Earthlings are better-equipped to detect asteroid threats thanks to the expansion of a NASA-funded program run by the University of Hawaiʻi Institute for Astronomy (IfA). ATLAS, or Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System, has added observatories in South Africa and Chile to keep watch for possible threats in the southern hemisphere. The newly added facilities will complement two existing telescopes on Haleakalā and Maunaloa that survey the northern hemisphere. Together, the quartet scans for threats across the entire night sky every 24 hours.
UH Asteroid Tracking System Upgraded to Survey Entire Sky
