How a Tiny Asteroid Strike May Save Earthlings From City-Killing Space Rocks - The New York Times

An asteroid hunter detected the small object two hours before it crashed into the sea near Greenland, a sign of the growing sophistication of NASA’s planetary defense system.

Scout constantly looks at data posted by the Minor Planet Center, a clearinghouse in Cambridge, Mass., that notes the discoveries and positions of small space objects. Then the software tries to figu… [+1692 chars]

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