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Tracking and eliminating threats from space

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    How can we protect ourselves?

  • Duration 3:49
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What would we did it.

If you detected.

Even a small.

Like the one that time detonated 10 -- in Russia.

Headed for New York City in three weeks what would we -- if it's coming in three weeks.

Pray.

Carried out that the advice from a top NASA officials speaking at a congressional hearing.

And our ability to detect -- years.

I NASA officials are warning the US in the rest the world simply do not have the ability to could detect many small -- small in quotations.

Like the one that exploded over Russia causing massive destruction.

And injuring more than a thousand people or the one that -- closely by San Francisco.

NASA says it needs more money.

To develop the technology to find smaller asteroids flying around in space and take them down before they hit -- and this is why.

There's some objects that we know are coming years in advance -- other objects that are still big enough to cause damage.

That we only know about weeks in advance or days in advance obviously we need to improve the capability to give us.

A large amount of notice enough notice to mount a deflection mission mission if we see one on a collision course.

She's astronomer Derrick Pitts is that that so would dare -- I -- How vulnerable our way.

Well the real what the reality of -- -- is that.

While there are some large objects out there we known pretty well where the big ones -- -- the smaller ones that we really have to be concerned about.

But the truth is that -- your chances of being killed by a meteor striking your about the same dying in an airplane crash that means not very high at all.

I just had to get lies -- the -- Beckett Beckett and that fits it well let me go ahead Derek back well well then well then you need a titanium umbrella -- -- racquet size and scope of the problem is we really have to pay attention to the smaller ones because the smaller ones could damage an urban area.

And we really don't want to have that happen under any circumstances.

We have to think of it in terms of how we protect ourselves against dangerous storms we use weather satellites to help us predict when those are gonna come so we can move people out of the way or another path of these storms.

We need to develop the same kind of technology were similar technology.

To detect when these small asteroids maybe on a collision course with us how -- -- -- when you're saying -- -- last rate.

What size is that.

Something a hundred meters in size 300 feet in size and not diameter could do a lot of damage in an urban area.

And we have to remember it's not the size that matters as much as it is the velocity with which it comes to the earth.

Those two things put together create a lot of force and so that's why we can have a lot of damage and there are a lot of these asteroids.

That are on the small side so those are the ones we really have to pay the closest attention to and be able to detect -- early enough to do something about them if we find them on the way here.

Israel -- -- what -- expectations should be happy you know when it comes to money when it comes to talent that's out there.

Do we have a quote unquote bullet proof system -- even available or is this kind of part of the fact of of life that.

Sometimes something like this happens.

What we actually have a number of agencies around the world that are scanning the skies to try to identify and catalog these objects.

But we need to do much more we do have the talent there's no question about that.

Congress has to give -- the funding and make it last long enough.

That we can build a system that will allow us to see these and do something about it before they get here.

And maybe adding a few titanium and balanced is for good measure for the rest of how different that got us good idea there going nice to have you on the program thank you for the time.

Thank you John Street.

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