Astronomers who scan the skies for dangerous asteroids – space rocks that might cross the Earth’s path – are in line for a huge funding boost from Nasa.The U.S space agency is awarding $4.1 million (£2.6m) to the Catalina Sky Survey (CSS), based at the University of Arizona (UA), to upgrade its search capabilities.
Most will consider this money well spent, since some asteroids, were they to crash land on Earth, would be capable of causing global devastation.
The money will be used to upgrade and operate the CSS telescopes through to 2015.
The CSS program, part of the UA's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, has led the search for so-called near-Earth objects, or NEOs, since 2005. Read More
