Public Input on Planetary Defense

January 31, 2023

In what NASA called “an extraordinarily close approach,” an asteroid the size of a large moving truck recently zipped past Earth at an altitude of about 2,200 miles, well within the orbit of global satellites. No harm—this time. But how would you defend the planet from approaching asteroids in the future? In Issues, Mahmud Farooque and Jason L. Kessler recount NASA’s experience in engaging the public in two-way conversations about the agency’s Asteroid Grand Challenge, which focused on “finding all asteroid threats to human populations and knowing what to do about them.” The outcomes, the authors report, surprised everyone.

Posted by Tom Burroughs