Budget Priority - NEO

First, I would like to state that I do not believe in little green men from Mars.

NASA runs a Near Earth Object (NEO) program with the mission of identifying planetary objects such as meteors and comets and the paths of these objects. The objective is to identify objects that pose a threat to the planet. Most objects have paths which can be projected into the future to determine whether an object will impact with the earth. Space is vast but the number of planetary objects is huge. It is clear that the earth and other planetary bodies such as the moon and Mars have repeatedly been struck but a large number of objects some of which created huge, destructive impacts. It is not a question of if Earth will be struck by a NEO but when and how significant of an impact will occur. Keep in mind that an asteroid impact 65 million years ago is credited by most scientists as being responsible for the extinction of all large animals including the dinosaur.

Even a relatively small impact by an object the size of say a football stadium would create havoc with the weather on a planetary scale such that the entire planet would experience a winter that would last for years. Imagine the consequences of this. Food and energy shortages would cause the world population to starve and/or freeze.

OK. A NEO impact might not happen for thousands of years but it is just as likely to happen next year. The world has the technology that is required to search for threats and could mount a program to develop the technology to deal with a threat. Fortunately, NASA runs a NEO detection program. Unfortunately, the program currently run by NASA has an annual budget and staff level that is less than what you would find in one McDonald's restaurant. NASA's budget for 2010 for NEO activities is $3.8 million.