Studies confirm NASA can stop asteroids from hitting Earth | FOX 5 DC
You know, life is full of a lot of unexpected things. You know, like my co-anchor expecting her fourth child soon. But there are a lot of things, while we have to worry about, an asteroid hitting Earth isn't one of them, at least not in most cases. Josh Rosenthal is in Bethesda tonight, where we talk with the University of Maryland researcher about exactly why. Oh, wow. A little confirmation. That was the reaction last September.
You know, life is full of a lot of unexpected things. You know, like my co-anchor expecting her fourth child soon. But there are a lot of things, while we have to worry about, an asteroid hitting Earth isn't one of them, at least not in most cases. Josh Rosenthal is in Bethesda tonight, where we talk with the University of Maryland researcher about exactly why. Oh, wow. A little confirmation. That was the reaction last September.
NASA launched its double asteroid redirection test, also known as DART, essentially flying a spacecraft into a small asteroid to see if they could divert it. And we have an impact. Here's a short clip we played at the time. All right, we hit this asteroid. Now how effective was that at deflecting it, and what would that mean for using it? Which is where local astronomers come in. It was a theory that we have now proven to be a working concept. NASA launched its double asteroid redirection test, also known as DART, essentially flying a spacecraft into a small asteroid to see if they could divert it.
And we have an impact. Here's a short clip we played at the time. All right, we hit this asteroid. Now how effective was that at deflecting it, and what would that mean for using it? Which is where local astronomers come in. It was a theory that we have now proven to be a working concept. As previously reported by Maryland Today, U of M researchers were part of a team led by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab that played a big part in confirming that DART actually worked. In fact, four different research papers were published just within the last week.
If we have enough lead time, we find the asteroid far enough ahead, we can actually change the orbit and make it miss the Earth. It's not purely a hypothetical either. As previously reported by Maryland Today, U of M researchers were part of a team led by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab that played a big part in confirming that DART actually worked. In fact, four different research papers were published just within the last week. If we have enough lead time, we find the asteroid far enough ahead, we can actually change the orbit and make it miss the Earth. It's not purely a hypothetical either. You might remember just this past January when NASA says a truck-sized asteroid passed just above the southern tip of South America 10 times closer than most communication satellites.
We can't correct for hurricanes. We can't change earthquakes. But this is a potentially problematic disaster scenario that we might be able to avoid if we have enough warning time. Now, we're not totally out of the woods. You might remember just this past January when NASA says a truck-sized asteroid passed just above the southern tip of South America 10 times closer than most communication satellites. We can't correct for hurricanes. We can't change earthquakes.
But this is a potentially problematic disaster scenario that we might be able to avoid if we have enough warning time. Now, we're not totally out of the woods. You heard Farinem just there talking about warning time. That's important because he said depending on the size of the asteroid, you might need a lot of time to knock it off its course. Guys. You heard Farinem just there talking about warning time. That's important because he said depending on the size of the asteroid, you might need a lot of time to knock it off its course.
Guys.
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