On 15 February, asteroid 2012 DA14 (25 m) buzzed our geosynchronous satellites, as a smaller, unexpected asteroid exploded above Chelyabinsk with a 440 kiloton blast (30 × Hiroshima).
There are over a million asteroids the size of DA14, or larger. We’ve found less than 1%.
We should create a map of near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) now:
+ NEA resources could start an extraterrestrial “platinum rush.”
+ Asteroids can tell the story of our solar system, and our planet.
+ One unexpected asteroid can ruin a lovely day. (Ask the dinosaurs.)
Step one: Find them.
We can afford this: An infrared telescope, looking out from the sun in an orbit near Venus, could locate most NEAs within 10 years for $500 million (e.g., B612 Sentinel).
Or, we can sit in the dark, and hope...
More: SpaceWealth.org/FTA