Hi Bob -

a real nice paper - thanks for the link -

One exciting part of it is the improved resolution maps of Venus and Mercury - the crater counts could provide data necessary for resolving the "accretion problem" - in other words, EXACTLY how often we get hit - but this requires that more money be spent on data analysis, probably at SWRI, maybe elsewhere -

Another exciting part is the ability to discover KBOs - additionally, when comets go dead, i.l. loose their volatiles - there appears to be a metallic core left behind, which is very dark - the current search is in the infra-red -

Finally, Ostro's maps of asteroids allow density calculations - its nice to know whatthey are made of, if you need to stop one, and with any luck someday we will - or we'll decide to take action after the next one hits, like they did with the tsunami warning system -

Of course, the best instrument would be one based on the far side of the Moon - my suspicion is that we'll get hit with a very "small" impactor, and the day afterwards, whoever is left alive will begin working on it -

thanks,
ed