How would NASA stop an asteroid? NASA has multiple techniques to stop an asteroid, including nuclear weapons, kinetic impactors and gravitational tractors, among others. Of course, these techniques are largely untested.
Can you survive an asteroid? It is possible to survive an asteroid hitting Earth, depending on the space rock's size. The asteroids to be particularly aware of are bigger than 0.621 miles (1 kilometre) wide, as an impact from one of those bodies would affect the whole world.
Did an asteroid ever hit Earth? One of the most widely known impactors to hit Earth was the Chicxulub asteroid (or possibly a comet), which wiped out the dinosaur population. /
What does NASA plan for asteroids? NASA and others keep a close eye on near-earth objects. According to NASA, its Center for Near-Earth Object Studies "computes high precision orbits for Near-Earth Objects (NEOs), predicts their future motions, assesses their impact hazard and makes those results available" on their website.
What is the next asteroid to hit Earth? Scientists had thought there was a slight possibility for Apophis to impact Earth in 2029 but have revised their prediction of its orbit instead of saying that Apophis will do a flyby of Earth.
Interesting fact of the month
July 2021: What we can learn from Meteorites
Earth is bombarded with millions of tons of space material each day. Most of the objects vaporize in our atmosphere, but some of the larger pieces (from pebbles to boulder-sized rocks) actually fall to the ground, becoming meteorites.
Chondrite Meteorite Credits: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chondrite_H5.JPG Because meteorites are ancient pieces of celestial bodies, scientists rely on them for information about the history of our solar system. The study of meteorites has helped us understand the beginnings of our solar system, how planets and asteroids formed and how the impacts of large meteorites have altered Earth’s history and life on our planet. Celestial bodies like asteroids and comets are “time capsules” that contain information about the history of our solar system, making them interesting targets of studies. The main difference between asteroids and comets is their composition. Asteroids and comets are debris leftover from the formation of moons and planets. Comets are located in the outermost regions of the solar system, while asteroids are located in a belt between Jupiter and Mars. Occasionally, comets and asteroids change their orbital paths due to gravitational disturbances, sometimes bringing them close to a planet. Craters on the moon and planets are evidence of the history of impacts with comets and asteroids. Comets are made of dust, ice, and rock materials, while asteroids are composed of rocky materials and metals. Both of these celestial bodies were formed 4.6 billion years ago, at the beginning of the only time we know. Asteroids were formed much closer to the sun where it was impossible for their ice to remain solid. Comets were formed farther away from the sun where their ice remained solid. Comets that approach the Sun lose material with each orbit around the sun as their ice melts and vaporizes to form a tail known as coma. The vast majority of meteorites are fragments of shattered asteroids, rocky bodies found mostly in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system, and its gravity is very strong. Asteroids, which are much smaller than planets, are sometimes pulled out of the asteroid belt by the force of Jupiter's gravity. Many of these asteroids then travel toward the inner solar system—where they can collide with Earth. Credits: Annesastronomynews.com A small number of meteorites are pieces of rock from the surfaces of other planets. These fragments were likely blasted off planets when they were hit by a large asteroid or comet. People have found meteorites that are definitely from the planet Mars and some that might even be from Mercury, although researchers are still investigating this claim. The most famous moon rocks are those collected by astronauts who walked on the Moon, but small pieces of the Moon also occasionally reach Earth as meteorites. Such "lunar meteorites" are identical in composition to the astronauts' moon rocks, although they come from different locations, possibly even from the far side of the Moon which never faces Earth. These “non-Apollo” moon rocks are ejected from the moon as a result of meteoroid impacts as shown in this youtube video: Meteorites might also come from comets. Made of dust, rock, and ices, comets are typically found in the outer reaches of our solar system, beyond the orbit of the planet Neptune. Scientists have identified several meteorites that might be fragments of the rocky cores of comets, sometimes spend entire careers studying meteorites because they contain a record of our solar system's history going back some 4.6 billion years. By studying meteorites, we can learn details about how our solar system evolved into the Sun and planets of today—and how meteorite impacts could affect our future. Comet McNaught via Martin Moline Credits: futurism.com Certain "primitive" meteorites