Hello Mark –

There are other journalists besides myself who cover government efforts to deal with the asteroid and comet hazard. Among them, it is well known that I welcome their coverage, and do not mind being “scooped” at all.

Of the set of missions described in this article, I personally like the EUNEOS (European Union NEOs) proposal for the use of observatory satellites to find these damned things. I will probably be working again on research on the Bazas impact of 580 CE, in hopes of getting the people and government of France to support this mission.

As for current US / NASA proposals to use moon based telescopes to find the next impactor before it hits, see:

http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/lunar_caps_011212-1.html

rasc.larc.nasa.gov/rasc_new/CAPS/CAPS_Concept_Summary.pdf

For my “scoop” on this story, one that is several years old, see:

http://www.geocities.com/epgrondine/

all the best,
ep