NASA Release Program To Protect Earth From Asteroids
If a large object came hurtling toward our planet, it would be the work of Planetary Defense Coordination Office to identify, determine how to deflect it, and present a report to the government.
Asteroids and comets in our solar system amount to very much, if the small safe in orbit in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. However, a large can cause fatal damage and are currently in orbit that brings them close enough to our planet. NEOs including asteroids and comets that orbit near the Earth.
In order to protect the earth from these potential dangers, PDCO has two main roles. First, is responsible for finding and characteristics of these NEOs. PDCO is responsible for coordinating emergency response efforts with other agencies and governments if large NEO estimated the impact on the earth.
NASA has a goal planetary defense against long-term which includes the development of asteroid deflection technology. Effective asteroid deflection strategies have not been decided, let alone developed.
In the event that an asteroid impact can not be avoided, PDCO will work in partnership with FEMA, the Department of Defense, and other US agencies and international partners to coordinate emergency efforts.
Not a little NEO nearly Earth but usually they are quite small and burned in our atmosphere. NASA released a diagram in the top picture to show frequencies close to NEO to Earth. Between 1994 and 1995, and more than 556 bolides (light explosion was caused by an asteroid impact).
Most of its small enough to really burn in the atmosphere. We may see them as shooting stars light. The exception is the 2013 event Chelyabinsk (Russia's large yellow dots on a map), which is the largest asteroid that hit the Earth successfully during this period.
The scary part is that NASA is not aware of the presence of the asteroid Chelyabinsk because it is relatively small (diameter of about 60 feet, or 7 meters) and in the weeks before it hit the Earth because it is too close to the Sun, making it difficult to detect.
But asteroids Chelyabinsk is an exception, and with improved technology NASA has been able to detect smaller asteroid for years. NASA notes that "more than 13500 near-Earth objects of all sizes have been found to date more than 95 percent of them from the NASA-funded survey started in 1998."
Astronomers detect ground-based telescope NEOs all over the world who are constantly taking pictures of the night sky. If an astronomer detected objects move from one image to the next, they can tell the Minor Planet Center, which keeps track of all known asteroids and comets. NEOWISE infrared telescopes, space-based, can also search for NEOs.
Through these efforts, more than 1500 NEOs detected each year. To date, more than 90 percent of NEOs larger than 3000, or 1 kilometer, have been found. Looking ahead, NASA focused on discovering NEOs larger than 450 feet, or 140 meters. Currently, only 25 percent of NEOs of this size is known.
To put them in perspective, the size of the asteroid Chelyabinsk just 60 feet cause an explosion equivalent to about 500,000 tons of TNT detonator. That's why the warning the world about the importance of the asteroid detection efforts.
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