Dr. Joseph Nuth, a NASA expert has recently warned that humans are not prepared to deflect a surprise asteroid or a comet, should it come hurtling toward the Earth. Dr.Nuth, who is also known to be a researcher at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre in Maryland, was known to have made his revelations during the annual convention of the American Geophysical Union. However, although dangerous asteroids and comets rarely hit Earth, the NASA expert said that its presence has long been aware of.
An Asteroid Impact, What Are Its Effects?
In one of his statements reported by Daily Mail, Dr. Nuth has revealed that in 1996, a comet narrowly missed our planet, instead flying into Jupiter, and again in 2014, a comet passed 'within cosmic spitting distance of Mars. He believes that if we just look at the schedule for high-reliability spacecraft and launching them, it would basically take up to five years to launch a spacecraft. Additionally, Dr. Nuth claimed that the human race has only got 22 months of total warning.
In their latest research revealed by Science Alert, it was found that as recently as two years ago; although NASA has already established an Office of Planetary Protection which is manned by just one scientist, Nuth believes that we've largely been ignoring the threat of comets in order to keep tabs on asteroids instead. Hence, Nuth and his team had allegedly recommended NASA authorities to build an intercepting spacecraft as early as possible and keep it in storage just in case the need arises.
The NASA expert firmly believes that if we detect an incoming asteroid or comet, and we already have a functional interceptor in storage, we could launch it within a year, which could be enough to deflect it. The expert noted two catastrophic events in recent history that took the world by surprise which is the Chelyabinsk strike in 2013, and the Tunguska fireball in 1908. Ultimately, experts suggest that despite how unusual these events may be, these strikes could have devastating effects on the planet, and Earthlings must be prepared for worse.
