Thousands of city-destroying asteroids are hurtling toward Earth. These asteroids can hit our planet at any time. The concern is that scientists do not know of any reliable security system to stop these asteroids, said NASA‘s acting planetary defense officer Kelly Fast. His warning, given at the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference held in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, has created concern in the scientific community. Kelly Fast said that scientists have so far identified about 25,000 asteroids that are at least 140 meters in size or larger. An asteroid of this size is capable of wreaking massive destruction on Earth in different regions. But about 15,000 city-destroying asteroids have not yet been identified. These asteroids have the ability to hit Earth at any time without warning.
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NASA generally defines a cosmic object as a 140-meter or larger asteroid. While they are not large enough to be detected by a typical telescope, they are powerful enough to flatten an entire city. Larger asteroids have already been cataloged and are being monitored. However, most of the medium-sized asteroids are dark and less reflective. As a result, they cannot be quickly detected against the background of space. Many asteroids even follow Earth’s orbit, which is almost impossible to detect until they come very close.
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Although NASA’s DART mission succeeded in slightly changing the trajectory of a small asteroid in 2022, experts caution that this method requires several years of advance data. It is not possible to get that advance time for the 15,000 asteroids that have not been detected. NASA officials have acknowledged that there are currently no spacecraft on Earth capable of intercepting a potentially dangerous asteroid in the event of a collision.
Hopefully, NASA is working on a mission called the Near-Earth Object Surveyor, an infrared space telescope designed to detect the thermal signatures of dark asteroids. Modern ground-based surveys, such as those at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, will also improve the warning system.
