Buzz
While it's improbable that an asteroid will crash into Earth during your lifetime, it’s still a possibility. NASA reports that civilization-threatening objects strike the planet once every few million years. Fortunately, NASA has a plan in place to address the next massive asteroid, as detailed by Forbes.
The White House unveiled the National Near-Earth Object Preparedness Strategy and Action Plan on June 21. The plan outlines several ways to prevent an asteroid impact. One method involves using a gravity tractor, a spacecraft that would fly alongside the asteroid, using its gravitational force to divert the asteroid’s path.
Another strategy would be to send a spacecraft directly into the asteroid, with the hope that the collision would change its speed and direction. If the asteroid is too large for this to work, the final option is a nuclear approach. A spacecraft would carry a nuclear device, aiming to either redirect the asteroid or break it apart into smaller fragments.
Around 2021, NASA plans to test its method for deflecting an asteroid using a spacecraft. However, even the best defense strategy is useless if we can’t detect the asteroid in time. That’s why the U.S. government is also focusing on enhancing Near-Earth Object (NEO) detection technology, which NASA uses to monitor asteroids. Each year, about 1500 NEOs are detected, and fortunately, most of them pass by without attracting public attention.
