You want to protect the Earth from asteroids? Where were you
when the dinosaurs needed you? You want to be like Bruce Willis in that
asteroid movie?
Wie has a serious reply: After five years of science and
engineering work, Wie and his small team have a publication list of 40-plus
technical papers, $600,000 of NASA research support and a proposal for a $500
million test launch of an asteroid intercept system. Plus, Wie has just been
invited to show off his research as part of NASA's Technology Day on the Hill
in Washington, D.C., on April 17.
“It’s not a laughing matter,” said Wie, the director of the
Asteroid Deflection Research Center at Iowa State University and the Vance D.
Coffman Faculty Chair and professor of aerospace engineering.