NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) conducted a new asteroid simulation to show the thing needed to destroy an approaching, giant heavenly body that could lead to Earth's destruction.
The space agency's latest experiment revealed that the plot twist of the popular iconic movie "Armageddon" is unlikely to happen. NASA claimed that the reason behind this is the movie's very short time frame to prevent the collision of the giant asteroid with Earth.
The international space agency's latest simulation experiment was specifically conducted to test its ability to respond to an imaginary or hypothetical asteroid crisis.
NASA's training exercise depicted a giant asteroid at 35 million miles away. The simulation also showed that the hypothetical approaching heavenly body will hit Earth's atmosphere within six months.
NASA's Main Weapon to Destroy a Giant Asteroid
According to CBR's latest report, NASA said that the 18-day timeline of "Armageddon" is not enough to destroy an upcoming Texas-sized asteroid.
"Time is the most valuable commodity you could possibly wish for if faced with a real asteroid threat," said Richard Binzel, an MIT astronomer.
"What that means is, for now, we are relying on luck to keep us safe from major asteroid impacts. But luck is not a plan," added the space expert.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration claimed if there's a giant asteroid that will hit Earth in the future, it needs to be detected five years before it nears the planet.
Binzel even said that it takes more time to know your "enemy" before you can defeat it. He added that the best thing that the international space agency can do is invest in technologies that will allow them to know how large and how fast a giant asteroid is, such as the Asteroid SW 2020, which was previously predicted to pass really close to Earth.
As of the moment, NASA is still developing machines and other innovations that could prevent the feared Earth-meets-asteroid scenario. Right now, there's no asteroid or meteor that made a huge impact on Earth's surface.
What Protects Earth From Asteroid Collisions?
As of the moment, Earth is protected by the so-called Asteroid Belt, which is found in the region between Mars and Jupiter. Aside from this, NASA Gov previously explained that this area is where asteroids orbit.
However, since the gravity force of Jupiter and other giant planets in the solar systems, these asteroids are getting pulled into their orbits, preventing them to reach the Earth and other smaller planets.
Without them, the Earth would have been hit by various asteroids a long time ago. If you want to see more details, all you need to do is click this link.
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Written by: Griffin Davis
