July 12, 2038: 72% Chance Of An Asteroid Hitting Earth on this Exact Day, Nasa Reports
The findings of NASA, the US space agency, revealed in a hypothetical exercise that a potentially malicious asteroid might hit the Earth soon. The current chance of the asteroid hitting Earth is 72%, reported The Federal.
However, adequate preparation for its prevention is ambitious. Also, the exact date of the potential hit has currently been promoted as July 12, 2038.
NASA, in one of its official reports, stated that it conducted the fifth edition of the “biennial Planetary Defense Interagency Tabletop Exercise” in April this year.
Hypothetical Exercise
In Laurel, Maryland, NASA revealed the outcome of the summary on June 20, which took place at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL).
The exercise conducted included international collaborators and different US government agencies from nearly 100 representatives.
The exercise aimed to foresee the Earth’s future and its ability to potentially mitigate the malefic effects of an asteroid, if any.
According to NASA, the hypothetical exercise unveiled valuable information about the opportunities for collaboration, response options, and the risks expected in different scenarios.
Lindley Johnson, the planetary defense officer emeritus, stated,
“The uncertainties in these initial conditions for the exercise allowed participants to consider a particularly challenging set of circumstances. A large asteroid impact is potentially the only natural disaster humanity has the technology to predict years in advance and take action to prevent.”
The summary of the exercise noted,
“During the exercise, participants considered potential national and global responses to a hypothetical scenario in which a never-before-detected asteroid was identified that had, according to initial calculations, a 72% chance of hitting Earth in approximately 14 years.”
The above observations recorded are not enough to determine the long-term trajectory, composition, and size of the asteroid.
DART Mission and NEO Surveyor in Use
NASA’s hypothetical exercise is notably the first exercise that has extracted data from its Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART mission. DART is a technology to defend the planets against impacts of potentially hazardous asteroids.
Moreover, the report also added that NASA is on its way to developing a NEO Surveyor (Near-Earth Object Surveyor).
The NEO Surveyor is “an infrared space telescope.” This space telescope has been specifically designed to fasten humanity’s ability to assess and find the majority of near-Earth objects a considerable time before they pose threats.
NEO Surveyor by NASA is set to reach out in June 2028.
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