Killer meteors: 'If it's coming in three weeks, pray'

On Feb. 15, a school bus-sized asteroid exploded several miles over Chelyabinsk, Russia, injuring more than 1,200 people. The B612 Foundation, which is led by former U.S. astronaut Ed Lu, estimates there are 10 million asteroids of similar size in the inner solar system. /Image via abc.go.com


Scientists testifying before Congress on Tuesday said the effort to find small killer asteroids is behind schedule and there is little that could be done if a large asteroid capable of destroying civilization were detected a few weeks before it collided with Earth.

NASA is leading a global push to find and track these "near-Earth objects." The U.S. space agency is confident it has found 90 percent of near-Earth objects capable of wreaking the kind worldwide catastrophe that occurred 60 million years ago, when scientists believe a large asteroid strike wiped out the dinosaurs as well as thousands of other animal and plant species on the planet. But if there's a mile-wide asteroid bearing down on Earth now, we're apparently doomed.

"The answer to you is, if it’s coming in three weeks, pray," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden told the House Science, Space and Technology Committee.

The effort to find smaller killer asteroids such as the one that exploded over Russia last month and injured more than 1,200 people is behind schedule, Bolden and President Obama's top science adviser testified. "Unfortunately, the number of undetected potential 'city killers' is very large," John Holdren said. "It’s in the range of 10,000 or more."

Congress has directed NASA to find 90 percent of near-Earth objects that are at least as big as a football field by 2020. But Bolden said more money and a new space-based telescope are needed to reach that goal. At the current rate of funding, he said the effort to detect "city killer" asteroids is about 10 years behind schedule.

The B612 Foundation says several years of advanced warning would be required to launch a mission to deflect an approaching killer asteroid: "In general, to deflect an asteroid we would need several years to decades of advance notice. That is because the amount (of energy) you need to deflect an asteroid greatly increases the closer it is to hitting you. In addition, we need a suitable launch window that allows a spacecraft to reach the asteroid."