The best thing the public can do is advocate for increased funding to accelerate asteroid discovery rates.

Bennu will not hit Earth. At least not for hundreds of years, say scientists. But the slight odds of it happening have increased by a tiny percentage, thanks to NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission which recently landed on the asteroid. The spacecraft took samples and fine-tuned trajectory predictions for the potentially hazardous space rock. You can read more about OSIRIS-REx in a blog by Asteroid Institute advisor, Scott Manley. 

B612 President Danica Remy and Asteroid Institute Executive Director, Dr. Ed Lu, spoke to Salon’s Nicole Karlis about what is important to keep in mind when reading asteroid headlines. With Bennu, we know it is not a threat because of careful tracking, but, Dr. Lu pointed out, the asteroids not on our radar are the true concern. 

“The best thing the public can do right now is to advocate for increased funding to accelerate asteroid discovery rates,” said Remy.

You can read the full article here. Or watch this video and meet the asteroids: