Predictions show that in September 2182, the asteroid Bennu — 500 meters long and in the shape of a “space dice” — could pay a visit to Earth, passing about half the distance from the Moon. However, there is no to worry about. The most likely, according to scientists, is that Earth’s gravity will modify Bennu’s trajectory, which makes calculating exactly what its path will be an enormous challenge. Even so, the chances of it ending up colliding with Earth are very small, around 0.057%.
According to NASA, there is an “extremely small” probability that the giant rock will pass through a “gravitational keyhole”, which will place it on an impact path with Earth in the late 22nd century.
The asteroid Bennu travels at 100,000 kilometers per hour: if it collides with Earth, it would release energy equivalent to 70,000 atomic bombs and create a crater five kilometers in diameter, according to the most up-to-date NASA calculations.
According to the new study by the North American agency, the chances of the shock occurring at some point before 2300 are 0.057%, in other words: very small. But the key date is September 24, 2182, when they could collide if everything goes wrong.
To study the potential danger of Bennu in detail, NASA sent the OSIRIS-REx probe to the asteroid in 2016. The object does the work of mapping Bennu. After 27 months of space travel, the spacecraft arrived at the asteroid in December 2018 and, since then, has remained in the star’s orbit.
2023-09-18 21:48:00
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