U.S. Scientists Call for the Creation of an International Asteroid Defense Agency
Russia's proposal for an Armageddon-style mission to deflect the space rock Apophis seemed bold, but they're not the only ones fretting about a catastrophic impact on Earth. The U.S. National Research Council (NRC) released a new report that calls for an international asteroid defense agency that can organize a proper mission to counter possible asteroid threats, New Scientist reports. The NRC repeats some grim facts about Earth's current lack of readiness to deal with giant space rocks flying at it. Current sky surveys will not be able to find 90 percent of near-Earth objects that are 460 feet (140 m) or larger by 2020, as the U.S. Congress instructed NASA in 2005 to ensure they could. As always, a lack of funding has proved the main problem here. An asteroid-hunting space telescope could go a long way toward playing catch-up and reaching the survey goal by 2022, but at the...