--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think the public perception about…" description: "\"I think the public perception about asteroids is that they're kind of metaphors for acts of God, the fact that we have no control over the universe. Th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4bf/carrie-nugent-18083_asteroids_i-think-the-public-perception-about-aste_667210.jpg" --- # I think the public perception about asteroids is that… ![“I think the public perception about asteroids is that they're kind of metaphors for acts of God, the fact that we have no control over the universe. They're always seen as these uncontrollable events. But when you look at the science, they're actually the exact opposite.” quote by Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4bf/carrie-nugent-18083_asteroids_i-think-the-public-perception-about-aste_667210.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4bf/carrie-nugent-18083_asteroids_i-think-the-public-perception-about-aste_667210.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4bf/carrie-nugent-18083_asteroids_i-think-the-public-perception-about-aste_667210.jpg) > “I think the public perception about asteroids is that they're kind of metaphors for acts of God, the fact that we have no control over the universe. They're always seen as these uncontrollable events. But when you look at the science, they're actually the exact opposite.” [Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Asteroids are often seen as uncontrollable divine acts, but scientifically they are predictable and manageable. **In simple terms:** Asteroids seem like fate but are actually predictable. Key Takeaway Study and mitigate asteroid threats. Themes science perception risk Mood informative cautious Type educational analytical When to use this quote - space policy - planetary defense - public education Key Concepts astronomy risk management Questions to Reflect On - How can we improve public understanding? - What policies should address asteroid threats? A Different Perspective Public fear may persist despite data. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Asteroids](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asteroids/) [Asteroids Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asteroids-kind-5305711/) [God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god/) [Look](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/look/) [Perception](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perception/) [Perception Asteroids](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perception-asteroids-5305710/) [Public Perception](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/public-perception-260321/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Seen Uncontrollable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seen-uncontrollable-5305712/) [Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space/) [Universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universe/) ## Related quotes > [You know, as far as public perception goes, if you get seen with some people one time, everyone thinks you're in that group.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cody-simpson/you-know-as-far-as-public-perception-goes-if-you-get-seen-with-some/) [Cody Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cody-simpson/) > [If there is a public perception at all, they see the producer as a big old guy who smokes a cigar and has lots…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-herskovitz/if-there-is-a-public-perception-at-all-they-see-the-producer-as-a-big/) [Marshall Herskovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-herskovitz/) > [People have discovered asteroids in the Main Belt that outgas like comets, and things on cometary orbits that no longer outgas - that don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/people-have-discovered-asteroids-in-the-main-belt-that-outgas-like/) [Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/) > [The basic method to find asteroids hasn't changed much in hundreds of years. So asteroids in a telescope look just like stars with one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/the-basic-method-to-find-asteroids-hasn-t-changed-much-in-hundreds-of/) [Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/) > [Asteroids are our oldest and most numerous cosmic neighbors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/asteroids-are-our-oldest-and-most-numerous-cosmic-neighbors/) [Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/) > [I think Dawn has done an amazing job showing that asteroids aren't just hunks of rock. They're worlds - they're places an astronaut can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/i-think-dawn-has-done-an-amazing-job-showing-that-asteroids-aren-t/) [Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/) > [I love studying asteroids because they are relatively simple, just rocks in space. They can be understood with physics and described with elegant equations.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/i-love-studying-asteroids-because-they-are-relatively-simple-just/) [Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/) > [It has only been within my lifetime that asteroids have been considered a credible threat to our planet. And since then, there's been a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/it-has-only-been-within-my-lifetime-that-asteroids-have-been/) [Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/) > [On the whole, asteroids tend to leave Earth alone. And day to day, there really isn't cause for most people to give them any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/on-the-whole-asteroids-tend-to-leave-earth-alone-and-day-to-day-there/) [Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/) > [If you were to stand on an asteroid in the main belt of asteroids between Mars and Jupiter in our solar system, you