NASA plans to respond to asteroid hitting Earth

NASA plans to simulate an asteroid impact with Earth in Southern California on September 20, 2020.

NASA conducts drills for asteroid impact with Earth in 2020. Photo: Alamy.

NASA and the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) are working together to develop a plan to protect humans in the event of a sudden discovery of a large asteroid about to collide with Earth, Nature World News reported on November 6.

NASA is closely monitoring the number of near-Earth asteroids with the help of a network of ground-based and space-based research facilities. Scientists estimate that there are nearly 10,000 such objects. At least 10% of them are larger than 1,000 meters in diameter and could destroy Earth.

“It is important to conduct drills for low-probability but high-impact disasters,” said Craig Fugate, FEMA administrator.

The exercise was based on a hypothetical scenario of an asteroid measuring about 90-250 meters in size and having a nearly 2% chance of colliding with Earth on September 20, 2020. The asteroid’s orbit then changed, increasing the probability of impact to 65% and finally to 100% in May 2017. A few months later, the team determined the impact site to be in Southern California.

"It's no longer a matter of impact but of time to impact," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate.

The team now has the resources and capabilities to respond to such an impact by observing, predicting, planning for response and mitigating on an as-needed basis, he said. NASA will provide experts to FEMA through the Planetary Protection Coordination Office. The teams then continue to conduct impact simulations with additional representation from state and local agencies.

According to VNE