Asteroid Fire Drill “This thing missed, but chances are, at this
size, we will one day find an object headed for an impact,” says
Binzel, a professor of planetary sciences in MIT’s Department of
Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences. “Depending on where
it’s falling, you might need to know whether it’s going to
survive passage through the atmosphere, and how many fragments
[will make impact]. We’d like to have the capability to deliver
those kinds of answers, if we need to.” Binzel is part of an
international team of astronomers who monitor the skies for
approaching asteroids. The scientists receive data from the
Minor Planet Center (MPC), a clearinghouse for asteroid
discoveries at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.
Researchers at the MPC collect observational data from
telescopes and satellites around the world, then calculate the
orbits of asteroids and comets. Each day, the MPC sends out
circulars to astronomers around the world, highlighting new
objects discovered in space. When an object’s o