Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Global worry: Near-Earth Objects (NEOs).
Image credit: Texas A&M

Protecting Earth from threatening asteroids and comets must be a top priority for NASA.

That topic was addressed today in a Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics hearing titled: From Detection to Deflection: Evaluating NASA’s Planetary Defense Strategy.

The hearing also evaluated NASA’s progress towards completing the survey of Near Earth Objects (NEOs) greater than 140 meters in diameter as statutorily required by the George E. Brown, Jr. Near-Earth Object Survey Act.

Image credit: Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics/Inside Outer Space screengrab

Hearing witnesses

• Nicola Fox, Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA
• Amy Mainzer, Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles
• Matthew J. Payne, Director, Minor Planet Center, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory

NEO Surveyor status

Subcommittee Chairman Mike Haridopolos noted that as of last September, NASA estimated it had identified approximately 44 percent of the estimated population of NEOs larger than 140 meters, less than half of its goal.

Amy Mainzer, Principal Investigator of NEO Surveyor.
Image credit: Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics/Inside Outer Space screengrab

“But help is on the way,” Haridopolos said, spotlighting the NEO Surveyor mission, the first spacecraft explicitly built to detect near-Earth asteroids and comets. It is scheduled to launch by 2028. NEO Surveyor uses infrared detectors to track objects that would otherwise be difficult to find due to the glare of sunlight.

Hazardous asteroids yet to be found

Brian Babin, House Science, Space, and Technology Committee chairman, noted U.S. efforts to detect NEOs began in the 1990s, but a major initiative was passed as part of the 2005 NASA Authorization.

“The George E. Brown Jr. Near-Earth Object Survey Act directed NASA to detect, track, and catalogue 90 percent of NEOs larger than 140 meters in diameter within 15 years. At that size, a NEO-Earth impact could cause significant regional destruction,” Babin said in an opening statement.

Image credit: APL

“Nearly 20 years after the Act’s passage, only 44 percent of the estimated NEOs larger than 140 meters have been identified,” said Babin. “Despite being five years past the original deadline, many potentially hazardous asteroids have yet to be found.”

To view the hearing, go to:

https://www.youtube.com/live/5SamCKEOoeQ?si=yhws_rMsow7-R2TR