Among Earth¡¯s natural disasters, the one humans probably ponder least is asteroids, huge objects zipping through our solar system at ludicrous speeds.

An asteroid or comet collision is, NASA officials say, ¡°low-probability but high-consequence¡± ¡ª it will probably never happen, but if it does we¡¯re toast.

With that in mind, the U.S. and other nations have long sought to track such ¡°near-Earth objects¡± (NEOs), coordinating efforts through the International Asteroid Warning Network and the United Nations.