Near-Earth Objects: Finding Them Before They Find Us

“Balancing the wonders of astronomy with the looming potential for an epic, planet-wide disaster, Yeomans, a fellow and research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, explores the origins of near-Earth objects–asteroids, comets, meteors, and meteoroids–and the threat they can pose to our planet. . . . Yeomans’s book is an accessible and far-ranging primer on the science of near-Earth objects.”–Publishers Weekly

“As Earth creaks on its course around the Sun, it is exposed to a relentless barrage of asteroids and comets. Donald Yeomans, who manages NASA’s Near-Earth Object Program Office, offers an introduction to the science of these lethal monsters, one of which may have seen off the dinosaurs 65 million years ago and created the Chicxulub crater. Yeomans shows how the threats are balanced by potential boons, such as the theoretical delivery of the building blocks of life on Earth. Can these reeling masses even become interplanetary pitstops on the road to Mars?”–Nature

“[Near Earth Objects] gives readers an inside account of the latest efforts to find, track and study life-threatening asteroids and comets.”–ScientificAmerican.com’s Observations blog

“Near-Earth Objects is a fascinating tour guide of the asteroids we should worry about.”–Marcus Chown, New Scientist

“Despite its title, Near-Earth Objects offers a concise and informative overview of the formation of the entire solar system: why the planets differ, the latest theories on how they lined up and the origin of such leftovers as comets and asteroids. Yeomans also makes a good case that a near-Earth asteroid is an accessible target for our next space adventure, readying us for Mars and preparing us for a time when we might depend on them as a source of rare minerals.”–Marcia Bartusiak, Washington Post