NASA has been assigned to monitor asteroids and comets zooming through the solar system to prevent any threat posed to the Earth. But it lacks funding and is able to complete only two-thirds of the program.
The U.S. Congress assigned NASA to this mission several years ago but never authorized the funding needed to update its telescope system. NASA needs an additional one billion dollars to continue tracking these asteroids over the next 12 to 15 years and it’s important, says Berin Szoka, Senior Fellow from the Progress and Freedom Foundation.
“It’s a huge threat – it’s a very small likelihood that any particular asteroid will hit us, but if it does it could be the end of the species – but it’s also a great opportunity,” explains Szoka.