NASA and FEMA will simulate an imminent strike of asteroids next week

NASA, FEMA and other national and international agencies are gearing up again for a scenario of hypothetical preparation for asteroid impacts. They hope to learn the best strategies to react to a potential strike from the moment a threatening asteroid is first detected by astronomers.

Next week marks the beginning of the global defense conference of the International Academy of Astronautics. As part of this conference, NASA's Global Defense Coordination Office will partner with other partners to conduct a "simulation exercise" on how they would treat the news of an asteroid (fictitious) when of a collision with the Earth.

Again, the following is fictitious.

On March 26, 2019, astronomers discover an asteroid in the night sky, much darker than Pluto for their telescopes. They call it PDC 2019. Initially, it seems that the eccentric orbit of the asteroid brings it to about 18 times the distance of the moon compared to the Earth, with a chance of Reach the Earth at one in 50,000 by 2027.

Astronomers continue to follow the object as it gets closer. They learn that its width can reach 100 to 300 meters, the size of a skyscraper. After a month of follow-up, the probability of collision with the Earth is now 1% – the threshold at which international organizations have agreed that they should act.

Astronomers are able to create a "risk corridor" by measuring where the asteroid could hit. Its potential paths cross the United States, part of West Africa and the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific.

Although it's just an exercise, these are the calculations that astronomers must perform when a real asteroid approaches the Earth. The fictitious 2019 PDC describes a "potentially dangerous asteroid", one that orbits near the Earth and that could have a catastrophic impact if it actually hit the planet. Scientists have recently performed a simulation similar to this one, monitoring a nearby asteroid as if it 's a real threat. Instead, the new simulation will focus less on scientific issues than on government response.

This simulation is the sixth impact exercise on near-Earth objects in which NASA participated. These exercises not only help NASA officials to think about what they would do in the event of a threat, but also help them know what the information is. the most important for FEMA and other agencies.

"What emergency managers want to know, is when, where and how an asteroid would impact, as well as the type and extent of damage that could occur," said Leviticus Lewis of the division. intervention operations for FEMA in the NASA press release.

We will follow the news of the conference next week and report on any interesting developments. You can also follow via a Twitter account managed by the European Space Agency, @esaoperationswho will share real-time updates of the exercise.