might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/if-you-were-to-stand-on-an-asteroid-in-the-main-belt-of-asteroids/) [Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/) > [There are physical bodies, physical worlds that astronauts could visit, that we haven't found yet. Especially, there's these close approaches of asteroids. They pass…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/there-are-physical-bodies-physical-worlds-that-astronauts-could-visit/) [Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/) > [The best thing to do is to study these asteroids so we know the range of parameters we would have to deal with and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/the-best-thing-to-do-is-to-study-these-asteroids-so-we-know-the-range/) [Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/) > [Back in the day, I've heard, particularly with the near-Earth asteroids, there were some asteroid hunters that knew the names of every one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/back-in-the-day-i-ve-heard-particularly-with-the-near-earth-asteroids/) [Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/) > [We've actually named asteroids for other famous women in history, like Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, and Sojourner Truth. But it's really this Malala one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/we-ve-actually-named-asteroids-for-other-famous-women-in-history-like/) [Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/) > [Astronomers are using every technique at their disposal to discover and study asteroids.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/astronomers-are-using-every-technique-at-their-disposal-to-discover/) [Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/) ## More by Carrie Nugent > [There are all these interesting rules about asteroid nomenclature. Once you discover it, you have the right to name it, but there's a catch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/there-are-all-these-interesting-rules-about-asteroid-nomenclature/) [Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/) > [NEOWISE needed a cryogen coolant to keep its sensors cool, and that ran out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/neowise-needed-a-cryogen-coolant-to-keep-its-sensors-cool-and-that/) [Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/) > [We've actually named asteroids for other famous women in history, like Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, and Sojourner Truth. But it's really this Malala one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/we-ve-actually-named-asteroids-for-other-famous-women-in-history-like/) [Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/) > [An asteroid impact in the worst case scenario is a terrifying thing. It seems very uncontrollable: in popular culture, it's often a metaphor for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/an-asteroid-impact-in-the-worst-case-scenario-is-a-terrifying-thing/) [Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/) > [Back in the day, I've heard, particularly with the near-Earth asteroids, there were some asteroid hunters that knew the names of every one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/back-in-the-day-i-ve-heard-particularly-with-the-near-earth-asteroids/) [Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/) > [Certainly what happened to the dinosaurs was not good - that was a terrible day for the dinosaurs, very sad. But I have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/certainly-what-happened-to-the-dinosaurs-was-not-good-that-was-a/) [Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/) > [The best thing to do is to study these asteroids so we know the range of parameters we would have to deal with and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/the-best-thing-to-do-is-to-study-these-asteroids-so-we-know-the-range/) [Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/) > [Changing the asteroid's velocity changes the time when the asteroid crosses Earth's orbit. After all, just because it crosses Earth's path doesn't mean there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/changing-the-asteroid-s-velocity-changes-the-time-when-the-asteroid/) [Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/) > [If we found a hazardous asteroid, we could nudge it out of the way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/if-we-found-a-hazardous-asteroid-we-could-nudge-it-out-of-the-way/) [Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/) > [One of the reasons NEOWISE is so valuable is that it sees the sky in the thermal infrared. That means that instead of seeing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/one-of-the-reasons-neowise-is-so-valuable-is-that-it-sees-the-sky-in/) [Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/) > [There are physical bodies, physical worlds that astronauts could visit, that we haven't found yet. Especially, there's these close approaches of asteroids. They pass…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/there-are-physical-bodies-physical-worlds-that-astronauts-could-visit/) [Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/) > [Becoming a scientist is a long journey, and at every step, I found projects that were exciting, motivating me to continue. My path was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/becoming-a-scientist-is-a-long-journey-and-at-every-step-i-found/) [Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/) > [Most astronomical work has to do with things that are very, very far away and don't affect our lives very much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/most-astronomical-work-has-to-do-with-things-that-are-very-very-far/) [Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/) > [NEOCam wouldn't need cryogen, and it would also be able to see entirely new areas of space. It can scan the sky in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/neocam-wouldn-t-need-cryogen-and-it-would-also-be-able-to-see/) [Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/) > [If