Hitting an asteroid in the wrong place could accidentally make it more likely to impact Earth. Image courtesy of buradaki/Shutterstock
Joel Kontinen
Our first
attempt at shifting the orbit of an asteroid has provided crucial insight into
how we could safely deflect a space rock that was hurtling towards Earth.
Some space rocks
can be nasty. According to evolution, the asteroids caused the demise of
the dinosaurs. That event was probably related to Noah's flood that caused some
dino's and many other animals to die.
If an the asteroid was heading for a deadly impact with
Earth, could we nudge it off course safely without making the situation worse?
Yes, thanks to a new system for calculating the perfect spot to smack a space craft
into an incoming asteroid.
Steering away an asteroid bound for Earth is a high-stakes
endeavour, and we have not had much practice. In 2023, NASA’s Double
Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) showed for the first time that we can
divert a space rock by smashing a small proband e into the tiny asteroid
Dimorphos, which orbits a larger asteroid called Didymos, and changing its
orbit by 30 minutes.
Source:
Alex Wilkins 2025
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