The science fiction movies may be too optimistic.
Giant Asteroid on Collision Course with Earth Could Not Be Stopped by a Nuclear Bomb, NASA Simulation Shows
by Virgilio Marin | Natural News
An asteroid simulation exercise led by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has shown that our existing technology cannot take down a killer asteroid discovered six months before it hits the Earth.
Indeed, the exercise suggests that even a nuclear bomb isn’t enough to break the asteroid apart because the rock is too big. It also shows that preparing a spacecraft to smash into the asteroid is not feasible given the small amount of time remaining before the collision.
What Happens in the Months Leading up to an Asteroid Impact
NASA conducted the simulation exercise, called “Space Mission Options for the Hypothetical Asteroid Impact Scenario,” from April 26 through April 29 in collaboration with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. For the four-day drill, American and European scientists were given a simulated six-month timeline to hatch a plan to stop a fictitious rock on a collision course with Earth.
Details of the scenario – such as the probability of impact and where and when the impact might occur – were given to the participants piece by piece over the course of four days to simulate how a real situation might play out.
On its first day, the exercise started its timeline on April 19 where an asteroid that could hit the Earth was “discovered.” The asteroid, named 2021PDC, was placed 35 million miles away and given an estimated five percent probability of hitting the planet on Oct. 20.
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