The report's positive review of Arecibo's role in NEO detection and imaging was welcome news for Cornell officials as they await a decision by the National Science Foundation (NSF) on funding for the observatory, as well as whether they'll be allowed to continue operating the facility via a long-held cooperative agreement with the NSF. Since then, scientists have considered the effects - and possible widespread extinction - of future impacts. A final report is due out in December.Īlthough Earth has been hit by asteroids and comets for billions of years, it was suggested in the 1980s that a massive asteroid impact had wiped out the dinosaurs. The world-famous, Cornell-run radio telescope's unsurpassed capabilities for taking precise, clear pictures of these near-earth objects (NEOs) are laid out plainly in the recently released interim report, "Near-Earth Object Surveys and Hazard Mitigation Strategies." Mandated by Congress in 2008, the report was written by a survey committee appointed by the National Research Council, which is the operational arm of the National Academy of Sciences. That statement could help secure the observatory's future. The Arecibo Observatory provides "unmatched precision and accuracy" in detecting asteroids or comets that could hit the Earth, says a report by the National Academy of Sciences.
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