China is building early warning system to spot Earth-smashing asteroids
Beijing will use ground telescopes and orbital satellites to track dangerous space rocks that currently go undetected
China is developing an early warning system to spot asteroids that might smash into the Earth, according to the scientist leading the national mission.
China planned to deploy multiple telescopes on the ground, alongside a constellation of satellites in orbit, state-run Science and Technology Daily quoted Li Mingtao, chief scientist at the asteroid monitoring and early-warning research centre under the China National Space Administration, as saying.
None of the asteroids that had been discovered so far were thought to be on a clear collision course with Earth, Li said in the report on June 30, which the United Nations designated as International Asteroid Day.
More than 95 per cent of near-Earth asteroids larger than 1km (0.62 miles) in diameter – large enough to trigger global catastrophes – had already been identified, he said.
But only about 45 per cent of asteroids measuring around 140 metres (460 feet) across, which could devastate a small country, were believed to have been discovered, he added.
“These undiscovered near-Earth asteroids pose the greatest risk. They are numerous, very faint before their approach and may even suddenly approach from the direction of the sun,” Li said.