Where have we heard this before? NASA planning mission to land on asteroid to avoid collision with Earth. We need to have a top notch drilling team on hand before 2106, and they'll never have to pay taxes again, EVER (dailymail.co.uk)
Scientists are making plans to land a Nasa probe on the asteroid that is on a potential collision course for Earth, it has emerged.
Asteroid 1999 RQ36 has a 1-in-1,000 chance of hitting the Earth at some point before the year 2200. And its orbit means that it is most likely to hit us on 24th September 2182.
An impact with the 1,800 feet-wide asteroid would result in an explosion on Earth equivalent to hundreds of nuclear bombs detonating at once.
But some scientists are already making early plans to send a mission to 1999 RQ36 to collect a sample of it to help better predict its future trajectory.
An image of 1999 RQ36
An image of 1999 RQ36, the asteroid which has a 1/1000 chance of hitting Earth
If it is gets the go-ahead from a cash-strapped Nasa the spacecraft would blast off in 2106 with the aim of mapping and collecting rock samples from the asteroid.
The mission, called OSIRIS-Rex (Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer) is one of two finalists in competition for funding as part of NASA's New Frontiers program.
The other contender for funding is a mission to land on Venus. The winner will be announced next year.
NASA has officially classified RQ36 as a ‘potentially hazardous asteroid’ as it passes within about 280,000 miles of Earth.
RQ36 was originally chosen because it is believed to contain material that has remain unchanged since the beginning of the solar system.
Its orbit, which brings it close to Earth, makes it easier to reach.
Michael Drake, who would lead the OSIRIS-Rex team if it was chosen, said: 'Being one of the easiest targets to get to coincidently means that it also can easily hit us, too.
'When we were putting this mission proposal together, however, we really didn't connect those dots.'
The impact from RQ36 would result in an explosion similar to that of hundreds of nuclear bombs
The impact from RQ36 would result in an explosion similar to that of hundreds of nuclear bombs
Clark Chapman, a planetary scientist at Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, told National Geographic magazine that an impact from RQ36 would cause a colossal explosion.
‘It would be an enormous impact, like hundreds of the biggest nuclear bombs ever built exploding at once, creating a crater maybe 10 kilometers across.
The OSIRIS-Rex mission would bring back samples of the asteroid, much like the Japanese Hayabusa mission earlier this year, which would give scientists crucial information about its make-up.
This sort of data would be vital when deciding what method we should use to try and alter its orbit, if necessary.
Most models of asteroid orbits do not include what is known as the Yarkovsky effect.
Even though the asteroid’s orbit is well-known thanks to 290 different observations by telescopes and 13 radar measurements there is uncertainty about its path because of the so-called Yarkovsky effect.
This effect, first discovered in 2003 and named after a Russian engineer, is produced by the way an asteroid absorbs energy from the sun and re-radiates it into space as heat. This can subtly alter the asteroid’s flight path.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...ble-collision-course-Earth.html#ixzz0w9Z2S27P
Scientists are making plans to land a Nasa probe on the asteroid that is on a potential collision course for Earth, it has emerged.
Asteroid 1999 RQ36 has a 1-in-1,000 chance of hitting the Earth at some point before the year 2200. And its orbit means that it is most likely to hit us on 24th September 2182.
An impact with the 1,800 feet-wide asteroid would result in an explosion on Earth equivalent to hundreds of nuclear bombs detonating at once.
But some scientists are already making early plans to send a mission to 1999 RQ36 to collect a sample of it to help better predict its future trajectory.
An image of 1999 RQ36
An image of 1999 RQ36, the asteroid which has a 1/1000 chance of hitting Earth
If it is gets the go-ahead from a cash-strapped Nasa the spacecraft would blast off in 2106 with the aim of mapping and collecting rock samples from the asteroid.
The mission, called OSIRIS-Rex (Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer) is one of two finalists in competition for funding as part of NASA's New Frontiers program.
The other contender for funding is a mission to land on Venus. The winner will be announced next year.
NASA has officially classified RQ36 as a ‘potentially hazardous asteroid’ as it passes within about 280,000 miles of Earth.
RQ36 was originally chosen because it is believed to contain material that has remain unchanged since the beginning of the solar system.
Its orbit, which brings it close to Earth, makes it easier to reach.
Michael Drake, who would lead the OSIRIS-Rex team if it was chosen, said: 'Being one of the easiest targets to get to coincidently means that it also can easily hit us, too.
'When we were putting this mission proposal together, however, we really didn't connect those dots.'
The impact from RQ36 would result in an explosion similar to that of hundreds of nuclear bombs
The impact from RQ36 would result in an explosion similar to that of hundreds of nuclear bombs
Clark Chapman, a planetary scientist at Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, told National Geographic magazine that an impact from RQ36 would cause a colossal explosion.
‘It would be an enormous impact, like hundreds of the biggest nuclear bombs ever built exploding at once, creating a crater maybe 10 kilometers across.
The OSIRIS-Rex mission would bring back samples of the asteroid, much like the Japanese Hayabusa mission earlier this year, which would give scientists crucial information about its make-up.
This sort of data would be vital when deciding what method we should use to try and alter its orbit, if necessary.
Most models of asteroid orbits do not include what is known as the Yarkovsky effect.
Even though the asteroid’s orbit is well-known thanks to 290 different observations by telescopes and 13 radar measurements there is uncertainty about its path because of the so-called Yarkovsky effect.
This effect, first discovered in 2003 and named after a Russian engineer, is produced by the way an asteroid absorbs energy from the sun and re-radiates it into space as heat. This can subtly alter the asteroid’s flight path.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...ble-collision-course-Earth.html#ixzz0w9Z2S27P