Scientists’ concerns about space-circling planets are justified given that the impact of such a body on Earth about 66 million years ago apparently resulted in the mass extinction of species, including dinosaurs. That is why specialists are dealing with planetary defense and possible methods of early averting a threat that could mean the extinction of all life on our planet.
How to defend the Earth from the space threat
Planetary defense has two phases. The first is to detect as many cosmic bodies as possible and then monitor them closely so that experts can model their trajectories and compare them with the Earth’s orbit long into the future. According to NASA records, scientists have so far identified more than 27,000 asteroids in relative proximity to Earth, of which almost 10,000 are larger than 140 meters. This is the size at which experts fear that the body could cause great regional damage.
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So far, scientists do not know of any larger object that could hit the blue planet. However, if they detected one, the second phase of planetary defense would come into play – that is, to do something that would save humanity from the fate of the dinosaurs. Several techniques are being considered for possible diversion of dangerous rocks from their trajectory, including, for example, the use of a nuclear bomb, popularized by the film Armageddon.
However, the DART mission focuses on the use of kinetic energy, which is much less risky. The explosion of the bomb could shatter the approaching space body into several smaller pieces, which would hit the Earth anyway and would have great devastating consequences.
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