Experts are fairly certain that in the next billion years as many as 2,000 asteroids could hit the Earth, but the possibility of us getting struck imminently is slim (thankfully). The last catastrophic asteroid to hit Earth wiped out 75 percent of all life and occurred around 66 million years ago. Although another mammoth asteroid is in line to hit us, experts suggest this won’t happen for at least another 1.35 million years.
Out of all the asteroids that we know about, NASA experts reveal that more than 1,650 of them are considered to be potentially hazardous, with more than 150 of them being more than 3,000 feet in diameter. However, the one most likely to strike the Earth are estimated to be about 500 feet in diameter, but it will be at least 150 years before it reaches us. The biggest asteroid that may be in line to hit us is a whopping 4,200 feet in diameter, but luckily there’s only a one in 8,333 of it making contact. Asteroids hitting the Earth are quite common really, with one minor one hitting us every year on average. Luckily, these are only usually the round 13 ft in diameter and don’t cause too much devastation when they do impact. Larger asteroids, of around 25ft in diameter, tend to hit our planet on average around once in four years. And, even bigger asteroids, say around 66 feet in diameter hit our planet on average twice every century.
But, there’s another lot that has a much greater chance of hitting the Earth, and doing so would have catastrophic effects. This is due to occur when the star Gliese 710 passes by the Earth in 1.35 million years. Some techniques have been specifically developed to deflect asteroids including Ion Beam Deflection, Enhanced Gravity Tractor, and Kinetic Impactors. With Ion Beam Deflection, it will work on any size asteroid and involves directing the plumes from the thrusters towards the asteroid in an attempt to push it. A thruster would then be fired in the opposite direction to ensure the spacecraft was kept away from the asteroid. Using the Enhanced Gravity Tractor method, the spacecraft collects a boulder from the asteroid and orbits around its velocity vector. With the spacecraft flying so close to the asteroid, within a few months, the gravitational force would alter, and the asteroid’s trajectory would change. The third option, the kinetic impactor, could be used as a secondary payload and it would work by colliding with the asteroid at mega high speeds while the spacecraft lies safely out of the way.
As you can see, yes, there may be some asteroids on their way to us, but they are a very long way away. Plus, we already have various techniques in place that will help protect ourselves against any potential strikes, so the chances of any real damage occurring from an asteroid in the next million years or so are very slim.
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