NASA upgrades asteroid detection technology in bid to track earth-threatening rocks

dailyrecord.co.uk:

NASA is now able to search the full night's sky when looking for 'near-Earth' asteroids.The improved technology is made up of two new telescopes that can scan the entire dark sky every 24 hours in a bid to look for objects that may be threatening to our planet.NASA's ATLAS, a planetary defence system, is a vital surveillance system with the ability to track objects on a collision course with the Earth.

The systems looks for things such as asteroids and space debris that may cause a treat if travelling on a path towards our planet.

Since 2017, the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy has operated two telescopes from the US Island. The upgrade seems one telescope now operating from South Africe with the other in Chile meaning that the night sky can be observed by one when it is actually day time in the other locations.Near-Earth object observations manager of NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office,- Kelly Fast- said: “An important part of planetary defense is finding asteroids before they find us, so if necessary, we can get them before they get us. “With the addition of these two telescopes, ATLAS is now capable of searching the entire dark sky every 24 hours, making it an important asset for NASA’s continuous effort to find, track, and monitor (near-Earth objects).”Lindley Johnson, NASA's planetary defense officer, said the agency has not yet found an asteroid that poses a significant threat to Earth.

But the agency continues to search the sky.“Our goal is to find any possible impact years to decades in advance so it can be deflected with a capability using technology we already have,” Johnson said.NASA will soon practice a deflection technique if a hazardous space rock is identified.In addition to this,