NASA Needs Your Help Finding Killer Asteroids

How do you track down a million potentially hazardous asteroids that each have the capability to wipe out an entire city? That's what NASA needs to do, which is why it has started a new initiative called the Asteroid Grand Challenge.

Scientists estimate that about 90 percent of asteroids that are 1 kilometer or larger—those that pose potential planet-wide danger—have been surveyed. (The one that helped kill off the dinosaurs 65 million years ago is thought to have been nearly 10 kilometers in size.)

However, more than 99 percent of asteroids that are 30 to 40 meters in size—which might not destroy the planet, but could very easily wipe out a city—have yet to be found and tracked.

That's why NASA asked for the public's help this week. Their goal? To find these dangerous asteroids and figure out what can be done to stop any threats they pose.

"NASA already is working to find asteroids that might be a threat to our planet, and while we have found 95 percent of the large asteroids near the Earth's orbit, we need to find all those that might be a threat to Earth," said NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver. "This Grand Challenge is focused on detecting and characterizing asteroids and learning how to deal with potential threats. We will also harness public engagement, open innovation and citizen science to help solve this global problem."

Sources: news.nationalgeographic.com... and www.nasa.gov...

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Now, in case you didn't know, there are many amateur astronomers who are systematically looking for new asteroids (and finding them), some even operating as part of a network. That NASA are turning to them for help is a good thing - the more eyes on the sky, the better. But ask yourself this:

Would NASA be asking for public help in finding and identifying potentially dangerous asteroids if they wanted to keep them secret to prevent mass panic?

Looks like that conspiracy theory is biting the dust. "They" want us to help finding those asteroids.

So...

NASA knows something about a meteor shower heading our way that's loaded with rocks ranging from 30 - 40 meters wide, huh...

They *conveniently* just want someone else to break the news of Planet X/Nibiru to the public first so they don't have to explain why they have withheld the information for so long in the first place.

Blame it on John Q. Public.

Well played NASA... Well played.

Very smart on NASAs part.

Your always hearing of new 'doomsday' NEOs passing close by Earth, that were only discovered within the previous months.

"I applaud NASA for issuing this Grand Challenge because finding asteroid threats, and having a plan for dealing with them, needs to be an all-hands-on-deck effort," said Tom Kalil, deputy director for technology and innovation at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. "The efforts of private-sector partners and our citizen scientists will augment the work NASA already is doing to improve near-Earth object detection capabilities."

^^I couldn't have said it any better myself. - The more eyes on the skies, the better.

Originally posted by wildespace
But ask yourself this:

Would NASA be asking for public help in finding and identifying potentially dangerous asteroids if they wanted to keep them secret to prevent mass panic?

Looks like that conspiracy theory is biting the dust. "They" want us to help finding those asteroids.

I don't think that "conspiracy theory" is biting the dust at all. Because the concern is with large, very threatening asteroids, not smaller types. And the issue is whether they would tell us or not. And I'll bet if there was one that appeared on the scene all of a sudden, and we had like 20 days before impact, they'd keep their mouths shut, save their own asses, disappear into hardened underground bunkers, and the world be damned. They'd be a lot more concerned with implementing continuity of government plans like NSPD-51 than saving any of the public.

This is the part that doesn't quite smell right to me:

However, more than 99 percent of asteroids that are 30 to 40 meters in size—which might not destroy the planet, but could very easily wipe out a city—have yet to be found and tracked.

They're only running this program for one week... So they're asking for the public's help to find the unknown 99% of rocks out there and are expecting people to find them all in 7 days ?!

One lousy week ?!

Who's fooling who here ?

I understand the need to track this stuff but are there any tangible plans for redirection of these smaller asteroids? Or are we just going to track these things to give advanced notice. I want a viable plan for saving lives. Not just a heads up.

Originally posted by StrangeTimez
I understand the need to track this stuff but are there any tangible plans for redirection of these smaller asteroids? Or are we just going to track these things to give advanced notice. I want a viable plan for saving lives. Not just a heads up.

Apparently NASA wants the same thing you do.... Their viable plan? Pray.

