At the last meeting of the Council of the European Space Agency, the 22 member states that comprise it agreed not to finance the Asteroid Impact Mission initiative. This was part of a joint mission with NASA whose objective was to study the possibility of deflecting an asteroid whose trajectory would lead it to impact the Earth. To do this, a probe would be made to crash against one of the objects that make up the Didymos binary asteroid system and the effects of the collision would be studied.
Every year between 37,000 and 78,000 tons of waste rain on our planet . These are mostly dust particles and tiny fragments of space rocks that disintegrate when they pass through the atmosphere. However, between 3 and 7 tons of objects between 10 grams and one kilo also fall. Every now and then, they are considerably older. For example, in 2013, an unknown 20-meter fireball exploded over Chelyabinsk in Russia, injuring nearly 1,500 people.
Today about 600,000 asteroids are known – 1,000 more are discovered each year -; of them, between 12,000 and 20,000 maintain an orbit that brings them close to Earth. In fact, experts in planetary sciences assume that sooner or later a large one will end up hitting our planet – it is estimated that, at some point, a thousand asteroids larger than a kilometer will pass near us. The question is when it will happen and if we will have the time and means to try to destroy it or change its course.
In recent decades, dozens of more or less realistic plans have been devised. We know that if one of these bodies is too large, an attack with nuclear explosives does not guarantee its destruction. However, you could try to deviate.
Here are some strategies:
1. Space accelerator. Once the asteroid’s orbit was confirmed, a rocket would be sent or installed on it, altering its trajectory.
2. Nuclear push. It is perhaps the initiative with the best chance of success today. The idea is to blow up one or more nuclear devices near the object. The released energy would thus modify its course without destroying it.
3. Cosmic carambola. It is about pushing a small asteroid , less than 100 meters in diameter, by means of rockets, in the direction of the rock that threatens the Earth. In theory, it would reach a great speed and after hitting it it would take it out of its path.
4. The force of light. It would consist of using a high intensity laser beam to gradually vary the asteroid’s heading. Of course, to achieve this, an enormous amount of energy would be needed.
5. Super drills. With enough time in advance, a large drilling machine could be placed on the surface of the asteroid, extracting material and throwing it into space, thus altering its mass and heading. The problem would be, again, to provide the ingenuity with the necessary energy.
6. A boat with solar sails. We could deploy huge sails on the rock, about 1,000 km long, capable of collecting and taking advantage of the jet of particles that the Sun gives off to obtain a small thrust. Over time, this would end up deflecting the rock.
Image: ESA
