Preparing For the Asteroid Apocalypse

Among Earth’s natural disasters—hurricanes, floods, earthquakes—the one humans probably ponder least is asteroids, huge objects zipping through our solar system at ludicrous speeds. Federal officials call an asteroid or comet collision “low probability but high consequence,” NASA-speak for it will probably never happen, but if it does we’re toast. With that in mind, the U.S. and other nations have long sought to track such “near-earth objects,” or NEOs, coordinating efforts through the International Asteroid Warning Network and the United Nations. The Trump Administration now wants to enhance those efforts to detect and track potential planet killers, and to develop more capable means to deflect any that appear to be on a collision course. “Fortunately, this type of destructive event is extremely rare,” said Aaron Miles, an official with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. But just to be safe, the government unveiled new goals this week for NASA’s work on countering NEOs over the next decade. If you’re envisioning Bruce Willis or humming an Aerosmith song, please stop. This is serious. (Read more)

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