This estimate was alarming; it was the first time an asteroid had been promoted to "Level 4" on the Torino Scale -- a near-Earth object (NEO) impact hazard categorization method.

这样的预测令人担忧，这是在评价近地天体（NEO）撞击危险程度的 “托里诺分类表”（THE TORINO IMPACT HAZARD SCALE）中第一次有小行星进入“4级”（译注：该分类表最高为10级）。

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The list has been compiled by researchers from the University of Southampton using software called called NEOimpactor, short for NASA's ‘NEO’ or Near Earth Object programme.

这份名单是由来自难开普敦的研究学者们利用一项名为NEOimpactor的软体所测算出来的，NEO是美国宇航局近地面项目的英文缩写。

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To date, balloon-borne activities have centered around heliophysics and astrophysics that have not required precision-pointing, says Near-Earth Object (NEO) program officer Rob Landis at NASA headquarters.

FORBES: Budgets Nudge NASA Toward Balloon-Based Planetary Science: First Target? Comet ISON