NASA is moving forward with a space mission to hunt dangerous asteroids

NASA will begin developing a space telescope to track asteroids near Earth, according to a statement from NASA's deputy administrator for science, Thomas Zurbuchen.

Space News reports that the mission will be based on a previous concept mission called NEOCam. The NEO mission will be led by NASA, unlike NEOCam, which would have been part of the lead investigator-led discovery program. The mission will help NASA fulfill its congressional mandate of discovering potentially threatening asteroids for the Earth.

The small telescope would observe the infrared wavelengths of light, cost about $ 500 million and would be launched during or after 2025, according to the Space News report. Zurbuchen said it would take 10 years for the telescope to reach its goal, according to Space News.

The congressional mandate in 2005 ordered NASA to find 90% of Earth's asteroids larger than 140 meters by 2020. However, inadequate infrastructure has prevented scientists from achieving this goal. Scientists estimate that there are 25,000 near-Earth objects of a size greater than 140 meters, but the world's telescopes have found only one-third.

There is already a reused infrared space telescope called NEOWISE, which lists asteroids close to the Earth. This year, National Academies released a report encouraging NASA and astronomers to build their successor, NEOCam. NASA provided early funding for the mission, including finding infrared detectors for asteroid hunting, according to Space News. Although NASA is not moving forward with NEOCam, the research will be included in the new mission to monitor near-Earth objects.

"I am very pleased to learn that NASA is interested in an asteroid survey mission. That's what we proposed as NEOCam: a 50-centimeter telescope operating at infrared wavelengths sensitive to the heat emitted by asteroids and comets, "Amy Mainzer, the principal investigator at NEOCam, told Gizmodo. "The mission responds directly to the recommendations of the recently published National Academy."

Mainzer, a professor of planetary sciences at the University of Arizona, explained that she was in the process of defining how to participate in the mission.

It is exciting. "One of the most important things that NASA can do, in my opinion, is to use science and technology to help protect the Earth and all its inhabitants against harmful phenomena such as climate change, the loss of of biodiversity and, in this case, the impacts of asteroids and comets. , Says Mainzer. "This applied science is important for everyone, and NASA has great capacity here."