Keep track of asteroids that threaten to crash into the Earth

British scientists have outlined a plan to track Apophis, an asteroid at risk of hitting Earth in 2036. As expected, this plan will be implemented in early 2014 and lasted for 3 year.

As predicted by international experts, the Apophis asteroid, about 300 meters in diameter, will move closer to Earth in April 2029 with a distance of less than 36,000 km, closer than the distance. between many existing satellites with the Earth.

And 7 years later, on April 13, 2036, Apophis can hit the Earth with a probability of 1 / 45,000.

In order to closely monitor the ' stepping stone' of Apophis, the Astrium company, based in Stevenage Hertfordshire, England, has devised a plan to use the spacecraft to survey the trajectory of this dangerous object in a way more complete.

Apex - a small spacecraft equipped with a remote induction system - is being designed by British experts to track Apophis (Photo: Astrium, BBC)

Apex will approach Apophis in 2014

In this embodiment, British experts are designing a spacecraft named Apex - a small spacecraft equipped with a remote induction system. According to the plan, Apex will carry out its mission to reach Apophis in January 2014.

Apex will monitor Apophis activity for 3 years and regularly send to the Earth data about the size, movement, composition and temperature of the object. With that information, experts will model Apophis' orbit, to more accurately predict the risk of future collisions with the Earth.

Currently, although it is not possible to know whether Apophis would hit Earth in 2036, experts agree that the asteroid is a suitable object for practicing Earth's protection measures. Future.

According to NASA estimates, if Apophis collides with the Earth, it will create an explosion that is 100,000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima during World War II. Thousands of square kilometers of land will be destroyed directly by the explosion, but the whole planet will suffer the consequences of huge dust clouds overflowing with the atmosphere.

However, according to scientists, if it is anticipated early on the risk of such a collision, the world will have an impact plan to push the meteorite off the trajectory that endangers the Earth.

Apex will monitor Apophis activity for 3 years and send to Earth all data on Apophis' " onions " (Photo: Guardian)

'The problem is: Collision at any time'

In recent times, the issue of Earth colliding with cosmic objects has become a topical topic of researchers who continue to gather more information about the frequency of collisions in the history of the Left. Land.

Accordingly, at least one of the collision incidents has caused extinction of dinosaurs on the planet 65 million years ago. The disaster showed that the Earth had struck a large cosmic object and had tremendous destructive power.

Senator Lembit Opik, of the Liberal Democratic Party in the UK, is leading a campaign to fund research in this area. And his grandfather, the famous astronomer Ernst Opik, also contributed greatly to understanding comets and asteroids moving near Earth.

Speaking to the BBC news agency, Mr. Opik said: 'The problem is not whether or not the Earth is hit by a meteorite, but when will it happen?' He continued: 'Wishing the Astrium company lucky! They showed that if we have a determination, we will definitely find options to deal with objects that threaten the Earth. '

Apophis will be the object to test plans to protect the Earth against the risk of future meteorite collisions (Photo: msn)

The idea of ​​Astrium will compete with other ideas to win a $ 50,000 prize in a competition organized by the Planetary Association, but the entire actual cost for this mission will amount to millions of dollars.

Astrium company said that if this idea won, they would donate that money to charities. Dr. Mike Healy, Director of the company's Space Science, said : 'The real award we want is that this option is supported and facilitated by the US or European space agency. Show '.

Working together with the Planetary Association in organizing this competition include: European Space Agency (ESA), US Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Is the Association of Adventurers Space (ASE), American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and University Space Research Association (USRA).

Quang Thinh