Earth's planetary defense system is getting a major upgrade this year.
The NASA ATLAS program recently announced two new telescopes being installed that can detect and warn people about incoming space rocks.
Unfortunately, the systems are yet to be fully operational.
Ongoing NASA systems can monitor up to 28,000 asteroids around Earth.
However, experts admit that thousands more continue to be undetected because of their size.
Be warned that these small space rocks can still cause regional wide devastation depending on circumstances.
Atlas Asteroid Tracker: New Upgrades
The Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) was eventually launched in 2017 to address the problem of undetected asteroids.
Notably, it is comprised of telescope arrays based on the University of Hawaiʻi Institute for Astronomy (IFA).
ATLAS Principal Investigator John Tonry explained to Daily Mail, "an asteroid that hits the Earth can come at any time from any direction, so ATLAS is now all the sky, all the time."
This implies that the system is constantly scanning around space.
Right now, it could give NASA up to three weeks warning about any incoming asteroids.
It is worth emphasizing that ATLAS just recently expanded two new telescopes on the opposite side of the world.
These telescopes are based at the Sutherland Observing Station in South Africa, and the El Sauce Observatory in Chile.
Experts took into consideration the time difference for the telescopes, meaning it could be daytime in Hawai'i when its night time in Chile and South Africa.
To emphasize, the four telescopes on the different corners of the world make up the ATLAS system.
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NASA ATLAS Space Rock Tracker: How Does It Work
According to Daily Mail, ATLAS can detect 64ft diameter asteroids and provide a 24-hour heads up to NASA.
Be warned that an asteroid of this size can destroy an entire city. This means the 24-hour notice could be used to evacuate affected citizens away from the danger zone.
However, be warned that the systems are yet to be fully functional.
Because of the COVID-19 delays, experts admit to having issues with the supply and telescope manufacturing.
For now, the telescopes are operational, but it can take weeks to months for experts to completely calibrate them for maximum sensitivity and reliability.
ATLAS Upgrade: Planetary Defense System
Lastly, it is worth mentioning that ATLAS recently joined an array of world-class telescopes at SAAO's Sutherland Observing Station.
According to Daily Mail, the organization is led by the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT).
ATLAS-Sutherland lead researcher Dr. Nic Erasmus shared the experience, saying, "We are excited to join the ATLAS network and to become part of the global effort to identify potentially hazardous asteroids."
Interested fans who want more updates about the ATLAS system are recommended to visit the NASA official website.
Hopefully, these new and upgraded systems will be enough to protect and defend the planet Earth.
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