NASA’s radar gives off a ping, notifying scientists that a world-destroying asteroid has been detected and could hit Earth in 10 years.
One year before impact, space agencies from every country launch nuclear deflection missiles with hopes of pushing the giant asteroid away from our planet – but the mission fails.
While NASA has said such a scenario is unlikely to happen in the near future, an asteroid hit Earth this week and was detected only eight hours before impact.
Detecting the world-destroying asteroid – 10 years out NASA’s ground-based telescopes identify the giant asteroid, comparing it with other space rocks in a database to ensure it is newly discovered.
The space agency has several projects that scan the skies, including the Catalina Sky Survey which spotted Thursday’s asteroid.
That asteroid did not threaten our planet, but the space agency could use the strategy to deflect the world-destroying asteroid.
The group decides to attack the asteroid with nuclear bombs about five years after detection and begins testing a prototype.
One gigaton is equal to one billion tons of TNT, which means we would need 10 million Hiroshima-size bombs to destroy the massive asteroid hurtling toward Earth.
Refined calculations forecasting the exact spot where an asteroid would impact Earth would, however, only become available as the asteroid comes into radar range, a process that new deep-space radar could accelerate.
After impact The asteroid impact would cause widespread devastation, triggering tsunamis that devastate coastal regions and massive shockwaves and earthquakes.
A ping is sent out by NASA’s radar alerting scientists to the discovery of a potentially catastrophic asteroid that may strike Earth within the next ten years.
Soon after a potentially disastrous event occurs, world governments are notified, which gives them time to organize a public education campaign.
Nuclear deflection missiles are fired by space agencies worldwide a year before the massive asteroid is expected to strike Earth, but the mission is unsuccessful.
With just hours remaining in the clock, the public is warned to prepare for the worst and FEMA orders mass evacuations in the impact zone months in advance.
This asteroid strike Earth this week was discovered just eight hours before it made landfall, despite NASA’s statement that it is unlikely that such a scenario will occur anytime soon.
With its diameter of barely three feet, the tiny space rock that soared over the Philippines on Thursday was not big enough to cause any problems.
An asteroid measuring at least 165 feet that could strike Earth within 50 years should be detected, according to a White House report from 2021 that suggested conducting a reconnaissance mission.
An asteroid measuring 3,300 feet in width was classified as a “possible global catastrophe,” a space rock measuring three miles in width as being “above the global catastrophe threshold,” and an object measuring six miles in width as having the potential to cause a “mass extinction.”. ‘.
In an exercise conducted in April, NASA, FEMA, and the UN determined that we would require at least 14 years’ notice to determine how prepared Earth would be in the event that a planet-destroying asteroid were discovered.
locating the planet-destroying asteroid ten years from now.
The massive asteroid is detected by NASA’s ground-based telescopes, which cross-reference it with other space rocks in a database to confirm that it is a recently discovered object.
A number of the space agency’s programs scan the sky, such as the Catalina Sky Survey, which discovered the asteroid on Thursday.
One of these early-warning systems is the spacecraft NEOWISE (Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer), which has a 20-inch wide-field infrared telescope that operates in two wavelength ranges.
Astronomers verify that the object is not a known one by examining the data for brightness and movement after it has been discovered.
Subsequently, groups submit their results to the Minor Planet Center (MPC), which is the only global hub for reporting comets, minor planets, and asteroids.
To assess whether the asteroid’s trajectory poses a threat to Earth, the MPC and NASA collaborate to calculate the asteroid’s orbit.
The team determines that the space rock is probably going to pass five million miles from Earth, and they notify other agencies worldwide, according to NASA.
Space agencies from every nation band together to deflect the asteroid roughly two years after it is discovered, now that everyone is aware of the looming threat.
initiating an asteroid deflection between two and five years prior to impact.
By smashing into an asteroid at 14,000 miles per hour and successfully reversing its trajectory, NASA tested a method known as the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) in 2022. The asteroid left behind a massive plume of rock and dust.
The space agency could use that strategy to deflect the planet-destroying asteroid, even though it did not pose a threat to Earth.
But if the impact was required to happen in less than five years, NASA’s head of planetary defense issued a warning in February that a DART-like mission would not be able to get off the ground.
NASA, along with international partners, is researching a number of options, including nuclear weapons and a spacecraft, in preparation for humanity’s Hail Mary launch.
Five years after discovery, the group decides to launch nuclear bombs at the asteroid and starts testing a prototype.
A detonation device and explosives are then sent by teams two years prior to impact to an asteroid at a short standoff distance.
According to VOX, Kaliat Ramesh, a professor of mechanical engineering and material science at Johns Hopkins University, “we would estimate that it would take energy equivalent to about 200 gigatons of TNT to fully disrupt an asteroid with a 12-mile diameter.”. “.”.
Given that one gigaton is equivalent to one billion tons of TNT, 10 million bombs the size of Hiroshima would be required to demolish the enormous asteroid that is headed straight toward Earth.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starship and NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) are the only rockets that have demonstrated they can carry such large payloads of nuclear bombs, but neither has been tested for use in such a mission.
Fans of Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck’s 1998 film Armageddon will recognize that going nuclear would be faster.
With only eighteen days’ notice, NASA dispatches a team of deep-sea drillers to destroy an asteroid that is headed toward Earth in order to save humanity in the film.
Plan your evacuation months or even hours in advance of the impact.
Global organizations such as the Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO) would develop comprehensive impact scenarios in the months preceding impact, calculating the destruction radius, atmospheric effects, and possible global ramifications.
But more accurate predictions of the precise location of an asteroid strike would only be possible once the object is within radar range, which could be sped up by new deep-space radar.
Much earlier than the space rock smashes into Earth, people in the impact zone can be warned by sending out alerts through FEMA and other emergency groups using the information gathered by international organizations.
Additionally, in an effort to save as many lives as possible, teams would start organizing relief efforts and creating rescue plans that would be deployed nearly immediately after impact.
About 150 million people lived within 300 miles of the impact zone, according to a NASA report from 2023, and they “would need to either evacuate or find an appropriate shelter or build one.”. “.”.
The public will be instructed to remain indoors as the clock approaches the final hours, and they will be given regular updates and guidance.
after the impact.
The impact of the asteroid would unleash massive shockwaves and earthquakes along with tsunamis that would destroy entire coastal regions.
Globally, communication and electrical systems frequently malfunction.
A massive dust plume released from the impact has blocked the sun, resulting in a significant drop in temperature and the potential for a decades-long ‘nuclear winter’.
Huge fires that consume oxygen would be raging, shrouding Earth in darkness.
The infrastructure of civilization has collapsed, leaving the billions of people who survived suffering from freezing temperatures, starvation, and other hardships.
