NASA has calculated that the asteroid that could strike Earth in 2022 has the power of 150 Hiroshima bombs

An explosion with the power of 150 bombs from Hiroshima could leave an apocalyptic scenario on Earth in 2022. There’s been a lot of talk about the end of the world in 2012, but it looks like NASA’s prediction could happen ten years later, or next year.

Has the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA, for its acronym in English) defined as “potentially dangerous” to asteroid 2009 JF1, because it could have an impact on Earth March 6, 2022 at 8:34 am, as reported by the space agency, although it also estimates the probability of impact to be 1 in 3,800 (0.026%).

The date set for the collision was clarified after exhaustive observation of the asteroid through a US space agency collision monitoring system that classifies near-planet objects based on their size, speed, dimensions and year in which they think the impact will occur.

This space rock is considered “potentially dangerous” by NASA, which has qualified as near-Earth object (NEO), which means it is close enough to be considered a threat to Earth. Asteroids are celestial bodies, which move in orbits of either low or considerable eccentricity around the Sun, and whose incline on the elliptical can be at any angle.

“Some asteroids and comets follow orbital paths that bring them much closer to the Sun than usual and, therefore, to Earth,” NASA said in a statement. These asteroids are constantly monitored by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, using an automated system called Sentry. This system manages to measure a large amount of data that allows us to determine, for example, that 2009JF1 is an Apollo asteroid, that is, its orbit around the Sun is greater than that of the Earth.

According to NASA, “Sentinel is a highly automated collision monitoring system that continuously analyzes the most recent asteroid catalog for potential future impact with Earth for the next 100 years. Whenever a potential impact is detected, it will be analyzed and the results will be published immediately here, except in rare cases where we seek independent confirmation. It is normal that as more observations become available, the objects disappear from this table when there are no more possible impact detections. For this reason, we maintain a list of deleted objects with the date of elimination ”.

The 2009 asteroid JF1 is currently 375,587,595 km from the planet, approaching 18 km towards us every second. It flies over the Earth at an incredible speed, at 65,293 kilometers per hour. The Space Agency saw it through Sentry in 2009, estimating it to be around 13 meters in diameter. Its impact against Earth could cause an explosion equivalent to 230 kilotons of dynamite. It must be calculated that the Hiroshima bomb had only fifteen kilotons of power.

Although the probability of a collision is very low, the smaller rocks that usually accompany the space body can enter our atmosphere, burning there as they descend to the ground, creating meteors and meteors that we often see as star showers. in the night sky.

Missions to attack or deflect asteroids

Space agencies are currently working to develop missions to attack these asteroids which pose a threat to the planet and to be able to divert them from their path.

This is the case with the DART spacecraft, which will be launched in mid-2021 with the aim of colliding with Dimorphos, one of the most dangerous asteroids for Earth due to its characteristics. DART is part of NASA’s Hera mission in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA).

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