planetary science

"Launching radioactive material through the Earth's atmosphere brings safety concerns. You have to have a special license to do that, but it is not insurmountable," says Dr Simeon Barber, planetary science specialist at the Open University.

She did the study's work as a doctoral student at the University of Colorado Boulder, and has since moved to the California Institute of Technology as a postdoctoral scholar and research associate in planetary science.

Democrats and Republicans in Congress, led by the Planetary Science Caucus, have spoken out against this attack on NASA.

Yet according to Richard P. Binzel, a professor of astronomy and planetary science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who invented the Torino Impact Hazard Scale for measuring these space rocks, we should not think in terms of conclusive eventualities and solutions on this issue.

Dr Simeon Barber, a planetary science researcher from the Open University, said Blue Ghost was essentially the first successful private venture to the Moon, as the vehicle was intact and responsive.