If an Asteroid is heading for Earth, what should humanity do?

Jakarta –

Several astronomers’ predictions about the possibility of an asteroid hitting the Earth are still being made for further research. Recently, astronomers discovered an asteroid called Apophis that has the potential to hit Earth. So what should people do if that really happens?

The asteroid Apophis was studied a few years ago. According to scientists, an asteroid the size of two large buildings passed within 30,600 kilometers of Earth.

Even so, the possibility of a collision with the Earth is very small. Because it will be difficult to turn the path to Earth.

“The chance is roughly 1 in a million that an asteroid impact can take Apophis away long enough. And only 1 in a million that Apophis will hit Earth in 2029,” said Paul Wiegert, astronomer at the University of Western Ontario. , cited from the campus’s official website.

Before that, in the history of civilization on Earth, several asteroids had hit the Earth. For example, the asteroid Chicxulub hit the Earth 65 million years ago.

The asteroid was 10-15 kilometers in diameter and hit what is now Mexico. This impact caused the extinction of 70% of the species on Earth, including dinosaurs.

What should humanity do if an asteroid hits the Earth?

Note that in our solar system, millions of asteroids pass by. This means that threats cannot be avoided, no matter how big or small the potential.

Citing New Expertif an asteroid hits the Earth, it can enter the atmosphere at a speed of 60,000 kilometers per hour. When it hits the ground, it can do anything but evaporate.

According to experts, good international cooperation is needed to deal with large and dangerous asteroids for the Earth. In this regard, the United Nations (UN) has developed “procedures for dealing with tsunamis and other major events”.

“But for an asteroid impact, we think the scale will be so large that we have to discuss now what it would take to provide an international response on a large scale,” said Leviticus “LA” Lewis, an expert with US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the NASA Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO), named from Place.

One of the responses explained by NASA includes coordinating the evacuation of people in the area of ​​possible impact. Especially if it covers a large area, it will be difficult to consider how fast asteroids move in space and how difficult it is to determine the path of newly discovered asteroids.

“We need to organize and start talking about what it takes to coordinate a major effort. And who will be responsible? What group? How do we create it? The Is it the UN? Will it be a combination of international organizations? So, that’s the new challenge.

Estimating the size of asteroids and continuing research

According to experts, this method, which has not yet been definitively mapped, is only a preliminary picture, with many important facts still unclear or unknown. For example, the asteroid’s mass is unclear; estimates of its range size from 60 to 800 meters.

Therefore, researchers must continue to try to find out its composition in order to see very important details. This is because a solid asteroid made of metal or rock will behave very differently, both during a potential launch attempt and during an impact, compared to a “rock debris” of dirt and gravel.

“A major asteroid impact may be the only natural disaster that humanity can predict years in advance and take steps to prevent,” said Lindley Johnson, planetary protection officer emeritus at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

In this case, the team of experts must examine three main possibilities in the future, one of which is to do nothing until more telescope observations are made.

On the other hand, it is necessary to train step by step that may face the threat of asteroids. All these things are very important in relation to international cooperation.

“Early international participation is very important. This belief is very important and must be built now,” said Lewis.

(do/nwk)