The asteroid 4660 Nereus is approaching Earth’s orbit next week, reports Nasa.
According to the science website, the egg-shaped asteroid has Live Science a diameter of 330 meters – that is, it is the size of the Eiffel Tower.
It maintains a speed of 23,700 km / h.
It’s December 11th, so on the devil’s birthday, that the asteroid orbits the Earth’s orbit 3.9 million kilometers away.
This is over ten times the distance between the earth and the moon, but only a stone’s throw in a cosmic context.
Grenade stuck in the ass – bomb squad called
Close-to-ground objects
Because of its size and speed, Nasa categorizes the asteroid as one PHASE, which stands for «Potentially Hazardous Asteroid», ie «potentially dangerous asteroid».
If NASA classifies an asteroid as a PHA, this means that the asteroid can cause “significant damage” in a collision with Earth.
If an asteroid comes closer than 193 million kilometers to Earth, Nasa categorizes it as a NEO.
NEO stands for “Near Earth Object”.
February 14, 2060, 4660 Nereus comes even closer to Earth’s orbit.
Then, according to NASA calculations, it passes the earth with “only” 1.2 million kilometers.
view more
–
Dulter over the asteroid
Last week, Nasa launched the DART project, which stands for Double Asteroid Redirection Test.
The price tag will be around 330 million dollars, just over 2.8 billion kroner.
“Even though we do not currently know of an asteroid that is on a collision course with Earth, we know that there are many asteroids out there that are close to the Earth,” said Lindley Johnson, who heads NASA’s Department of Planetary Defense.
– The key to planetary defense is to find them well in advance before they threaten to hit the earth. We do not want to end up in a situation where an asteroid is heading towards Earth, and that we then have to test this possibility, he added.
Changed bandage – discovered horrible error
Disrupt the course
The spacecraft will be on board a Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX, and was launched on November 23 from California.
If everything goes as planned, the collision with the asteroid, which is located almost 11 million kilometers away from Earth, will take place sometime between 26 September and 1 October next year.
The rocket will not destroy the asteroid, but it will hide on it and disrupt the course, according to Nancy Chabot, who helped build the DART vessel.
The purpose is to help scientists find out how much momentum is needed to divert an asteroid, in case we end up in a scenario where one is heading towards Earth.
–
