NASA’s hypothetical asteroid impact exercises aim to prepare global defense responses in the event of a potential Earth impact. The biennial simulations involve experts and decision-makers from federal and international agencies to address the uncertainties surrounding an impact scenario.
The recent exercise, held this April, simulated a realistic asteroid tracking scenario where a large asteroid had been discovered with a 72% chance of impacting Earth in 14 years. Participants considered potential national and global responses to the scenario, highlighting the importance of international cooperation in emergency planning and asteroid deflection strategies.
NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) played a key role in designing the exercise, which incorporated realistic asteroid tracking data. Scientists from CNEOS used orbital determination calculations to simulate the probability of impact and provided assessments of future potential impact hazards in support of NASA’s planetary defense program.
The exercise explored deflection strategies, including the possibility of sending a reconnaissance spacecraft to gather additional data on the asteroid’s orbit or attempting to deflect the asteroid itself. The viability of this method was recently demonstrated by NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), which impacted the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos in September 2022.
The outcome of the exercise is summarized in NASA’s preliminary report, highlighting the importance of international cooperation and preparedness for potential asteroid impacts.
Source: https://scitechdaily.com/nasa-confronts-72-asteroid-impact-probability-a-planetary-defense-test/