Expanding NASA's Mandate

Congress will soon be considering whether to make NASA the lead agency to develop strategies for identifying Near-Earth Objects that threaten a collision with our planet, as well as possible responses to such an event.

Astronomers have determined over the past couple of decades that the possibility of such a collision is more that simply a shot in the dark. Earth has been hit numerous times, and will be hit again, absent defensive action on our part.

Should NASA discover a threatening object, deflecting it would fall to the Defense Department. Before attempting to deflect it, however, analyzing the structure of the body would be necessary. The internal structure of the object would determine the technique used to deflect it, Presumably, NASA and the scientific community would lead that analysis.