "The Song of Ullikummi" in the Cambridge Conference archives.

I don't know if it's going to be enough to cinch the argument for Moon based telescopes - I suspect that the Stallings Island impact, which took out coastal SE North America a short time back, might do that -

Manned Moon flight or manned Mars flight is going to be a big ticket - Over the years, I have sometimes considered whether one or another of the young astronauts who I've met at different functions is going to be among those who take either of those rides - G*d bless 'em

EP