The newly formed Planetary Defense Coordination Office will monitor potential asteroid and comet threats to our planet.
In a move that could easily double as a plotline in a sci-fi flick, NASA has created a task force that will be charged with scouting for asteroids and other potentially devastating threats to planet Earth. The Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO) will manage projects that seek to “find and characterize asteroids and comets that pass near Earth’s orbit around the sun” and liaise with federal agencies to coordinate the appropriate response, according to NASA.