Originally posted by TrueAmerican
I don't think that "conspiracy theory" is biting the dust at all. Because the concern is with large, very threatening asteroids, not smaller types. And the issue is whether they would tell us or not. And I'll bet if there was one that appeared on the scene all of a sudden, and we had like 20 days before impact, they'd keep their mouths shut, save their own asses, disappear into hardened underground bunkers, and the world be damned. They'd be a lot more concerned with implementing continuity of government plans like NSPD-51 than saving any of the public.

30-40 meter asteroids are fairly small ones, as far as asteroids go, but could cause serious destruction.

"And the issue is whether they would tell us or not." - you're missing the point of this thread: amateur astronomers are already looking (and discovering) new asteroids, and NASA are asking them for help. A real asteroid threat could be discovered and anounced by an amateur, and there's nothing "they" can do about that. The discovery will be passed onto the Minor Planet Center, anounced on various astronomy blogs and forums, and the news will get around pretty quickly. One person's discovery is not enough; the findings are always passed around so that others can confirm them.

The allegation that "they" would keep such a discovery quiet (if such a thing possible), and save their asses in bunkers, is without any credibility; everything I know about the astronomy community speaks otherwise.

Instead of holding on to preconceived ideas like that, why not get familiar with the amateur astronomy community (sites, forums, blogs, facebook groups, etc.) and see how they work and how new discoveries are handled. Example link: www.facebook.com...

reply to post by Kangaruex4Ewe


Lol that is so sad its funny. The kind of funny where my mouth is going haha and my eyes are going boohoo.

reply to post by StrangeTimez

If they don't know how many asteroids over 1 km there are, how can they claim to have found 95%?

reply to post by wildespace


Geez... It must be way past my bedtime because that pic is just too sad for a cartoon.

reply to post by ShadowLink


Sometimes I think estimates should be left to cooking and jellybean counting. Not the number of extinction level asteroids.

reply to post by StrangeTimez


Why worry? We have been here for billions of years. How many "killer" asteroids have hit the Earth? That's like winning the lottery that you DON'T want to win.

above data comes from spaceweather.com, they say there are 1397 potentially hazardous asteroids .. and the data in the table is a known distance and its great .. so the rest is still about a thousand more are still unknown .. as happened in Russia these days, who knows there are rocks that enter into the earth with the power of the atomic bomb? fortunately destroyed in the air .. so I think they were overwhelmed by the space rocks that are becoming more and more into the earth these days ..

Originally posted by ShadowLink
If they don't know how many asteroids over 1 km there are, how can they claim to have found 95%?

good question sir..
they know 95% from recently coming asteroid i think..and the rest they just dont know.

reply to post by Deaf Alien


I think there is a lot of reason to worry.
The universe is a vicious place and yes, we've been lucky. So far.

I would say the basic instinct of self preservation is the only reason needed to motivate mankind to do all he can to keep themselves from being wiped out, or devastated on a massive scale.

Granted, I wouldn't loose any sleep worrying about this kind of catastrophe, but if there was a way to perhaps prevent such an event, why wouldn't you at least try?

Also, in response to your question.. "How many "killer" asteroids have hit the Earth?"
It only takes one.

Originally posted by ShadowLink
If they don't know how many asteroids over 1 km there are, how can they claim to have found 95%?

It seems to be due to the recent WISE survey looking for NEOs: www.nasa.gov...

New observations by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, show there are significantly fewer near-Earth asteroids in the mid-size range than previously thought. The findings also indicate NASA has found more than 90 percent of the largest near-Earth asteroids, meeting a goal agreed to with Congress in 1998.

Astronomers now estimate there are roughly 19,500 -- not 35,000 -- mid-size near-Earth asteroids. Scientists say this improved understanding of the population may indicate the hazard to Earth could be somewhat less than previously thought. However, the majority of these mid-size asteroids remain to be discovered.

I think the factor here is that there are fewer large NEOs than there are smaller ones. A NEO larger than 1km would be very hard to miss with all the recent surveys (including WISE), so it's safe to say that we've discovered the vast majority of them.

Originally posted by ShadowLink

Also, in response to your question.. "How many "killer" asteroids have hit the Earth?"
It only takes one.

I kind of think about this like I do those overnight carnival/fair rides. They take those things down and put them up hundreds of times a year. I always feel like one will just fly apart and others tell me that they take them down and put them up every few days and it never happens... to which I am thinking that it seems like it is past time for it to happen then. Same thing with the asteroids. It's been so long or it's so rare only means that it's "about time" for it IMO.