is that no one currently knows where 2004 MN4 is going to be after its very very close pass to the Earth in 2029... in other words, if its going to hit in 2034 or not. This is an entirely new estimate...

I am only wondering just how many hours it will be before this news breaks elsewhere... probably by press time Monday...

As for the topic you mention, Mark, Rohrabacher and other Representatives and Senators have been after NASA on this for quite a while, but it looks like this time, if it takes ear marks and explicit instructions to get NASA "senior management" off its butt, that is exactly what is going to go through...

Whadya want, an act of Congress? Okay, but for the time being, would ya settle for an Executive Order?

My assumption is that some kind of alert will be sent out to the political leadership - it will be interesting to see the wording and timing... the details should hit the Cambridge Conference in a successive number of notes in the first part of next week...

This problem crosses political boundaries, left to right, and my guess is that one New York publication is going to be printing an apology to Rep. Weiner by about Tuesday...

ep