Russia, US plan to join forces to protect themselves from asteroid threat
MOSCOW, January 27, 21:16 /ITAR-TASS/. Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations will develop co-operation with the United States in creating protection against asteroids, Emergency Situations Minister Vladimir Puchkov said on Monday.
“Together with our American counterparts, we want to enhance co-operation within a working group in the field of protecting social infrastructure facilities and the population from the asteroid and comet danger,” he said in an interview to the Rossiyskaya Gazeta daily, due to be published on January 28.
Puchkov said the meteor that exploded over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk last year proved that threats from outer space might be real and no less devastating than large-scale fires or natural disasters.
He said the Ministry of Emergency Situations together with its foreign opposite number would continue “to develop systems for space monitoring and prediction of emergency situations and fires, alongside systems for the protection of social infrastructure from space threats and technologies for protection of human life and health from natural disasters.