The Moon is our cosmic crash detector 💥 Every day, tiny asteroids and meteoroids hit Earth’s neighbourhood - most too small to notice. But on the airless Moon, their impacts light up as brilliant flashes. That’s where our new NELIOTA-III project comes in. Using a powerful telescope in Greece, scientists are capturing these flashes in real time - turning the Moon into a natural laboratory for planetary defence. From the first validated flash of this campaign to a special eclipse observation attempt, Europe is now leading the way in studying near-Earth objects  and building an open database for the world’s scientific community. 📹 @europeanspaceagency 🎞️ @gettyimages; ESA; NELIOTA project; @NASA; @theofanis_matsopoulos; @hubbleesa; @esawebb; ESA - Philippe Sebirot; @airbus_space 🖥️ NELIOTA project