you were to stand on an asteroid in the main belt of asteroids between Mars and Jupiter in our solar system, you might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/if-you-were-to-stand-on-an-asteroid-in-the-main-belt-of-asteroids/) [Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/) [Explore all 35 Carrie Nugent quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/) ## More Asteroids quotes > [I've said multiple times that the world's first trillionaire is going to be the person who exploits the resources of asteroids, the natural resources…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/i-ve-said-multiple-times-that-the-world-s-first-trillionaire-is-going/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [But to carve the Grand Canyon, Earth required millions of years. To excavate Meteor Crater, the universe, using a sixty-thousand-ton asteroid traveling upward of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/but-to-carve-the-grand-canyon-earth-required-millions-of-years-to/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [There is enough material in the Kuiper Belt to build anything out there. We could gobble up all the little asteroids, filtering out all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alastair-reynolds/there-is-enough-material-in-the-kuiper-belt-to-build-anything-out/) [Alastair Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alastair-reynolds/) > [We could not wipe ourselves out with a nuclear war. I do not want so sound too positive. It would be a catastrophe, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rusty-schweickart/we-could-not-wipe-ourselves-out-with-a-nuclear-war-i-do-not-want-so/) [Rusty Schweickart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rusty-schweickart/) > [Most of the solar system resides beyond the orbits of the asteroids. There is more to learn there about general planetary processes than on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-porco/most-of-the-solar-system-resides-beyond-the-orbits-of-the-asteroids/) [Carolyn Porco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-porco/) > [We've actually named asteroids for other famous women in history, like Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, and Sojourner Truth. But it's really this Malala one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/we-ve-actually-named-asteroids-for-other-famous-women-in-history-like/) [Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/) > [Think about the strangeness of today's situation. Thirty, forty years ago, we were still debating about what the future will be: communist, fascist, capitalist,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/think-about-the-strangeness-of-today-s-situation-thirty-forty-years/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [I only hope that we shall not wait to adopt the program until after our astronomers have reported a new and unsuspected asteroid moving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wernher-von-braun/i-only-hope-that-we-shall-not-wait-to-adopt-the-program-until-after/) [Wernher von Braun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wernher-von-braun/) > [Asteroids are deep-space bodies orbiting the Sun, not the Earth, and traveling to one would mean sending humans into solar orbit for the very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rusty-schweickart/asteroids-are-deep-space-bodies-orbiting-the-sun-not-the-earth-and/) [Rusty Schweickart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rusty-schweickart/) > [Back in the day, I've heard, particularly with the near-Earth asteroids, there were some asteroid hunters that knew the names of every one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/back-in-the-day-i-ve-heard-particularly-with-the-near-earth-asteroids/) [Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/) > [We want to build colonies on the Moon, Mars, the Moons of other planets, and even nearby asteroids. We want to make space tourism…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-goldin/we-want-to-build-colonies-on-the-moon-mars-the-moons-of-other-planets/) [Daniel Goldin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-goldin/) > [Consider that the overwhelming majority of those 40,000 near-Earth asteroids are small enough to fit on the parking lot at the mall. And while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/consider-that-the-overwhelming-majority-of-those-40-000-near-earth/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [Mars could very well be a staging location for the resources of the asteroid belt. We have to learn how to get a payback…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buzz-aldrin/mars-could-very-well-be-a-staging-location-for-the-resources-of-the/) [Buzz Aldrin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buzz-aldrin/) > [If the Chinese are the first to the asteroids or the first to Mars, good for them, as far as I'm concerned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alastair-reynolds/if-the-chinese-are-the-first-to-the-asteroids-or-the-first-to-mars/) [Alastair Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alastair-reynolds/) > [Asteroids have hit the Earth millions of times. We can see them as shooting stars every night. When they get bigger, things get complicated.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rusty-schweickart/asteroids-have-hit-the-earth-millions-of-times-we-can-see-them-as/) [Rusty Schweickart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rusty-schweickart/) [Browse all 144 Asteroids quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asteroids/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think the public perception about asteroids is that they're kind of metaphors for acts of God, the fact that we have no control over the universe. They're always seen as these uncontrollable events. 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