The term near miss is also used to describe the situation when a
celestial body comes
close to hitting another object in
space.
NASA and the
United States Department of Defense has a joint effort, the Near-Earth Object Search Committee, to identify and monitor every
comet and
asteroid that endangers the
earth. The joint venture was budgeted for the fiscal years of 1996 through 2000. Their greatest concern lies with these objects passing near the
sun effectively
blinding us to their approach.