Is just smashing a spacecraft to an asteroid enough to save Earth or we need to rethink about it

When astronauts first saw the Earth from the surface of the Moon they were astonished to see the blue floating planet in dark space. This reflects the vulnerability of Earth floating in the mid of the asteroids and planets.

There is a number of asteroids that fall toward Earth on daily basis but the distance is so long that due to friction it loses its compact structure and does not cause any major issue. But some of the asteroids have hit and impacted the Earth in a way that wiped out the whole diversity of organisms. Scientists are known for this issue and for this NASA tested its Double Asteroid Reduction Test(DART) spacecraft for the deflection of Didymos name asteroid.

In 2005 Japanese Space Agency’s Hayabusa 1 Probe visited the 1600-foot rubble pile asteroid. The rubble pile asteroid is not like a compact single monolithic asteroid that can be smashed using a spacecraft but a pile of rocks with maximum empty space between them.

The sample that was collected gave an idea that the age of this rubble asteroid was more than our solar system. The rubble pile is not compact which makes it shock absorbent which explains its extremely long lifespan. This rubble asteroid can be a major issue for Earth and as of now, any space agency has not developed technology to trace and destroy this kind of asteroid. So it becomes very important for space agencies to rethink asteroid defense strategy so that any potential threat from this can be avoided.

 




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