NASA simulation confirms there’s no technology able to stop a massive asteroid from hitting

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NASA simulation confirms there’s no technology able to stop a massive asteroid from hitting

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https://www.pennlive.com/life/2021/05/n ... utType=amp

NASA simulation confirms there’s no technology able to stop a massive asteroid from hitting
Updated May 04, 2021; Posted May 03, 2021
NASA DART
Schematic of the DART mission shows the impact on the moonlet of asteroid (65803) Didymos. Post-impact observations from Earth-based optical telescopes and planetary radar would, in turn, measure the change in the moonlet’s orbit about the parent body. Credits: NASA/Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab
By Linda Hasco | lhasco@pennlive.com

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Simulations carried out by leading space agencies have concluded. There currently is no technology available that could stop a massive asteroid from “wiping out” Europe.

A report by Independent said that NASA conducted the week-long exercise, which concluded from the hypothetical impact scenario, that even with a six-month advance notice, current capabilities could not prevent a catastrophe.

Participants in the simulation, which was conducted during a planetary defense conference hosted by the United Nations, said the only course of action on such short notice would be evacuation of an area before an asteroid hit. However, the simulation’s impact zone covered large parts of North Africa and Europe.

Reportedly, the hypothetical impact exercise revealed that governments are dreadfully unprepared for this type of disaster.

Lindley Johnson, Nasa’s Planetary Defense Officer noted that this kind of exercise helps reveal who the “key players are in a disaster event, and who needs to know what information and when,” the report cited.

Johnson added that the exercises help with communication among the planetary defense community and their governments to ensure a coordinated effort in the event of a future potential impact threat.

Could larger rockets be a solution?

The news of the simulation’s failure evoked a response from SpaceX boss Elon Musk, who said the current inadequate capability to deal with an impact threat was “one of many reasons why we need larger and more advanced rockets.”

SpaceX recently secured a $2.89 billion contract with NASA to develop its next-generation Starship spacecraft. SpaceX claims that Starship, when combined with its Super Heavy rocket Booster, will be “the world’s most powerful launch vehicle ever developed,” and could “theoretically” assist in missions designed to redirect the path of an Earth-bound asteroid.

NASA has asteroid deflection technology in the works.

NASA is working on asteroid deflection technology which will attempt to change the orbit of an asteroid and hopefully give credence that such a strategy could be effective at mitigating the threat of dangerous near-Earth objects in the future.

A launch is planned for late 2021 of the first test mission of NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) system, which is expected to reach the asteroid Dimorphos in autumn 2022.

Independent cited Andrea Riley, program executive for DART at NASA, who said that “the data returned after it impacts Dimorphos will help scientists better understand one way we might mitigate a potentially hazardous NEO discovered in the future.”
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