Friday the 13th might sound like an unlucky date, but it might be in fact one of the luckiest days in the existence of humanity. Apophis asteroid is a 340-meter wide asteroid that will pass close to our planet. Initially, NASA believed that there is a chance that it will collide with our planet. However, that possibility was ruled out after new calculations.
However, researchers don’t want to miss this opportunity and when the asteroid will cruise past our planet, researchers will have a flyby study as well. A session dedicated to Apophis took place on Monday during the 2019 Planetary Defense Conference in College Park, Maryland.
“Fortunately, Apophis asteroid will not hit Earth in 2029, but the closeness of its approach will provide an excellent opportunity to study and perhaps send a spacecraft to this potentially hazardous asteroid. But suppose another asteroid is discovered and found to be on a collision course. What would we do? We might be able to deflect the object, but could our leaders provide funding and make other decisions at critical points? How would the public react if using a nuclear explosive was the only option for deflection?” explained researchers.
Giant Asteroid Will Narrowly Miss Earth Impact
A hypothetical impact scenario was also taken into consideration and researchers shared the results of this study. The asteroid will fly within 31,000 km of our planet’s surface, which means that it will be closer than some of our satellites. Scientists did confirm that this asteroid would be dangerous if it were to hit our planet: “it would cause major damage to our planet and likely to our civilization as well.”
Apophis is also the name of the “ancient Egyptian spirit of evil, darkness, and destruction”. The Apophis name is the one given by the Greek to the Egyptian demon Apep.
Laura grew up in a small town in northern Quebec. She studied chemistry in college, graduated, and married her husband one month later. They were then blessed with two baby boys within the first four years of marriage. Having babies gave their family a desire to return to the old paths – to nourish their family with traditional, homegrown foods; rid their home of toxic chemicals and petroleum products; and give their boys a chance to know a simple, sustainable way of life. They are currently building a homestead from scratch on two little acres in central Texas. There’s a lot to be done to become somewhat self-sufficient, but they are debt-free and get to spend their days living this simple, good life together with their five young children. Laura is an advocate for people with disabilities.