An asteroid with a 1 in 50 chance of hitting Earth in 2032 has prompted the UN's first-ever activation of its Planetary Security Protocol. Experts warn of potential risks associated with deflection and destruction methods, emphasizing the need for international cooperation and ethical considerations.
Earth's planetary defence s are facing one of their first major tests as an asteroid with about a one in 50 chance of hitting the planet has been detected.Earth's planetary defence s are facing one of their first major tests as an asteroid with about a one in 50 chance of hitting the planet has been detected.
Since then, Luis Cano of the Planetary Defence Office says his team at the European Space Agency have been monitoring the object closely. That being said, in the roughly one in 50 chance the asteroid does hit Earth, the professor says it's unlikely to hit a well populated area. The mission was a big win for our planetary defence teams, with the spacecraft successfully redirecting the asteroid Dimorphos.
"If you collide with an asteroid, you're probably creating space debris. You might also redirect it into a pathway that is not ideal. So you might plan to deflect it in a particular way and you may not actually be successful for a number of reasons. So you could have actually caused a different impact problem there."
Now, one of the more practical questions is: if there is an imminent threat of an asteroid strike who exactly is in charge of making those key decisions on planetary defence?"So everyone assumes, of course, that the UN will be involved. However, not everyone agrees that that's the group that necessarily has the mandate to engage in planetary defence.
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