A new study suggests a rather large asteroid-- roughly 2,000 feet across-- has a 1-in-1,000 chance of hitting Earth in 2182. Those may seem long odds, but if a body that size did hit it could cause a local and regional disaster.
Further, according to the study, the time to deflect the asteroid so that it definitely misses Earth is before 2080, and preferably before 2060. After that, orbital mechanics makes deflecting it much more difficult.
The good news is that, with any luck at all, we should have the technology and the understanding required to deflect such a body well before 2060. The issue would then be whether we had the will and the focus to do it.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment