New space telescope could spot potentially hazardous asteroids heading for Earth
By
Ashley Strickland, CNN
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A new space telescope that could spot potentially hazardous asteroids and comets heading for Earth is one step closer to reality. Courtesy: NASA/JPL-Caltech
(CNN) — A new space telescope that could spot potentially hazardous asteroids and comets heading for Earth is one step closer to reality.
The Near-Earth Object Surveyor space telescope, or NEO Surveyor, has been approved by NASA to move forward to the design phase. The 20-foot-long (6-meter-long) infrared telescope would bolster planetary defense by helping astronomers find asteroids and comets that come within 30 million miles (48 million kilometers) of Earth's orbit.=