If a comet or asteroid doesn't slam into the planet between now and then, ending civilization, it will greatly improve our chances of killing ourselves off, instead of being snuffed out by some cosmic accident. Thank you, Canucks.

As this New Scientist article says, astronomers on the ground have been looking for potentially threatening asteroids for decades, but even a small space telescope like NEOSSat will really help us out:

Scientists are using ground-based telescopes to track down more of the near-Earth objects (NEOs) to determine if any could potentially hit the planet in the foreseeable future. But some of these objects are difficult to see from the ground.

t will rely on a telescope with a 15-centimetre mirror, smaller than many backyard telescopes used by amateur astronomers. Chief scientists for the mission are Alan Hildebrand of the University of Calgary and Brad Wallace of Defence Research and Development Canada.

Despite its modest dimensions, the spacecraft's unique vantage point in space may allow it to spot objects that are difficult to see from the ground.

Most of the NEOs found so far have elongated orbits that extend far away from the Sun. But some never venture much beyond Earth's orbit.

These stay close to the Sun in the sky, meaning they must be observed when the Sun is not far below the horizon - before sunrise and after sunset. At those times, the glow of the sky can make the objects hard to see.

Operating above the atmosphere, NEOSSat will have a clearer view of such objects. It is expected to catalogue at least 50% of the ones that span more than 1 kilometre.

These close-in objects are more dangerous than their more far-flung siblings because they spend more time in the vicinity of Earth, where there is the potential for a collision, says Timothy Spahr. An astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, Spahr co-authored a 2007 NASA report to the US Congress on the risk to Earth from NEOs.

NEOSSat only weighs about 60kg and cost $10 million to build...about what it costs for a candy bar in the Pentagon cafeteria. And for that pittance all we get is an unprecedented level of interplanetary defense. We owe you one, Canada.

Source: New Scientist (image: TreeHugger)

NASA administrator Doug Cooke says, "We now know the south pole has peaks as high as Mt. McKinley and crater floors four times deeper than the Grand Canyon." So your Moon condos could have beautiful mountain top views, or lie snuggled at the base of a sweeping canyon. Plus, there are more advantages, according to NASA:

The location has many advantages; for one thing, there is evidence of water frozen in deep dark south polar craters. Water can be split into oxygen to breathe and hydrogen to burn as rocket fuel—or astronauts could simply drink it. Planners are also looking for "peaks of eternal light." Tall polar mountains where the sun never sets might be a good place for a solar power station.

New Radar Maps of the Moon [NASA]

According to Anneila Sargent, a Caltech professor and ALMA Board member:

Most of the photons in the Universe are in the wavelength range that ALMA will receive, and ALMA will give us our first high-resolution views at these wavelengths. This will be a tremendous advancement for astronomy and open one of our science's last frontiers.

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory explained ALMA's capabilities in greater detail:

The millimeter and submillimeter wavelength range lies between what is traditionally considered radio waves and infrared waves. ALMA, a system using up to 66 high-precision dish antennas working together, will provide astronomers with dramatically greater sensitivity, the ability to detect faint objects, and resolving power, the ability to see fine detail, than has ever before been available in this range . . .

Astronomers expect ALMA to make extremely important contributions in a a variety of scientific specialties. The new telescope system will be a premier tool for studying the first stars and galaxies that emerged from the cosmic "dark ages" billions of years ago. These objects now are seen at great cosmic distances, with most of their light stretched out to millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths by the expansion of the Universe.

In the more nearby Universe, ALMA will provide an unprecedented ability to study the processes of star and planet formation. Unimpeded by the dust that obscures visible-light observations, ALMA will be able to reveal the details of young, still-forming stars, and is expected to show young planets still in the process of developing. In addition, ALMA will allow scientists to learn in detail about the complex chemistry of the giant clouds of gas and dust that spawn stars and planetary systems.

Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array [Official Site]

This is the enormous radio dish seen from above in 1962. The guy painting you see above is standing over the dish on a catwalk.

Top image via AP. Bottom image courtesy of the NAIC - Arecibo Observatory, a facility (at least for now) of the NSF.

Arecibo Back in Operation [NYT]