This artist’s concept shows the Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security – Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft contacting the asteroid Bennu with the  Touch-And-Go Sample Arm Mechanism or TAGSAM.
Image: NASA.

NASA has a planetary defense program that sounds like something out of science fiction but is looking for real threats.  These potential threats come from Near-Earth Objects such as asteroids and comets. The program aims to discover and track these NEOs. To learn more, visit NASA’s Near-Earth Object Observations Program pages here.