Russia will follow the 'threat of earth'

The Russian Academy of Sciences announced that they would launch an artificial satellite near a meteorite capable of hitting the earth.

>>>Use the spacecraft to change the meteorite

Scientists have warned 99942 Apophis - meteorite about 487m across - capable of hitting the earth. In 2029, Apophis will be about 57,600km away from the globe, equivalent to the altitude of geostationary satellites in orbit. It can change the trajectory and hit the earth in 2036.

Meteorite 99942 Apophis.

Russian scientists believe that this is the biggest threat of the planet in the current period, RIA Novosti reported.

The main goal of the artificial satellite that Russia will launch toward Apophis is to determine this meteor's trajectory until 2036 to calculate the probability of collision between it and the earth. Satellite will be equipped with a nuclear reactor to produce electricity with a backup battery.

"From a technical perspective, the launch of the satellite to Apophis may start from 2015," the Russian Academy of Sciences said.

The American Aerospace Agency (NASA) discovered the Apophis meteorite in 2004, but NASA scientists believe that Russian colleagues were overly worried. Donald Yeomans, director of NASA's close-to-earth objects department, said the probability of collisions between Earth and Apophis meteorites is only about 1 / 250,000 - a very small number.