Planetary asteroid and comet defense system may appear in ten years, scientist says

A planetary system for protection of the Earth from comet and asteroid threat may gain tangible shape in ten years, and technological basis for such system already exists, says Natan Eismont, lead researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Space Research Institute.

"I believe that this task will be solved in the next ten years, and it will be solved based on technologies that already exist now," he said during a press conference, dedicated to the Cosmonautics Day Monday.

According to Eismont, current designs propose to use other, controllable asteroids for protection from dangerous ones.

"It is currently technologically possible," he noted.