contain the first solid material to form in our solar system. Researchers have used the age of this material—4.568 billion years—to determine the age of our solar system. Many primitive meteorites have remained essentially unchanged since they formed. Such rocks offer a snapshot of the conditions in the early solar system. Primitive meteorites also provide clues to the proportions of the elements present in the solar system as a whole. Meteorites from asteroids and even from other planets help scientists understand all planets in our solar system, particularly the processes taking place deep inside. For example, although no one has ever been to the center of Earth, we know from meteorites that Earth has a center, or core, made of nickel and iron metal. Some meteorites contain grains of dust (“stardust”) that were produced by stars before the formation of our Solar System. Studies of these pre-solar grains can increase our understanding of star formation and evolution. Stardust origins Credits: apod.nasa.gov By analyzing the concentrations of multiple elements and their isotopes in meteorites, researchers at the Arizona State University Center for Meteorite Studies are adding to our knowledge of the age and bulk chemical composition of the Solar System and the order in which different components in meteorites, their parent bodies, and the Solar System formed. This analysis of different types of meteorites and their components is leading to new knowledge of the earliest conditions in our Solar System and determining the pathways to forming habitable worlds Meteorites may also have brought to Earth the components necessary for life – organic compounds such as carboxylic acids, complex amino acids, aliphatic amines, acetic acid, and formic acid can be transported great distances inside space rocks. Additionally, large meteorite impacts, like the one ~65 million years ago that killed off the dinosaurs, can lead to major extinctions and influence the course of life on our planet. A few more interesting facts about meteorites:
There have only been two confirmed cases of humans being hit by a meteorite. Statistically, there is a better chance of getting hit by a tornado, a bolt of lightning, and a hurricane all at the same time.
For centuries, the main source of metal to Greenland’s Inuits for making tools and harpoons was a 58-ton iron meteorite fragment.
Satellites are programmed to avoid meteorites so that they don’t get destroyed. Of over 8,000 satellites orbiting the Earth, only one has ever been hit and destroyed by a meteorite.
Before life developed on earth, meteorites that fell on the planet brought reduced phosphorus. This allowed oxidation to phosphates, which provided a mechanism for the generation of DNA and RNA, a precursor for life on earth.
The meteorite, which most likely wiped out the dinosaurs created a dust cloud so huge it blocked out sunlight for up to a year. The sound wave generated from the impact most likely instantly deafened most organisms with ears and released the equivalent energy of 100 teratons of TNT!
On average, 33 metric tons (73,000 lbs) of meteoroids hit Earth every day, the vast majority of which harmlessly ablates (“burns up”) high in the atmosphere, never making it to the ground.
Scientists theorize that most of our planet’s water arrived from primitive meteorites Thanks and attribution: https://space-facts.com/meteorites/ https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/meteorites/meteorites/what-is-a-meteorite https://meteorites.asu.edu/meteorites/importance-of-meteorites https://byjus.com/physics/asteroid-and-comet-difference/ https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ https://www.kickassfacts.com/25-kickass-interesting-facts-meteorites/
A few more interesting facts about meteorites:
There have only been two confirmed cases of humans being hit by a meteorite. Statistically, there is a better chance of getting hit by a tornado, a bolt of lightning, and a hurricane all at the same time.
For centuries, the main metal source to Greenland’s Inuits for making tools and harpoons was a 58-ton iron meteorite fragment.
Satellites are programmed to avoid meteorites so that they don’t get destroyed. Of over 8,000 satellites orbiting the Earth, only one has ever been hit and destroyed by a meteorite.
Before life developed on earth, meteorites that fell on the planet brought reduced phosphorus. This allowed oxidation to phosphates, which provided a mechanism for the generation of DNA and RNA, a precursor for life on earth.
The meteorite, which most likely wiped out the dinosaurs, created a dust cloud so huge it blocked out sunlight for up to a year. The sound wave generated from the impact most likely instantly deafened most organisms with ears and released the equivalent energy of 100 teratons of TNT!
On average, 33 metric tons (73,000 lbs) of meteoroids hit Earth every day, the vast majority of which harmlessly ablates (“burns up”) high in the atmosphere, never making it to the ground.
Scientists theorize that most of our planet’s water arrived from primitive meteorites.
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