“Armageddon” (1998), an icon of science fiction on the big screen, raises in its history one of the greatest fears of astronomy: the impact of an asteroid on Earth. NASA constantly studies all rocks that are orbiting in our Solar System, with the intention of knowing their trajectory and knowing if our planet is on their way.
In the film directed by Michael Bay, there is a group of heroes led by Harry Stamper (Bruce Willis) who sacrifice themselves on a one-way trip to an asteroid; You have to go put a nuclear device to divert the trajectory of the Earth and die with the explosion.
The scene is completely horror. It is true that sacrificing 10 lives to save an entire world might be feasible. But it would be much better if no one died in the attempt to divert the trajectory of an asteroid.
For this type of situation, NASA has several projects in mind. The main one of all is the mission DARTwhich intends to collide with a small asteroid called Dimorphos. In general terms, it is a space probe that would divert just a few millimeters the path of said rock.
And in case of achieving it, a mechanism once morest a possible real threat would be achieved.
Are there real threats? NASA has them written down
Of course there are real threats; with probabilities averaged at 3%, but real. the one that more stands out is the asteroid ApophisGreek name that refers to the Egyptian god nicknamed as “The destroyer” o “The God of Chaos”.
This asteroid became the greatest threat to Earth in the Solar System. In the first measurements it had a probability of impact of 2.7 percent.
At first it was thought that the possible impact would occur in 2029. And although that was ruled out with more exact observations, closeness to our world continues to be part of his career.
Therefore, the first thing that is in the plans is to pay him a friendly visit to collect samples of his surface; just like they did with the asteroid Bennu in 2021. On that occasion the space probe OSIRIS-REx He visited the rock and still comes back to Earth with the collected samples.
Once OSIRIS-REx lands, its instruments will be reviewed, optimized and will be commissioned a new trip to “El Destructor”. As reflected Xataka, Apophis will pass approximately 37 thousand kilometers from Earth.
Thanks to this distance, its passage will be observable with the naked eye in the night sky. In such a way that NASA will not miss this opportunity to visit it.
With their samples, they will learn more details regarding the regions that are in their parabola and determine if it can really mean a greater threat in their next approach, calculated for 2036.
This is one of the many projects that the US space agency is working on to develop shields that protect us from an impact. Avoid the “Armageddon” is the premise of scientists so that we are all safe at home.
