CHINA is planning to alter the orbit of a ‘potentially hazardous’ asteroid.
According to Space.com, Wu Yanhua, deputy director of the China National Space Administration confirmed the plans to a Chinese TV network.
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It may sound like a scary plan but it could help China create a a planetary defense system that could protect us against big space rocks.
Nasa is working on a similar mission.
The China National Space Administration (CNSA) is also said to be working on an asteroid warning system.
This could give scientists advanced notice if a deadly space rock was heading towards Earth.
China’s mission to an asteroid could take place as early as 2025 or 2026.
The CNSA wants to conduct a a kinetic impactor test on its asteroid of choice.
The apparent aim of the test will be to knock the asteroid off its path and any future collision course with Earth.
China held its first Planetary Defense Conference in October 2021 and revealed some plans it will be working on in the next five years.
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Plans to save Earth from asteroids
Some experts are worried that Earth isn’t yet ready to defend itself from potentially deadly asteroids.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk once sparked concern by tweeting: “a big rock will hit Earth eventually & we currently have no defence.”
Nasa is looking into some defence methods though.
It recently launched its Double Asteroid Redirection Test mission.
Nasa said: “DART is the first-ever mission dedicated to investigating and demonstrating one method of asteroid deflection by changing an asteroid’s motion in space through kinetic impact.”
The DART craft should slam into a small asteroid called Dimorphos in September with the aim of moving it off course.
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