Defending Planet Earth: Near-Earth Object Surveys and Hazard Mitigation Strategies, 2010



Source:  National Academy Press


The United States spends approximately $4 million each year searching for near-Earth objects (NEOs) to detect those that may collide with Earth and a small amount of funding investigating ways to protect the Earth from such a potential collision. The funding is insufficient in detecting the majority of NEOs that may present a tangible threat to humanity. In 2005, a Congressional mandate called for NASA to detect 90 percent of NEOs with diameters of 140 meters of greater by 2020. There is a need for detection of objects as small as 30 to 50 meters as these can be highly destructive.   Mitigation strategies include civil defense, "slow push" or "pull" of the asteroid, kinetic impactors and nuclear explosions. 

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