Question: NASA-funded ATLAS is designed to search which of the following?
a) Water bodies upon the Earth
b) Forest cover upon the globe
c) Dark sky for near-Earth objects (NEOs).
d) None of these
Answer: (c)
Related Facts:-
- The NASA-funded ATLAS becomes the first survey capable of searching the entire dark sky every 24 hours for near-Earth objects (NEOs) that could pose a future impact hazard to Earth.
- ATLAS or Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System is an asteroid detecting system that is cutting-edge.
- The University of Hawai’i (UH) Institute for Astronomy (IFA) manages it for NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO).
- With the installation of two more observatories in Chile and South Africa, ATLAS has now expanded its coverage to the southern hemisphere.
- There are now four telescopes with ATLAS and on the site On Haleakala and Maunaloa in Hawai’i, it already possesses two northern-hemisphere telescopes.
- Every 24 hours, ATLAS can now search the whole dark sky.
- As a result, it has become a valuable asset in NASA’s ongoing search for, tracking, and monitoring of NEOs.
- UH IfA developed the first two ATLAS telescopes in Hawai’i. It was created thanks to a NASA grant from the Near-Earth Objects Observations Program in 2013. These telescopes are now part of NASA’s PDCO program.
- In 2017, the two Haleakala and Maunaloa facilities were completely operational.
By – Rajesh Tripathi
Links:-
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-asteroid-tracking-system-now-capable-of-full-sky-search