Is Earth Ready for the Next Asteroid Strike?
Asteroids permeate the Solar System, and thousands of these bodies are known to pass close to our own planet. Most of these bodies are small, and the Earth is regularly bombarded by 100 tons of material from space every day, burning up harmlessly in the atmosphere. However, the danger from a larger body is real, with an impact potentially wiping out cities, nations, or causing a worldwide extinction.
For two decades, NASA and other space agencies have been scouring the skies, searching for asteroids and comets which may impact the Earth. Now, the American space agency and FEMA are carrying out simulations to determine how prepared we would be if a large asteroid were to impact our world. Between April 29 and May 3, 2019, a tabletop exercise will be conducted at the sixth annual conference on planetary defense, hosted by the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA).
“These exercises have really helped us in the planetary defense community to understand what our colleagues on the disaster management side need to know. This exercise will help us develop more effective communications with each other and with our governments,” Lindley Johnson, NASA’s Planetary Defense Officer, said.
As part of the exercise, the agencies have created data for a fictional asteroid, designated 2019 PDC (even this designation is not valid…
