VNII GOChS EMERCOM of the Russian Federation warned of the approach to Earth on April 13, 2029 of the asteroid Apophis
Photo: pixabay.com
The All-Russian Research Institute for Civil Defense and Emergency Situations (VNII GOChS) of the Ministry of Emergencies of the Russian Federation predicted that in the spring of 2029 the most dangerous asteroid Apophis with a diameter of almost 400 meters and a weight of about 30 tons will approach the Earth. RIA Novosti reports.
According to the forecast, the space object will approach the Earth by almost 38.4 thousand kilometers. This is almost the same distance at which geostationary satellites are placed in orbit.
Possible collision
The speed of approach of Apophis to the Earth will be 7.42 kilometers per second. The energy released during the collision of a space body with a diameter of 393 meters and weighing about 27 tons with the Earth's surface will amount to 1,717 megatons, which is 30 times more than the energy released during the explosion of the world's most powerful Soviet thermonuclear bomb, which was tested in 1961.
1717 megatons will be the energy released in the event of a collision of the asteroid Apophis with the Earth's surface
According to the forecast, the strength of an earthquake within a radius of 10 kilometers from the site of the fall can reach 6.5 points on the Richter scale, the wind speed will be at least 790 meters per second.
Other asteroids
According to the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), two potentially dangerous asteroids will approach Earth in January 2022.
The first of them – 2013 YD48 – is about the size of Big Ben, it is about 104 meters wide and will pass the planet on January 11 at a distance of 5.6 million kilometers.
The second – 7482 YD48 – is twice the size of the American Empire State Building, it will approach the Earth at a distance of 0.013 AU on January 18. This, according to NASA's Center for the Study of Near-Earth Objects, is considered a close approach.
In addition, in December, NASA warned that an asteroid 4660 Nereus, the size of the Eiffel Tower, was flying towards Earth. The asteroid was discovered in 1982. Scientists explained that it poses no threat to the planet. At a speed of about 23 thousand kilometers per hour, the space body will pass at a considerable distance from the Earth. Exactly what number the asteroid will fly past the Earth, experts did not specify.
Scientists' opinions
Anatoly Petrukovich, Director of the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, described what a meteorite capable of destroying the Earth should be like. He noted that only celestial bodies a kilometer in size can do this.
Large celestial bodies, such as the Tunguska meteorite, fall to Earth once every hundreds of years and cause destruction. If we talk about catastrophic impacts on the planet due to asteroids, then this, relatively speaking, happens once in a million years. Such large objects are visible from afar, we can calculate their orbits in advance and determine how close they come to the Earth.
Anatoly Petrukovich Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Petrukovich added that several small meteorites fall to the Earth every year. According to him, they do not fly into settlements and most often end up in the ocean, since it occupies two-thirds of the planet. Vladimir Surdin, a researcher at the Sternberg Astronomical Institute, added that they can be detected only a couple of hours before they hit Earth due to their small size.
In turn, the deputy head of NASA, Thomas Zurbuchen, said that there are no risks for the Earth to collide with asteroids known to scientists over the next 100 years. According to him, at the moment about 40 percent of objects over 140 square meters are known, and the remaining 60 percent are yet to be found.
Didim B
On November 24, 2021, a Falcon 9 rocket with the Double Asteroid Redirect Test (DART) spacecraft was launched from Vandenberg Base of the United States Air Force, which, upon colliding with the asteroid Didyme B, will change its trajectory, as a result of which it will not be able to collide with the Earth. …
The asteroid Didyme B itself does not pose a threat to Earth and was chosen by NASA as a target for the strike due to the fact that a potential change in its trajectory would not pose a threat to the planet. Asteroid DART should reach in eight to nine months.
Rest assured, this asteroid is not and will not be a threat now. None of the objects we know of today are a threat for the next 100 years or so.
Thomas ZurbuchenDeputy Head of NASA
The diameter of Didim B is estimated at 160 meters. Didim B revolves around 780-meter Didim A with a period of 11 hours 55 minutes. According to NASASpaceflight.com, after the collision, the first will revolve around the second with a period of 11 hours 45 minutes.
Protecting the planet
The head of the state corporation “Roscosmos” Dmitry Rogozin announced the need to create technologies to protect the planet from space threats.
No one can guarantee that something will not fly in from space and end all our plans with one blow. This means that we must have technologies that will make it possible to “dodge” this threat from our planet.
Dmitry Rogozin Head of Roscosmos
In April 2021, NASA conducted an asteroid-Earth collision training exercise to come up with a plan to avoid collision or mitigate damage. According to scientists, in the future, such training alarms will be raised every time the probability of a collision of the Earth with a certain celestial body is at least 1 in 100.
