Arecibo’s Role May Expand

Congress hopes telescope can analyze Near Earth Objects

Five scientists, including Prof. Don Campbell, astronomy, testified before Congress this past Thursday at a hearing to discuss NASA’s plan to find and characterize potentially hazardous asteroids and comets.

Campbell’s role in the proceedings was to address the utility of Cornell’s Arecibo Observatory, the largest radio telescope in the world, in making detailed observations of potentially hazardous objects and helping to mitigate the threat they may pose to Earth. Campbell is the former site director of Arecibo and the former head of the observatory’s Planetary Radar Group.