It could have been the headlines of newspapers of every intelligent, modern technological country in the world– had it not been discovered to be a miscalculation that Asteroid 1997 XF11 was headed straight for Earth.

Will we ever be forced to ponder what will happen if a Near Earth Object is determined to be on a collision course with Earth, and our National Security is caught without the technology advanced enough to protect our planet? If you think the answer is inevitably “yes”, then what will be your thoughts? Will you be brooding or celebrating, or do you think it won’t affect your day-to-day behaviour?