NASA: The threat that a meteor crushes on Earth is bigger than you think

The NASA administrator warned that the threat of a meteor crashing on Earth was greater than we thought.

Jim Bridenstine said Monday at the International Academy of Global Astronautics Planetary Defense Conference that it's important that NASA take this seriously, and that you call it the "crazy factor" "laugh," or scientific theories that seem too ridiculous to be probable.

"We need to make sure people understand that it's not Hollywood, it's not cinema, it's ultimately about protecting the planet." that we currently know to welcome life, it is the planet Earth, "he added.

Bridenstine noted that in February 2013, a meteor measuring 20 meters in diameter and traveling at 40,000 mph entered the Earth's atmosphere and exploded over Chelyabinsk in central Russia. .

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The meteorites – smaller pieces broken by the biggest meteor – crashed in the area and a fireball crossed the sky, the BBC reported at the time.

A powerful explosion caused a shockwave that broke windows and damaged buildings in the area, said Bridenstine, adding that the meteor explosion had 30 times the energy of the atomic bomb. ; Hiroshima.

More than 1,400 people were injured. Many were hit by shards of glass, CNN reported.

"I would like to be able to tell you that these events are exceptionally unique, but they are not," said Bridenstine.

He said NASA's modeling had revealed that such events would happen "about once every 60 years". He added that on the same day of the Chelyabinsk meteor explosion, another larger asteroid approached less than 17,000 km from the Earth but was barely failing.

The scientific experts at this week's Global Defense Conference are discussing how the world can defend against any potentially dangerous asteroid or comet that is likely to touch the Earth, the conference said in a statement.

In such a scenario, said Bridenstine, NASA would measure the speed and trajectory of the object and would decide to deflect it or evacuate the affected area.

Watch Bridenstine's speech from 2:39, in the video below: