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NASA Panelist: ….and I want to note in terms of space debris, debris in orbit right now, I believe represents an existential threat to our very society, that we are getting very close to an event that could cause real problems for our ability to access satellites and that's why I think there's great ancillary benefits to the conversation we're having today, that as we increase our capability to monitor orbit for UAPs, that data could also be very relevant as we look at near-Earth objects and other threats.
And again to just end on near-Earth objects, Apophis for example, an asteroid, is going to come so close to Earth it will be below geosynchronous satellites. So any effort to begin to catalogue and do better in terms of understanding that environment is going to be terrific and I hope NASA works with commerce and international agencies on Apophis and other missions.
Also known as asteroid 99942, the near-Earth object is estimated to be about 1,100 feet (340 meters) across and could cause serious damage to the planet's surface if it were to hit.