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NASA Making Strides In Tracking Near-Earth Asteroids – Video

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Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkMKnoMQ84o



NASA Making Strides In Tracking Near-Earth Asteroids
Humanity has made substantial progress in the hunt for near-Earth asteroids that could potentially pose a grave threat to the planet, NASA #39;s chief space rock hunter said Monday (Jan. 14). Don Yeomans, head of NASA #39;s Near-Earth Object Program, told a crowd here at the American Museum of Natural History that it is the smaller asteroids, not giant space rocks, that are difficult to spot. "It #39;s unlikely that we #39;d miss a big one," said Yeomans, who has written a new book on near-Earth asteroids "Near Earth Objects: Finding Them Before They Find Us" (Princeton University Press 2013). "It #39;s the small ones that sneak up on us." Yeomans #39; office at NASA #39;s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., is devoted to finding near-Earth objects (which includes asteroids and comets) and plotting their positions over time. A few of the more notable asteroids NASA has placed on the "cleared" list in the past year include such high profile space rocks as the asteroid Apophis, which will swing extremely close to Earth in 2029 and return in 2036. All told, astronomers have found 90 percent of the large asteroids whose orbits bring them close to our planet. Apophis was cleared of concern last week when it made a distant flyby of Earth, which allowed astronomers to make new observations that helped complete rule out an impact threat in 2036. Previous observations had already ruled out the 2029 flyby. [See Photos of Giant Asteroid Apophis] In the near-future, as in this year, there will be ...

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NASA Making Strides In Tracking Near-Earth Asteroids - Video

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  1. NASA
  2. NASA Making Strides In Tracking