To detect an incoming meteorite

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Will countries adapt their missile detection radars to also detect meteorites ? This is the hottest issue now among some countries that have the missile detection capability.

The issue was put on the table after the Russian missile detection radars failed to identify an incoming meteorite last week.

The explosion of the massive meteorite above the Ural Mountains on Friday caused more than 1,000 injuries around the city of Chelyabinsk.

Russia’s advanced missile warning systems “never had a chance” to see the rock coming, according to the Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces blog.

“The Dnepr radar in Mishelevka might have detected the meteorite if it looked up, but it didn’t — as an early-warning radar its mission is to search the narrow strip of space just above the horizon, which a ballistic missile would cross if it ever comes,” according to the blog. “‘They don’t (and shouldn’t) much care about anything else. These radars are not supposed to search the entire sky on a continuous basis — it would be a waste of energy and would decrease the effective detection range.”