Astronomers have warned that our planet is long overdue for a defense plan against catastrophic asteroid collisions. When it comes to deflecting Earth-obliterating celestial bodies, short of a superhero capable of punching the approaching rock back into outer space, there is no single force dedicated to stopping cosmic bullies from striking our little blue planet straight in the eye. That’s why the United Nations said it will create an asteroid defense group.

Last week, U.N. officials announced plans to establish an International Asteroid Warning Group to intercept and divert dangerous asteroids. According to Scientific American, should an errant space rock start to move into our traffic lane, the asteroid defense group would collect data from U.N. member nations and coordinate an interception plan. The decision came after members of the Association of Space Explorers, an organization of former astronauts, warned that our planet’s safety is truly in jeopardy.

“No government in the world today has explicitly assigned the responsibility for planetary protection to any of its agencies,” ASE member Rusty Schweickart, who flew on the Apollo 9 mission in 1969, said Friday during a panel discussion at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. “NASA does not have an explicit responsibility to deflect an asteroid, nor does any other space agency.”

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