Asteroid Research (201109290004HQ)

Lucy McFadden, a scientist at NASA's Goddard Spaceflight Center, holds a small piece of a meteorite as she speaks during a news conference, Thursday, Sept. 29, 2011, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. New observations by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, show there are significantly fewer near-Earth asteroids in the mid-size range than previously thought.Astronomers now estimate there are roughly 19,500, not 35,000, mid-size near-Earth asteroids. Scientists say this improved understanding of the population may indicate the hazard to Earth could be somewhat less than previously thought. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)
NASA Identifier: nasahqphoto-6195517953