[ad_1]
After suggesting that we need to neutralize Mars to terraform it, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk taken to Twitter yesterday to warn us all that "a big rock will finally reach the Earth and that we currently have no defense".
This disturbing warning came in response to Joe Rogan, podcast personality sharing an article from The Daily Express, British tabloid newspaper, about the asteroid Apophis, warning of an imminent "asteroid shock", sensationalist sensation of innocuous cosmic event.
Apophis is an asteroid close to Earth 370 meters in diameter, first seen in 2004, which could touch the Earth in 2029 – but with a probability well below 3%. It is nonetheless classified by NASA as a "potentially dangerous asteroid" and considered an unlikely but worrying space hazard.
NASA had discussed the asteroid at the 2019 Global Defense Conference this year, in April, stressing that Apophis would "sail harmlessly close to the Earth, about 31,000 kilometers from the surface." According to a blog post from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). ).
In fact, it will pass so close that its gravity could affect the Earth.
"It is possible that there are surface changes, such as small avalanches," said Davide Farnocchia, astronomer at the Center for Near-Earth Objects (JPL), in his blog .
While the Express The article mentioned that "NASA is preparing for rock" Colossal God of Chaos "- a title that could easily be read as NASA prepared for the worst" Armageddon "style of unsuspecting tabloid readers, the reality is very different. JPL scientists had discussed sending a small spaceship to meet Apophis while he sailed.
"Apophis' close approach in 2029 will be an incredible opportunity for science," said Marina Brozovi, a radar scientist with the JPL, in a statement released in April. "We will observe the asteroid with optical and radar telescopes. With radar observations, we might be able to see surface details of just a few meters. "
That's not to say that Musk is wrong, though. His comments come, for example, after an asteroid "City Killer", of immense proportions, passes over the Earth almost completely without being detected by astronomers last month.
Yet we are not as poor as Musk has suggested. One of NASA's upcoming missions, for example, plans to drive a probe into an asteroid at 21,000 km / h to divert it from the Earth.
The mission team dubbed "Dual Asteroid Redirection Test" – the first mission ever produced by NASA's Global Defense Coordination Office – unveiled in July a portion of its new spacecraft, a column Structured aluminum honeycomb that will eventually be equipped with tables.
The plan is to launch the spacecraft aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket – ironic given Musk's position on the subject – from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in 2021.
Editor's Note 8/19: An earlier version of this story incorrectly asserted that the asteroid Apophis could move closer to Earth rather than the International Space Station. It has been updated.
READ MORE: Today, Elon Musk is worried about asteroids[[[[Quick business]
More about asteroids: The asteroid "City Killer" whistles on the Earth almost invisible
[ad_2]
Source link