NASA scientists warn of incoming planet killer

by Steven Mostyn - Jul 29 2010, 04:35

A concerned team of international stargazers has this week sounded the alarm with regard to a potentially deadly chunk of space rock they believe has a 1-in-1000 chance of colliding with Earth.

According to the ruffled space boffins, which include NASA representatives, the hurtling chunk of galactic detritus is around 560 metres wide and, if its strikes, will smash a crater several miles wide into the planet.

That kind of impact, according to the history of previous asteroid collisions, would likely cause a wave of initial devastation for hundreds of miles in every direction.

However, the impact itself would throw up so much debris into the atmosphere that sunlight would be blocked for several decades and most, if not all, life on the planet would die in the aftermath.

The asteroid itself, which is known as 1999 RQ36, was first spotted back in 1999, at which point scientists cautiously described it as just “potentially hazardous” after studying its trajectory.

Although the planet killer’s threat factor was initially pegged as fairly low, European scientists and those from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the United States claim more detailed computer simulations of the rock’s predicted movements now warrant a stronger warning.  

Current scientific knowledge and modern technology is not advanced enough to deflect or destroy incoming asteroids that pose a threat to the planet. But, we can at least hope they progress enough to create a planet-saving solution before the year 2182, which is when 1999 RQ36 is expected to arrive.

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