Introduction
Our universe is home to a vast number of celestial bodies — natural objects we can find in space. Stars, planets, moons, asteroids, and comets are some of them. We can’t see them with our naked eyes since they are so far away but with the help of telescopes, we were able to study them. All of them abound in the brilliant night sky, and when observed, they reveal intriguing facts. However, there are cosmic objects that represent a threat to the Earth. Asteroids, especially, appear in the news every now and then, but the excitement fades as they pass us by.
Asteroids: Beauty And Destruction Apr 25
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Asteroids are small, rocky, and irregularly shaped objects orbiting the sun which are left overs of planetary system formation. There are millions of them, with sizes varying from hundreds of miles to a few feet across. They are mostly located in the asteroid belt (an area between Mars and Jupiter) but they hang out in other places too! which can be a source of both beauty and destruction.
What is more likely to cause humans to go extinct, a natural or a man-made catastrophe?
Movies about an asteroid hitting Earth such as “Armageddon”, “Deep Impact”, and “Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World” may be seen as fictional concepts. But it is actually a science fact. Near-Earth objects (NEOs) regularly pass over Earth's neighborhood and so organizations, like NASA, monitor the skies daily to identify celestial bodies that pose a hazard to us.
Share some sci-fi movies you have watched. How will humanity go extinct?
According to NASA, small debris falls upon Earth regularly, but such objects burn up and explode far before they hit the ground so no one really notices when this happens. And even if the chances of any one large asteroid ever hitting Earth are extremely low, about every 100 million years or so, it is still a longer-term issue that mankind must handle.
What space-related discoveries or achievements do you hope will happen in your lifetime?
Space experts are always looking for new ways to protect our home. Until now, no known weapon system could stop an asteroid directly hitting the Earth. But one prevention is to detect them and divert them from their path. Here comes the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), a mission dedicated to studying and demonstrating one form of asteroid deflection that uses kinetic impact to change an asteroid’s motion in space.
Would you like to work for NASA? Do you think that the human desire to explore is one of our greatest attributes?
DART probe launched in November 2021 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, riding a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. It is expected to arrive at its target, the near-Earth asteroid Didymos’ moonlet. These kinds of missions are important for us to understand how deadly asteroids can be diverted.
Have you ever gone stargazing? What would you like to know about the universe?
An asteroid as big as a house, and striking at 30,000 miles per hour would have nearly the same amount of energy as the bomb that exploded over Hiroshima and will surely demolish a small city. A 20-story skyscraper asteroid would destroy a small country. While a massive one would cause the end of all living things as it would cover the planet with dust and smoke, blocking sunlight and causing temperature to drop.
Are you afraid of natural disasters? Do you think humans will find a way to protect earth for millions of years to come?