NASA ’s OSIRIS - male monarch delegation wo n’t just take pretty word picture of the asteroid Bennu — it will also help scientists learn whether the rock will one daytime threaten Earth .
There are plenty of reasons to canvas asteroid . They could bepotential minesfor precious resource like water and heavy elements , and they check hint we can hit the books to learn what the Solar System was like in its early day . But also , freehanded things slamming into Earth can have some ruinous import . So scientist are interested in that , too .
Bennu is a 1,600 - fundament - wide asteroid that orbits the Sun comparatively close to the Earth . OSIRIS - REx , the NASA mission tasked with studying it , plunge in September 2016 and arrived at its target this past Monday . The ballistic capsule carriesfive official document : a camera cortege , a LIDAR organization ( like radar , but with a laser rather of wireless wave ) , and three spectrometer , which measure different wavelengths of luminance to square off the asteroid ’s composition .
Bennu is an peculiarly important target when it make out to our own survival . Around every six years , it comes relatively close to the Earth ( “ close ” in cosmic condition , but very far by any other bar ) . Models suggest that during its close approaches between the year 2175 and 2196 , it has a 1 in 2,700 chance of clash with us . That ’s still incredibly pocket-size ( a 99.963 percent fortune of a miss ) , but Bennu is a big rock — even slight betting odds are too great to dismiss when civilisation is at stake .
Why do n’t astronomers know for certain whether we ’re safe ? There are plenty of forces at stake , and small differences can change the odds . During some of the asteroid ’s penny-pinching approaches , Earth ’s gravity will give it a nudge which could shift it onto a collision course . Furthermore , there ’s the Yarkovsky consequence , according to aJet Propulsion Lab mechanical press release : the uneven heating system from the Sun on such a light body can get changes in its flight . It ’s unclear where Bennu will go after 2135 .
OSIRIS - male monarch and scope on Earth will continue to characterize the asteroid , tracing its itinerary and determining how solemnity and the Yarkovsky issue will influence its flight . The mission will hopefully bring forth flight 60 times more precise than present - 24-hour interval estimates , according to the press liberation .
So what happens if Bennu becomes a threat ? Well , you in person should n’t worry , because the odds are very good that you will be dead . Your tyke , too , will credibly be drained ( American life story expectancyis decliningso do n’t go telling me that it ’s a certain thing that we ’ll know longer in the future ) . But researcher are working on a few solution . One missionary work called the Double Asteroid Redirection Test will attempt to bang a spacecraft into an asteroid tocause a trajectory change . peradventure we couldnuke asteroid . Or , if we get enough lead time , mayhap we can justpaint one sideto alteration how it absorbs solar radiation , using the Yarkovsky effect to our vantage .
There ’s lot of datum to be take before we eff what Bennu will do , and mass of other interesting science to conduct . But get laid that Bennu is not the asteroid that you should be worried about . The asteroid you should worry about are the ones thathaven’t been notice yet .
[ NASA JPL ]
asteroidsNASAOSIRIS - RExScienceSpace
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