{"id":1980619,"date":"2023-07-23T07:18:01","date_gmt":"2023-07-23T11:18:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/inside-nasas-asteroid-watcher-program\/"},"modified":"2023-07-23T07:21:05","modified_gmt":"2023-07-23T11:21:05","slug":"inside-nasas-asteroid-watcher-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/inside-nasas-asteroid-watcher-program\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA&#8217;s asteroid watcher program"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">8<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Finside-nasas-asteroid-watcher-program%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1980619&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Tracking\u2062 Asteroids: NASA&#8217;s\u2062 Planetary Defense \u2062Coordination Office<\/h2>\n<p>Recalling \u200dthe fate of the dinosaurs, the ever-present possibility of a catastrophic asteroid\u2063 impact has caused a\u200b great deal of worry \u200bfor \u2062many.<\/p>\n<p>Such \u2062worries, along with advances in science and \u2063technology, have led to the National Aeronautics and\u2062 Space Administration creating the Planetary Defense \u200cCoordination Office, which \u200bruns the \u200dAsteroid Watch program.<\/p>\n<h3>Unveiling the Origins of the \u2062Program<\/h3>\n<p>Lindley Johnson, NASA&#8217;s\u2062 Planetary Defense\u200d Officer and Lead\u200b Program\u200d Executive for the Planetary Defense Coordination Office,\u200d spoke with \u200bthe Washington\u2062 Examiner to \u200cgive insight into the historical program. He has been involved in Near \u200bEarth asteroid observations for \u200dmore than \u200c30 years.<\/p>\n<p>The origins of \u200dthe program \u200blie in the 1990s when NASA started to devote\u200b more efforts to tracking near-Earth objects; efforts that grew throughout the 2000s. The NASA Authorization Act of\u200d 2005\u2064 tasked the agency with finding\u200b the population \u200dof near-Earth\u200c hazardous objects, which \u200claid the foundations for the PDCO. The\u200c program \u200dwas formalized over \u200dtime, and officially established in 2016, with Johnson at its\u200d head.<\/p>\n<p>The scale of \u2063the program\u2063 is massive; Johnson said that the PDCO is currently\u200c tracking over 32,000 near-Earth \u2063objects.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;Currently,\u2063 on \u2063our near-Earth asteroid\u2062 catalog,\u2064 we have a little over\u200d 32,000; 32,300 or so, of all\u2063 sizes,&#8221; he \u2062said. &#8220;Now, \u200dwe&#8217;re\u200c specifically\u200b tasked by Congress to find those that\u2063 could be a significant impact threat; if they were \u200cto impact the\u2064 Earth, \u200ddo <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-move-to-force-conspiracy-theorist-marjorie-taylor-greene-off-her-committee-assignments-report\/\" title=\"Democrats Move To Force Conspiracy Theorist Marjorie Taylor Greene Off Her Committee Assignments: Report\">significant damage<\/a>. And that threshold \u2063has\u200b kind \u2062of been established at\u2063 140 meters and larger, or\u200c the size of a football stadium &#8230;\u200d and we are tracking 10,500 near earth asteroids that are at least 140 meters\u2063 and larger in\u2064 size.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Among the largest being tracked\u200b is over 18 1\/2\u2063 miles in size,\u2063 while the smallest is only\u200d a few feet.<\/p>\n<p>But those anticipating a \u2064doomsday \u200dscenario \u200cin which humans \u2063go the way of \u2064the dinosaurs\u2062 are mistaken; as Johnson notes, the PDCO catalog is so advanced \u2063that they are tracking near-Earth objects that are only \u2063expected to\u2063 pass by Earth \u2062in centuries.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;Everything we find,\u200c we \u200dtake observations on to \u2063determine the orbits,\u2064 see\u2064 where they&#8217;re going, and whether they&#8217;ll \u200bbe any hazards to the Earth in the future.\u2062 So that&#8217;s the that&#8217;s our \u200bstrategy\u2062 here,&#8221; he said. \u2062&#8221;Now we have the technology to find\u200d these objects. We just need to be looking for them and taking the observations. \u2063And once we\u200b find \u2063them, we can determine their orbits and know \u200cif\u200c any of them \u2062are going to\u2062 be any threat to the Earth for the next century or so. So we can \u2062actually have quite a\u2063 bit of warning, decades of warning;\u2062 we just need \u2063to\u200b continue to\u200b look and project \u2064those orbits out.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>All objects expected \u2062to make\u2063 impact \u2062on Earth in the next few decades are small \u200cenough \u200dthat they\u2062 won&#8217;t pose any threat, and will likely break up\u2064 in Earth&#8217;s\u200c atmosphere.