Current asteroid detection systems inadequate for Tunguska-class events

Current asteroid detection systems inadequate for Tunguska-class events. Current detection systems are insufficient to detect Tunguska-sized objects in time About 70% of large kilometer-scale objects have been identified The Chelyabinsk event on February 13, 2013, was much smaller than Tunguska but caused 1,500 injuries and damaged hundreds of buildings

Our detection systems can't catch Tunguska-sized objects in time—only about 70% of large kilometer-scale objects have been found. The 1908 Tunguska bolide was just 150 feet across.

Key Facts

• Current detection systems are insufficient to detect Tunguska-sized objects in time
• About 70% of large kilometer-scale objects have been identified
• The Chelyabinsk event on February 13, 2013, was much smaller than Tunguska but caused 1,500 injuries and damaged hundreds of buildings
• NASA's DART mission successfully demonstrated the ability to redirect an asteroid by nudging the smaller body of the Didymos-Dimorphos binary system
• A Tunguska repeat over the US East Coast or Los Angeles would cause over a million fatalities

Source: A 15 Megaton Explosion Over Siberia and Humanity Forgot! by The Randall Carlson