NASA is asking for help in finding dangerous asteroids to neutralize them

The US Aerospace Agency NASA announced the launch of the “Grand Challenge” program, within which it is planned to combine the efforts of government agencies, commercial organizations, and private individuals to search for asteroids dangerous for the Earth. Asteroids will search not for the sake of interest, but in order to neutralize the most dangerous objects for us. According to the first deputy head of the agency, Laurie Garver, this program makes us “smarter than dinosaurs,” that is, allows you to avoid the threat of collision of large space bodies with the planet, which will inevitably lead to a global catastrophe.

According to a published document, NASA has already discovered 95% of asteroids that are in close proximity to Earth. The primary task is to find the most dangerous objects and to do everything to neutralize them. An interesting way that will be used in this case: it is planned to launch a robotic satellite with a powerful capture system. After this spacecraft captures an asteroid, its task will be to bring the asteroid to a safe orbit around the moon.
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The plan says that scientists are going to find an asteroid weighing up to 500 tons and with a diameter of 7-8 meters. This is the kind of asteroid NASA plans to tow to the circumlunar orbit. There is a second option - towing an asteroid to the Lagrange point L2. Until now, NASA could not find a worthy candidate for neutralization, so it was decided to activate the asteroid search program by involving the public / business / government.



Already allocated and the budget, the value of which is 105 million dollars. This amount will be distributed among the participants in the asteroid detection mission.

Via theverge + washingtonpost