that appears to have our planet in its crosshairs will require a healthy dose of international cooperation, experts say — and it's best to start thinking about that scenario now, while we have enough time to lay out a potential response framework. has developed"procedures for responding to tsunamis and other big events," Leviticus"L.A." Lewis, the U.S.
Lewis was discussing the results of the fifth Planetary Defense Interagency Tabletop Exercise, an asteroid-threat simulation that was held April 2 and April 3 at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland. But this is just an initial snapshot, with many key facts still fuzzy or unknown. For example, it's unclear how big the asteroid is; its estimated size range is 200 feet to 2,600 feet .
The flyby would likely cost between $200 million and $400 million. The rendezvous mission's price tag would be steeper — in the neighborhood of $800 million to $1 billion.