Elon Musk concerned we have 'no defense' against potential killer asteroid

FOX NEWS

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said that a large asteroid will eventually hit Earth and his concern is that "we currently have no defense" for it.

Responding to a tweet from podcaster Joe Rogan, Musk said Sunday he would not worry about the asteroid Apophis, which is expected to fly past Earth in 2029. However, a "big rock" will eventually hit Earth and as of right now, there's nothing we can do about it.

"Great name! Wouldn’t worry about this particular one, but a big rock will hit Earth eventually & we currently have no defense," Musk tweeted.

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Scientifically known as 99942 Apophis, the massive space rock will fly within 19,000 miles above Earth's surface on April 13, 2029. NASA, which has been planning for the flyby, said in April that the 1,100-foot-wide near-Earth object (NEO) will "cruise harmlessly by Earth," adding that it is "rare" for an asteroid this size to fly by Earth at such a close distance.

Any chance of a crash in 2036, when Apophis flies by Earth again, was also ruled out by NASA.

Apophis, which was first identified in 2004, is named for ancient Egyptian god Apep, who was the “lord of chaos.”

It's a rather curious statement from Musk, especially in light of the fact NASA awarded SpaceX a $69 million contract to help it with asteroid deflection via its Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission.

The contract will be "the first-ever mission to demonstrate the capability to deflect an asteroid by colliding a spacecraft with it at high speed — a technique known as a kinetic impactor," according to a statement from the government space agency. The asteroid that is being targeted is Didymoon, the small space rock that actually orbits the larger Didymos asteroid.

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The mission is currently slated for a June 2021 launch on SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket.

NASA has been preparing for planetary defense from asteroid strikes for years. A recent survey showed that Americans prefer a space program that focuses on potential asteroid impacts over sending humans back to the Moon or to Mars.

In 2016, NASA formalized the agency’s prior program for detecting and tracking NEOs and put it inside its Science Mission Directorate.

Last June, NASA unveiled a 20-page plan that detailed the steps the U.S. should take to be better prepared for NEOs — such as asteroids and comets — that come within 30 million miles of the planet.

Lindley Johnson, the space agency's planetary defense officer, said at the time that the country "already has significant scientific, technical and operational capabilities" to help with NEOs, but implementing the new plan would "greatly increase our nation’s readiness and work with international partners to effectively respond should a new potential asteroid impact be detected.”

全文はこちらからどうぞ。

今年の7月25日に100メートルを超える大きさの巨大隕石が月と地球の間1/5ほどの距離を通過したことがニュースになったのを覚えていますか？

もしこれが地球に衝突していたら、東京都よりも大きな範囲で壊滅的な被害を受けると言われています。

「小惑星が25日午前に地球にニアミスしていた 落下すれば都市壊滅の可能性も直前まで気づかず」

https://scienceportal.jst.go.jp/news/newsflash_review/newsflash/2019/07/20190730_01.html

ところが今回心配しているのは、小さな惑星が地球に衝突するかもしれないという事なので、地球滅亡の可能性がある重大な危機です。

NASAがイーロン・マスクの企業スペースXに資金を出して軌道修正の試みを始めているという事ですが、イーロン。マスクは今のところ打つ手がないとしています。

そういえば、「人類を滅亡させる小惑星の衝突まで6ヵ月。天文物理学を学ぶMITの大学院生と大富豪の天才科学者がタッグを組み、地球を救うため迫り来る危機に立ち向かう。」というNETFLIXのドラマサルベーションは、そのものの危機を描いているドラマですね。

https://www.netflix.com/jp/title/80171099