A NASA scientist has revealed how we’d really be informed if a deadly asteroid was heading towards Earth.
The expert explained that the process would be much calmer than the one sometimes depicted in sci-fi movies.
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Lindley Johnson, Lead Program Executive for the Planetary Defense Coordination Office, explained what would happen in a Business Insider article.
“I don’t have a red phone on my desk or anything,” the expert is quoted as saying.
“But we do have formal procedures by which notification of a serious impact would be provided.”
Johnson goes on to explain that, if a deadly asteroid was detected and heading our way, Nasa would have to inform the White House.
It would then be up to the US government to release an official statement to the public.
It’s unclear what this statement would advise.
Before any of this happened, Nasa would have revealed its findings to the International Asteroid Warning Network.
This is an international group of scientists who work together to avoid an asteroid disaster.
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If the asteroid was posing an international threat, it would be this group that informed the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs.
There are around 153 known asteroids that have the potential to cause a catastrophe on Earth, according to Business Insider.
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Nasa has gone as far as to confirm that it doesn’t suspect a deadly asteroid will impact Earth in the next century.
The US space agency tracks all the asteroids that come near Earth.
If an asteroid comes within 4.65million miles and is over a certain size, it’s considered potentially hazardous by cautious space agencies.
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 defense.”
