Space scientists joined the NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO) during the Asteroid Day celebrations to share diverse strategies that can prevent disastrous asteroid collision. NASA hosted the event in their station in California on June 30 where the speakers stated the early asteroid detection mechanisms as the main area of focusing on safeguarding the Earth from the impact.
According to Lindley Johnson from PDCO, once the planetary officers detect the size and the magnitude of the asteroid, the team is able to determine the specific device that would be used to redirect it away from the Earth Planet.
The planetary defense team would also coordinate the natural calamities preparations if there are any signs of the asteroids hitting a particular area of the Earth. For instance, a robotic spacecraft can be used to redirect the deadly asteroid off from its original course.
Meanwhile, NASA and European Space Agency (ESA) are planning to carry out the mission on the Asteroid and Defection Assessment (AIDA) which is expected to be launched by 2020. A team of the planetary scientists and other space experts have already released a letter to look for concrete support for the proposed trials on the asteroids before the two agencies could go ahead with their mission in 2020.
Though scientists still hesitate to come to terms with deadly huge asteroids, the Chelyabinsk meteor strike in Russia, in the year 2013 have become a benchmark and serves as a reminder of a potentially dangerous asteroid that could hit the Earth planet in the near future.
The space object exploded abruptly without any signal across the Russian city, Chelyabinsk. The impact covered an area of about 65 feet wide, injuring more than 1,200 humans, and destroyed a thousand buildings. Generally, a sizable asteroid is capable of wiping out the entire city, according to the findings from space scientists.
Based on Alan Harris, a scientist at German Aerospace Center, it’s easier to identify the approximate number of asteroids in various sizes, but it’s difficult to determine their characteristics and traits. Asteroids are usually the leftovers from the early development of the solar system.
