Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, NASA reveal plans for blasting city-killing asteroids away from Earth
New York Post • • science
Key Points:
- Blue Origin, in collaboration with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, is developing the Near-Earth Objects (NEO) Hunter mission to trial multiple asteroid-deflection techniques using their Blue Ring spacecraft platform.
- The mission plans to deploy small satellites for reconnaissance of potentially hazardous asteroids, gathering data to inform deflection strategies such as ion beam-deflecting or kinetic impact methods.
- This approach draws on lessons from NASA’s 2022 DART experiment, which successfully altered an asteroid’s course but also caused debris ejection that could pose additional risks.
- Scientists warn that up to 15,000 undetected asteroids orbit close to Earth, with only about 40% currently tracked, highlighting the urgent need for effective planetary defense systems.
- NASA is also developing the Near-Earth Object Surveyor, a space telescope designed to detect hazardous asteroids and comets using infrared sensors, as concerns grow over threats like the city-killer asteroid YR4.
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