FLASHBACK: NASA Does Not Have Sufficient Money to Track Near-Earth Asteroids Under 2005 NASA Authorization Act

When the next big asteroid collides unexpectedly with the Earth, please remember that Congress decided to spend taxpayer monies on other more important projects like healthcare reform, climate change and illegal wars despite mandating that NASA discover 90% of all near-Earth objects. The findings from the National Research Council are summarized below.

Finding: Congress has mandated that NASA discover 90 percent of all near-Earth objects 140 meters in diameter or greater by 2020. The administration has not requested and Congress has not appropriated new funds to meet this objective. Only limited facilities are currently involved in this survey/discovery effort, funded by NASA’s existing budget.

Finding: The current near-Earth object surveys cannot meet the goals of the 2005 NASA Authorization Act directing NASA to discover 90 percent of all near-Earth objects 140 meters in diameter or greater by 2020.

Source: The National Academies Press