<\/p>\n<p>The\u200b asteroid catalog is mostly complete;\u2063 Johnson said \u2063he\u2063 believes they have mapped out 96%\u200c to 97% \u2064of all asteroids \u2062that will pass by\u2063 Earth larger than a kilometer\u200c in \u200bsize. Most of the focus\u2062 now is on finding smaller asteroids; he estimates that the PDCO currently\u200b has 40%\u200c to 45% of asteroids larger than\u200d 140 meters in \u200cdiameter \u200cin the catalog.<\/p>\n<p>To find them all, the \u200dprogram is\u200b investing in the Near-Earth Object Surveyor Space Telescope, which is currently on track to \u200claunch by early 2028.<\/p>\n<p>The PDCO&#8217;s most\u2062 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/inside-nasas-asteroid-watcher-program\/\" title=\"NASA's asteroid watcher program\">notable recent\u2063 activity<\/a>, however, \u2063was the September\u200d Double Asteroid Redirection \u2062Test,\u200c in which a spacecraft rammed an asteroid 6.8 million miles \u2062from Earth, redirecting it away. In line with Johnson&#8217;s\u200b pledge that no\u200c asteroid\u200d doomsday\u200d scenario is in the near future, the asteroid didn&#8217;t pose an immediate threat. The\u200b test was meant to prepare for a possible future collision,\u2063 which is at least decades\u2064 away.<\/p>\n<p>NASA&#8217;s DART will need some improvements if Earth wants to \u200dbecome truly invulnerable; the asteroid\u2062 that created the Chixulub crater in Mexico, which wiped out the\u2062 dinosaurs, was estimated to be around 6 miles \u200dacross;\u200d far too big to be redirected by NASA&#8217;s current capabilities (the asteroid targeted in September\u2064 was only \u2062about 530 feet in diameter). But, as \u2064Johnson \u2063assured the\u200b Washington Examiner, the\u2064 agency will have decades to advance\u2064 such technology before that even becomes \u200ba possibility.<\/p>\n<p>Further advancing \u200dthe PDCO&#8217;s capabilities,\u2063 the program \u2064is in\u200b close cooperation \u2064with space\u200d agencies \u2063around the \u2062world, including the European and Japanese Space Agencies.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;There\u200c are some\u2063 18 space agencies and offices, countries around the world that are in involved\u200b with\u200c our efforts,&#8221; Johnson \u2064said. &#8220;We&#8217;ve coordinated\u2064 on an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-the-american-people-deserve-to-be-represented-by-someone-who-loves-them-former-nfl-player-rips-olympian-gwen-berry\/\" title=\"EXCLUSIVE: \u2018The American People Deserve To Be Represented By Someone Who Loves Them\u2018: Former NFL Player Rips Olympian Gwen Berry\">international scale<\/a> through the Committee on \u200dPeaceful Uses of Outer Space in \u200cthe United Nations, and set up\u2064 &#8230; the International \u200cAsteroid Warning Network that has some \u200c50-some signatories \u200dto \u2062it now. And also a\u200c forum for the National Space Agencies to coordinate their activities, called the Space Mission Planning and \u200dAnalysis Group, same page. We want all of the National\u2064 Space Agencies on the same page on this.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The PDCO also makes \u200befforts to \u200dcommunicate its \u2063mission with the public, mostly through its Asteroid Watch dashboard on\u2064 NASA&#8217;s website. The dashboard lists the \u200dnext five Earth\u2064 approaches to within 4.6 million miles, listing their size \u2064and other details \u200bas \u200cwell. Most conveniently for \u200cthe public, the dashboard always includes a comparison\u2064 to show the\u200c size of each, with\u200d different asteroids \u200bbeing\u2064 classified as roughly the size of a \u2064house, plane, car, and so on.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;Few people can picture\u200c 140 meters in their head,&#8221; Johnson said, explaining the rationale\u2063 of the dashboard.\u2062 &#8220;You know,\u2062 what does \u2063that\u200c really \u200bmean? And \u200dso,\u2064 you know, an analogy of a football stadium\u2064 is something\u2063 that they would have some perception of.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\">CLICK HERE \u2064FOR MORE\u2064 FROM THE WASHINGTON \u200bEXAMINER<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Recalling the dinosaurs&#8217; fate, fear of catastrophic asteroid impact persists. This concern, coupled with scientific progress, prompted NASA to establish the Planetary Defense Coordination Office. It oversees the Asteroid Watch program. WHO INITIATED IT?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1980620,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1980619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1980619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1980619"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1980619\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1980620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1980619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1980619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1980619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}