Doomsday asteroid could kill us all ‘unless we spend hundreds of millions a year’

When American government representatives asked NASA head Charles Boden what the best response to a large asteroid headed for New York City would be, his answer was simple: ‘Pray’.

Now a highly respected UK scientists has warned that governments need to spend ‘hundreds of millions’ on new anti-asteroid systems to keep us safe.

Lord Martin Rees, UK Astronomer Royal, said that governments need to create both a better asteroid detection system, and a deflection system.

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Speaking to a press conference in Luxembourg, he said, ‘I think we are all aware that we on planet earth are vulnerable to impacts from outside we know evidence these have happened in the past.

‘It may not be the greatest risk or highest profile short term risk confronting earth, but if you make an assessment of what insurance premium it is worth paying in order to reduce impact, you would come up with a figure of several hundred million euros a year – which the world should be spending to reduce this risk.’

‘We know that asteroids pose risks to Earth and recent advances in sensor technology have radically improved our ability to detect and deflect these Near Earth objects.’