Helping developers against asteroids that could threaten our planet, asks NASA for the Asteroid Data Hunter.
Asteroid Data Hunter is offering $35.000 to developers who can develop algorithms that will identify asteroids that pictures from ground-based telescopes. The solution that emerges should increase the rate of asteroid detection and minimize the number of false positives.
Also, this "Asteroid Hunting Code" should be able to ignore "deficiencies" in the data and be able to "run" on all computer systems.
"The protection of the planet from the threat of asteroid impact means we first need to know where they are," said program manager Jen Gustetich, according to a BBC report.
"By expanding the search for asteroids, we are harnessing the potential of innovators, creators and citizen scientists everywhere to address this global challenge».
Currently, it is estimated that only the 1% of objects in orbit around the Sun are being watched, according to Planetary Resources, which is working with NASA as part of the competition.
Speaking at the SXSW conference on Tuesday, Gustetich and Jason Kessler explained how the US space agency uses a combination of crowdsourcing and prizes to boost its efforts in the field of asteroid detection.
In the presentation, the example of the dinosaurs, which disappeared due to the asteroid fall in the Gulf of Mexico before 66 millions of years, was used in the fifth case of "mass extinction" on our planet.
«Η μαζική εξαφάνιση (mass extinction) είναι κάτι που εξαλείφει το 75% των ειδών στον πλανήτη μέσα σε δύο εκατομμύρια χρόνια» σημείωσε, επισημαίνοντας ότι σε σύγκριση με τους δεινοσαύρους, το ανθρώπινο είδος δεν αποτελεί για πολύ μεγάλο χρονικό space the "ruler" of the planet.
As the Guardian mentions, the question, according to Gustatich, is whether we are smart enough to avoid the fate of dinosaurs.
The Asteroid Data Hunter starts at 17 March and will last until mid-August.
Source: naftemporiki.gr
