NASA outlines plan to protect the Earth from an asteroid strike
- 6 years ago
WASHINGTON D.C. — The chances of a space rock colliding with Earth in the near future may be slim, but here's good news for anyone paranoid about an asteroid armageddon: NASA's got a plan.
Titled "National Near-Earth Object Preparedness and Strategy Action Plan", the document details the steps NASA and Federal Emergency Management Agency will take to prevent asteroids from hitting Earth, and to prepare the planet should such a catastrophic event take place.
Large asteroids can obliterate life on Earth, but smaller ones may also cause serious damage. The 130 to 200-foot wide asteroid that hit Tunguska, Russia in 1908, for example, levelled over 700 square miles of forest, and would have been able to destroy the entire metropolitan New York area.
The outlined plan involves five main goals. The first involves enhancing detection of near-Earth objects, or asteroids that pass within 28 million miles of Earth's orbit. The second goal is to improve modelling and prediction, to help determine when and where a potential asteroid strike will occur.
The third objective is to come up with new ways to deflect an asteroid, such as the Double Asteroid Redirection Test that's set to be launched in 2021.
Goal four aims to increase international cooperation, while the fifth and final goal calls for the U.S. to come up with an emergency plan should an asteroid ever crash with little to no warning.
Titled "National Near-Earth Object Preparedness and Strategy Action Plan", the document details the steps NASA and Federal Emergency Management Agency will take to prevent asteroids from hitting Earth, and to prepare the planet should such a catastrophic event take place.
Large asteroids can obliterate life on Earth, but smaller ones may also cause serious damage. The 130 to 200-foot wide asteroid that hit Tunguska, Russia in 1908, for example, levelled over 700 square miles of forest, and would have been able to destroy the entire metropolitan New York area.
The outlined plan involves five main goals. The first involves enhancing detection of near-Earth objects, or asteroids that pass within 28 million miles of Earth's orbit. The second goal is to improve modelling and prediction, to help determine when and where a potential asteroid strike will occur.
The third objective is to come up with new ways to deflect an asteroid, such as the Double Asteroid Redirection Test that's set to be launched in 2021.
Goal four aims to increase international cooperation, while the fifth and final goal calls for the U.S. to come up with an emergency plan should an asteroid ever crash with little to no warning.