Article Title: Ten Thousandth Near-Earth Object Discovered Source: NASA Science News, June 25, 2 !

" URL: htt#$%%science&nasa&'ov%science-news%science-at-nasa%2 !"%2(jun)neo% Asteroids and co*ets can hit the earth and have a devastatin' e++ect on our #,anet& A,thou'h it is ver- rare +or bi' asteroids or co*ets to hit our #,anet, it is wise to search +or the* and ca,cu,ate i+ the- wou,d stri.e our #,anet in the +uture& A+ter readin' this artic,e, / discovered that NASA is active,- searchin' +or an- objects that wi,, #ass b- or co,,ide with Earth& 0- artic,e revea,s that NASA has +ound the ! , th near-Earth object& The na*e 'iven to this asteroid is

2 !" 015& 2ind,e- Johnson is the #ro'ra* e3ecutive +or NASA4s Near-Earth Object Observations 5NEOO6& The *ajor tea*s associated with NEOO are the 7ata,ina S.- Surve-, the 8niversit- o+ 9awaii:s ;an-STA<<S surve- and the 2/NEA< surve-& 2 !" 015 was +ound bthe ;an-STA<<S-! te,esco#e which is contro,,ed b- the 8niversit- o+ 9awaii& This te,esco#e is #ositioned at the su**it o+ the 9a,ea.a,a 7rater on 0aui& The objects bein' studied are NearEarth Objects 5NEOs6 which are de+ined as asteroids and co*ets that reach Earth4s orbita, distance to within 2= *i,,ion *i,es& The *ethod used to discover NEOs is b- +irst observin', then ca,cu,atin' their orbit, and ,ast,- chec.in' i+ it wi,, ever co,,ide or co*e c,ose to Earth& 9avin' +ound the ! ,
th

NEO is a si'ni+icant *i,estone, however *an- *ore need to

be +ound to be co*#,ete,- aware o+ a,, that cou,d cause si'ni+icant har* to the Earth4s #o#u,ation& >e .now that 2 !" 015 is a,*ost " *etres in si?e and that it does not co*e c,ose

enou'h to Earth to cause an- har*& On avera'e, three NEO4s are +ound dai,- and out o+ the ! , we have discovered, !, are bi''er than one .i,o*etre in si?e& NASA4s NEOO #ro'ra*

has conc,uded that there are a +ew do?en *ore o+ these ver- ,ar'e NEO4s ,e+t that are to be discovered& The re*ainin' NEO4s that we are tr-in' to +ind are !( *etres 5o+ which " @ have been +ound6 and " *etres in ,en'th 5o+ which !@ have been +ound6& The reason behind such a

s*a,, #ercenta'e o+ discoveries +or " *etre NEOs is that a NEO o+ this si?e wi,, not have si'ni+icant har* to Earth and its residents& This *ission is rea,,- si'ni+icant to its researchers because the- understand that with these discoveries, har* to Earth4s residents can be #revented& 9avin' discovered *ost o+ the ,ar'er-si?ed NEOs that *i'ht #ossess har* has been a si'ni+icant discover-& The #ro'ra* e3ecutive, 2ind,e- Johnson, understands that NASA has so*e wa-s to 'o unti, the- tru,- +ind a,, #otentia,,- har*+u, NEOs& / be,ieve this research is e3tre*e,- re,evant to ever-one& This research is tr-in' to +ind a,, NEOs in order to be #re#ared +or ones that cou,d #otentia,,- har* Earth& This *ission is he,#in' Earth4s citi?ens sta- sa+e b- #redictin' co,,isions ,on' be+ore the- can occur& Anowin' we,, in advance i+ so*ethin' wi,, have i*#act on the Earth can he,# us sto# the NEO b- de+,ectin' it into s#ace with the current s#ace techno,o'- we #ossess& This *ission is he,#in' #redict the +uture o+ NEOs4 orbits and it shou,d be re,evant +or not just astrono*ers, but our societ- as a who,e& <esearch o+ this t-#e shou,d de+inite,- be +unded and #ursued as it #ossesses the abi,itto save *an- ,ives& 0an- o+ our astrono*- research can be said to be +unded just +or the sa.e o+ .now,ed'e, however, this in #articu,ar *a- be one o+ the *ost i*#ortant ever, as it can be the .e- to #reventin' a #otentia, devastation& / chose this artic,e because / wanted to .now what Near-Earth Objects e3act,- consisted o+& A+ter / understood that NEOs *ost,- consisted o+ asteroids and co*ets, / re*e*bered that *eteoroids are a,so inc,uded in the de+inition& A+ter +inishin' the +irst ha,+ o+ 9istor- o+ Astrono*-, / ,earned that NEOs do have #redictab,e orbits and this artic,e con+ir*ed this +act +or *e& / did not, however, .now that it is this di++icu,t +or NASA to +ind a,, these NEOs& / thou'ht, es#ecia,,- b- now, that we discovered a,, o+ the* with so*e sort o+ advanced techno,o'-& /nstead, this artic,e chan'ed this #reconce#tion that / had, as / now understand the hard wor. that

is ta.en b- *an- tea*s to discover NEOs each and ever- da-& Bortunate,-, this artic,e con+ir*ed that NASA does have the su++icient techno,o'- needed to #revent co,,isions, i+ need be& This artic,e has ,e+t *e satis+ied that NASA is +undin' #rojects that cou,d #otentia,,- save hu*ans4 ,ives on Earth&