The '' Last Alert '' part of the system name acknowledges that ATLAS will find smaller asteroids years too late for potential deflection but would provide the days or weeks of warning needed to evacuate and otherwise prepare a target area . According to ATLAS project lead John Tonry , " that 's enough time to evacuate the area of people , take measures to protect buildings and other infrastructure , and be alert to a tsunami danger generated by ocean impacts " . Most of the more than 1 billion rubles damage and of the 1500 injuries caused by the 17-m Chelyabinsk meteor impact were from window glass broken by its shock wave . With even a few hours advance warning those losses and injuries could have been much reduced by actions as simple as propping all windows open before the impact and staying away from them
Chelyabinsk meteor impact
Chelyabinsk meteor
Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System