It’s always good to know that our defense systems work.
On July 6th,
(I believe it was in 2024, but I could be wrong), automated systems that study
the skies for potentially hazardous objects sent out a warning. Estimated at
about 164 ft (50 m) in diameter, the object was spotted hurtling towards Earth.
Its path would take it uncomfortably close to the moon and our planet. However,
it was not an asteroid.
As objects move through
the sky, different observatories identify whether it’s a new object and if it
might pose a hazard to Earth. Follow-up observations determined that the object
was actually the European Space Agency’s Juice (Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer)
spacecraft. The probe was flying by Earth and the moon to exploit gravity as it
slingshot through space.
But the Juice
spacecraft isn’t 50 meters across. Its solar panel wings measure only 27 meters
(88 feet), which is quite big for a deep space probe. Because it appeared very
bright, owing to its reflective solar panels, the automated system initially
estimated the object was a larger rock.
Scanning the skies for
menacing objects is important. It gives us time to prepare and evacuate a
certain area, if that’s necessary. Scientists agree that we need to know what’s
coming, when it’s coming, and how hard it’s going to hit.
Space rocks do veer
into our area of the solar system from time to time. But there are no known
asteroids on course to collide with Earth for at least the next 100 years.
Even relatively small
rocks are still threatening, as proven by the 56-foot (17 meters) rock that
exploded over Russia and blew out people’s windows. Every year, on average, an
automobile-sized asteroid plummets through our sky and explodes. Objects about
460 ft (140 m) in diameter occur every 10,000 to 20,000 years. And a
‘dinosaur-killing’ impact from a rock a half-mile across or larger happens on
100-million-year timescales.
Just to ease your mind,
the dinosaurs went extinct about 66 million years ago.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/speeding-space-object-triggered-a-warning-it-wasn-t-an-asteroid/ar-AA1oUdjf?ocid=mailsignout&pc=U591&cvid=31d76d4fc57b4ec7828d859661209820&ei=30
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