Forget aliens. We’ve got to find the asteroids.
Astronomers tend to be patient people. When it comes to stars, much of what they examine happened millions of years ago, and when it comes to space probes, even pre-launch prep can take a decade or more.
But they are getting impatient about launching an infrared space telescope called NEOCam. It has a very specific mission: Spotting near-Earth objects—astronomical bodies, most commonly asteroids, whose orbits around the sun could pass close to Earth and potentially collide with our planet, some of which could damage or destroy civilization itself.
It’s not speculative; a major meteoric impact is inevitable, and we need to keep a better eye on the solar system.
Source: NASA needs a camera to spot killer asteroids — Quartz
