NOVANEWS
By Shepard Ambellas
The United Nations General Assembly met last week on the matter of a new asteroid detection and deflection network that will be tied to space agencies, astronomers, scientists and military units worldwide.
This artist concept illustrates how a massive collision of objects, perhaps as large as the planet Pluto, smashed together to create the dust ring around the nearby star Vega. New observations from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope indicate the collision took place within the last one million years. Astronomers think that embryonic planets smashed together, shattered into pieces, and repeatedly crashed into other fragments to create ever finer debris. (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
(INTELLIHUB) — After the recent Russian meteor scare, the implementation of a standardized asteroid detection and deflection network comes in wake of interagency and White House documentation stating that indeed the potential for a future asteroid strike is possible and warranted based on the earth’s strike history. For whatever reason, it seems that agencies in-the-know are gearing up for a potential impact and possibly imminent impact in the future.
The Los Angeles Times reported, “The U.N. will also set up a space mission planning advisory group to look into how humans might deflect an asteroid heading our way — the best options, the costs and the technologies needed. The results of that study will be shared with space agencies throughout the world.
The General Assembly also agreed that the existing U.N. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space would monitor threats from asteroids and help plan and authorize a deflection campaign if necessary.
These measures were based in part on recommendations from the Association of Space Explorers, a professional society of astronauts and cosmonauts. The group, made up entirely of people who have flown in the space, submitted a report to the U.N. in 2009 titled “Asteroid Threats: A Call for Global Response.” The report outlined steps for how the U.N. could help prevent a dangerous asteroid strike.”[1]
Sources:
[1] UN aims to fight asteroids, creates a global warning network – LATimes.com
