The PHASTT Network

We’re more than halfway through our crowdfunding campaign to raise money for a network of telescopes that will find and characterize small asteroids before they impact the Earth. There is a real, quantifiable threat and there is something that we can do about it now. Not only that, it won’t cost much money…

Take, for example, our PHASTT-1 telescope. Although it is only the first step in building a complete network it will play a valuable role in the design and testing of a larger network. And, while doing so, it will find asteroids and tell us something about what they’re made of. Two very important things. The cost? Less than $100,000.

Click here to see the campaign on Indiegogo

A tall latte from Starbucks costs about $3 (nearly 5 bucks if you live in Switzerland), which, as you’ve probably noticed, is a bit less than $100,000. But it’s only 33,333 times less than what is needed. And 33,333 is only about 1/10000th (or 0.01%) of the population of Canada and the US combined. So, 1 in every 10,000 or 33,333 people (in North America) were to contribute the cost of a cup of coffee, PHASTT-1 could be built. And this, is the beauty of crowdfunding. Through the generosity of a large number of people (even if only a dollar or two), ambitious and valuable projects can become a reality. We want PHASTT to become a reality.

See the UN call for an ‘Asteroid Warning Group’

Now, PHASTT-1 is really the start of network which will cover the entire night sky once every night. With it, we will find small objects (5m) just before impact and slightly larger objects (15m) a week or more out. To do this, we will need at least 10x this amount. For that, we’ll either need a larger crowd working to protect the planet or larger individual donations. Personally, I’d like to see a larger crowd each donating a bit – a cup of coffee or two. The more people involved, the more effective we, as a crowd, become in helping understand and mitigate the risks associated with a possible future impact.

Thanks for reading and remember, comments are always appreciated!