LOS ANGELES — Who will protect us from a killer asteroid? A team of ex-NASA astronauts and scientists thinks it’s up to them.
In a bold plan unveiled Thursday, the group wants to launch its own space telescope to spot and track small and mid-sized space rocks capable of wiping out a city or continent. With that information, they could sound early warnings if an asteroid appeared headed toward our planet.
So far, the idea from the B612 Foundation is on paper only. Such an effort would cost upward of several hundred million dollars.
“We’re flying around the solar system with these other objects,” said foundation chairman and former astronaut Ed Lu. “The laws of probability eventually catch up to you.”
Behind the nonprofit also are an Apollo 9 astronaut, former Mars czar and deep space mission manager along with other non-NASA types.
