November 15, 2017

A new report on near-Earth asteroids confirms that NASA is making progress with regard to detection of objects that pose the greatest risk if they were to collide with Earth, but there are still many more to be found.

The just-released science definition team (SDT) report validates a similar conclusion of a report prepared in 2003: that asteroids 460 feet (140 meters) and larger are of greatest concern and should continue to be the focus of global detection efforts.... 

“The bottom line remains the same as it did in 2003: finding the larger asteroids and establishing accurate orbits for each long before any potential impact will eliminate the great majority of the risk to human populations of an unwarned asteroid impact,” said  Grant Stokes of MIT Lincoln Laboratory, chair of the science definition team.