Science

Asteroid danger: Bill Nye praises NASA's defence investment – 'Could save countless lives'


US space agency NASA this week announced it is accelerating plans to defend Earth from potentially deadly asteroids. The US space agency announced Monday it intends to build and launch an asteroid-hunting space telescope as early as 2024 as part of a new approach to planetary defence. The as-yet unnamed telescope will detect infrared heat signatures of near-Earth asteroids against the cold backdrop of space.

Planetary Society CEO Bill Nye has now praised the move in a statement, saying: “This may prove to be the most important investment ever made by NASA.”

“Early detection and deflection of an asteroid on a collision course for Earth could save countless lives.

“A space-based asteroid-hunting telescope will better equip the world to be prepared for potential threats.”

NASA claims the telescope will spot 90 percent of asteroids wider than 460ft (140m) capable of colliding with Earth within a decade.

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This goal responds to a congressional directive set in 2005.

Currently only a third of those asteroids are cataloged, with none fortunately poses a threat to the planet for the foreseeable future.

However, scientists fear an impact by an as-yet undiscovered space rock could wreak country-scale destruction and cause more unprecedented destruction than ever recorded.

Even a 165ft (50m)-wide asteroid could flatten a major metropolitan city in the highly unlikely event of a direct hit.

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NASA hopes its eye in the sky will help compute the chances of Armageddon asteroids that size hitting Earth within the next century.

Constructing the NASA telescope will have an initial budget of $600 million (£485 million) including its launch vehicle.

It will joins NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission under the jurisdiction of NASA’s newly-formed Planetary Defense Program, which has a budget separate from other planetary science activities.

NASA plans to pursue more planetary defence missions in the future and fund proposals for Near-Earth Object (NEO) research and technologies to deflect asteroids on a collision course with Earth.

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Casey Dreier, chief advocate for The Planetary Society, praised NASA’s new-found commitment to long-term investment for protecting the planet.

He said: “This represents a totally new way of thinking about planetary defence: not just as a ground-based telescope observing program, but as a holistic development program to actively seek out and prepare for potentially threatening NEOs.

“For too long this effort has limped along with less funding than NASA’s public relations office.

“After years of modest growth, NASA is now committing to an ongoing investment in spacecraft and research that will help ensure the long-term safety of the human race.”



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