What will happen when an asteroid 900 m in diameter hits Earth?

Using samples collected from the asteroid Ryugu, JAXA researchers calculated what happened when it hit Earth.

Scientists calculate what if asteroid Ryugu crashed to Earth. They were able to predict the outcome of such a collision thanks to the analysis of samples brought back by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Hayabusa2 ship. Presenting the results of the calculations at the 8th Planetary Defense Conference in Vienna, Austria, on April 4, Professor Satoshi Tanaka of the JAXĄ Solar System Science Department highlighted the importance of the prediction for the effort to protect Earth from asteroids like Ryugu.

Currently, Ryugu will not fly within 100,000 km of Earth.

Currently, Ryugu will not fly within 100,000 km of Earth.

Launched in December 2014, the Hayabusa2 spacecraft arrived on Ryugu, a 900 m wide asteroid located 300 million km from Earth, in June 2018 after 42 months of travel. In addition to collecting samples and bringing them back to Earth in 2020, the Hayabusa2 spacecraft also fired two bullets at this star. “The Hayabusa2 ship successfully carried out an experiment consisting of firing two one-kilogram bullets at a speed of 2 km/s, creating a crater with a diameter of 20 m. The cohesion of the rock layer is very weak. The rock density is only slightly greater than water with a very large void”Tanaka said.

Currently, researchers estimate that Rуugu will not come closer than 100,000 km from Earth. Based on data, Ryugu is believed to be a rubble asteroid with lower mechanical strength than ordinary rock.. This means that if the asteroid flies towards Earth, scientists will have to prevent it from breaking into pieces using a similar method in September 2022.

Tanaka explains that in the absence of navigation, if the asteroid Ryugu passes through Earth’s atmosphere at an angle of 45 degrees and at a speed of approximately 61,000 km/h (17 km/s), the asteroid would will collapse. altitude of approximately 35 to 40 km, leading to airborne explosion Similar to the event in Russia in February 2023, when the Chelyabinsk meteorite exploded 30 km above the ground. As a result, the Chelyabinsk explosion created a blinding flash of light and energy equivalent to 400 to 500,000 tons of TNT, or 33 times the energy released by the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima at the end of the Second World War. World War.

Chelyabinsk explosion causing nearly 1,500 injuries due to the amount of debris it created. With a diameter of 20 m, the Chelyabinsk meteorite is the largest space object to pass through Earth’s atmosphere since 1908, but only a fraction of the size of Ryugu.

Tanaka points out that if Ryugu breaks up in the atmosphere above Earth, Currently, we do not know the exact tensile strength of the asteroid to predict the size of the debris that will reach the ground.. He and his colleagues are completing preliminary analyzes with samples brought back to Earth. Exploring the internal structure is important to more accurately assess the future impact of asteroids like Ryugu on Earth.

Article source: VnExpress