NASA s upcoming DART mission plans to hit an asteroid with a spacecraft to test Earth s defenses. But our chances of deflecting an asteroid depends on how much warning time we have.
Wie said federal funding from NASA dried up since 2018.
He said everyone in the field around the world faces a general lack of interest except maybe in China now.
Wie was surprised to learn that the head of China s space authority last month announced the nation was looking into building an asteroid defense system.
The official gave no further details about the defense system, according to reports.
What are the threats posed by (small) asteroids, and what could be done about them?
Wie said the very large asteroids out there that have already been found pose no immediate threat.
NASA s Center for Near Earth Object Studies which tracks asteroid and comet orbits and calculates risks posed to Earth reported on its website that more than 90% of objects that could potentially threaten the planet and that are larger than one kilometer have already been found.