(NewsNation) — Alarmingly, the asteroid 2024 YR4 has been assessed to have a 4% chance of hitting the moon come December 2032, as reported by The European Space Agency.
This type of collision could result in catastrophic outcomes for our satellites in orbit and astronauts operating nearby, which has driven a group of scientists to devise strategies to thwart this scenario.
Last year, this asteroid made headlines when it was initially deemed to have a 3% chance of striking Earth. However, further analysis led NASA to determine that this massive space rock poses no significant threat to our planet in 2032 or later.
Nuclear Options Proposed by Scientists
A newly proposed yet-to-be-peer-reviewed study suggests ways to deflect asteroid 2024 YR4 from crashing into the moon.
One of the striking methods discussed is a “kinetic disruption mission,” which involves using nuclear explosives to neutralize the asteroid.
This plan entails dispatching two nuclear devices, each carrying 100 kilotons of power—five to eight times stronger than the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II, based on insights from Futurism.
NASA’s Previous Success in Asteroid Alteration
In 2022, NASA made a breakthrough by crashing a spacecraft into a smaller asteroid, effectively shifting its trajectory for the first time ever.
The experiment, known as the Double Asteroid Redirection Test, aimed to showcase NASA’s advancements in planetary defense and its ability to modify an asteroid’s path without posing a direct threat.
However, the researchers behind the current paper argue that this deflection method may not suffice to prevent 2024 YR4 from impacting the moon. Current uncertainties about the asteroid’s weight and insufficient time for a “recon reconnaissance mission” to examine it further are noted as significant hurdles.
As the scientists concluded, “Deflection missions were evaluated and seem impractical.”
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