There are many ways our civilization can come to an abrupt end, but only a handful of them involve forces so powerful and beyond our control that they are impossible to stop. An asteroid impact is one of those world-ending events that we have absolutely no defense against, and the more we try to avoid … Read more
The Fifth Planetary Defense Interagency Tabletop Exercise focused on an asteroid impact scenario designed by NASA JPL’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies. It is highly unlikely that a large asteroid will hit Earth in the near future. But because the damage from such an event could be extensive, NASA conducts hypothetical asteroid impact “tabletop” … Read more
What if it is likely that a newly discovered asteroid will hit Earth in fourteen years? But that is not everything. This menacing space rock, with a diameter of about 330 to 1,050 feet (or 100 to 320 meters), has just disappeared behind the sun, making crucial observations impossible for the next seven months. In … Read more