You obviously want to track known objects as well as discover new ones. That has happened at a pretty quick pace in the last few years, thanks to increased professional effort (while amateur astronomers discovered most asteroids only a few years ago nowadays most are discovered by professionals).
Asteroid impacts are one of the few natural disasters (the other probably being floods) that we could actually be able to prevent from happening. It’s a good idea to be on the lookout. Oh, and even if we can’t prevent the rock from falling we can still evacuate in a timely manner (e.g. in case of an asteroid hitting the Pacific and causing a Tsunami).
Sure, if we discover the asteroid a week before it hits we can’t do much. But if we know a few years in advance that an asteroid will cross paths with Earth we can actually do something about it (since relatively minuscule changes in the asteroid’s trajectory can move it out of the way). One way would be to simply park a spacecraft next to it. The gravitational pull of the spacecraft which keeps its distance with thrusters can move the asteroid ever so slightly. It might also possible to hit the asteroid just right with a kinetic impacter (i.e. a big hunk of heavy metal) and slightly whack it.
It’s not expensive. People are actually working on this. And they better be, ask the dinosaurs. (If you can.)
Asteroid impacts are one of the few natural disasters (the other probably being floods) that we could actually be able to prevent from happening. It’s a good idea to be on the lookout. Oh, and even if we can’t prevent the rock from falling we can still evacuate in a timely manner (e.g. in case of an asteroid hitting the Pacific and causing a Tsunami).
Sure, if we discover the asteroid a week before it hits we can’t do much. But if we know a few years in advance that an asteroid will cross paths with Earth we can actually do something about it (since relatively minuscule changes in the asteroid’s trajectory can move it out of the way). One way would be to simply park a spacecraft next to it. The gravitational pull of the spacecraft which keeps its distance with thrusters can move the asteroid ever so slightly. It might also possible to hit the asteroid just right with a kinetic impacter (i.e. a big hunk of heavy metal) and slightly whack it.
It’s not expensive. People are actually working on this. And they better be, ask the dinosaurs. (If you can.)