When it comes to defence, our priorities are wrong

IN 1908, a small asteroid exploded in the sky above Siberia, flattening a vast area of remote forest. Had the airburst happened over a big city, countless people would have been killed without warning.

If a similar object were hurtling towards Earth today, it would probably be spotted in good time to evacuate anyone living in harm's way - at least for the time being. Next month the only telescope scanning the southern hemisphere sky for dangerous space rocks will shut down for lack of money (see "Vital eye for killer asteroids could shut imminently"). It won't be replaced until 2017 at the earliest. In the interim, Earth's defences will have a blind spot.

Panic stations? Not quite. The chance of another asteroid on the scale of 1908 hitting before 2017 is minuscule, and any threat will probably be visible from the northern hemisphere at some point. The real worry is that without continuous monitoring, evacuation time will be lost.

That is still ample reason not to accept the closure and just hope for the best. Keeping the telescope running for five more years would cost about $1 million. In the same period, global "defence" spending will be about $7.5 trillion. It seems we have our priorities wrong.

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