NASA Simulation Reveals Preparatory Deficiencies Against Asteroid Threat

TapTechNews June 23, according to a simulation exercise conducted by NASA in April this year, even if a 72% probability asteroid that may hit the Earth is discovered 14 years in advance, humanity still lacks sufficient preparations to resist this catastrophic threat at this stage.

The exercise, named tabletop exercise, involved participants from multiple US government agencies to jointly discuss strategies to deal with asteroid impacts. The simulation scenario was set as: an asteroid that has a 72% possibility of hitting the Earth on July 12, 2038, but currently very little is known about its specific information, neither its size (estimated to be between 60 meters and 800 meters) nor it can be observed.

The results of the drill are worrying. The report pointed out that even with more than a decade of preparation time, there are still obvious deficiencies in the cooperation of space agencies in key links such as discovering threats and formulating mitigation measures. It is currently not clear what the process of space mission decision-making is in the case of asteroid impact threats, the report wrote. Whether at the US or international level, the relevant processes are not clearly defined.

Not only that, but even the decision procedure for which space mission should be launched is also unclear. The report also mentioned that the role of the United Nations Space Mission Planning Advisory Group (SMPAG) in the context of asteroid impact threat scenarios is not fully understood by all participants.

NASA suggests that the international community should establish a set of decision-making processes for different planetary defense scenarios as soon as possible and test them through drills. At the same time, various national institutions should also clarify the role of SMPAG in coordination and consultation.

However, the challenges are far more than that. The report pointed out that maintaining space missions, disaster response and public communication and other works for as long as 14 years will face huge challenges because budget cycles, changes in political leadership, personnel turnover and rapidly changing world events will all have a negative impact.

NASA recommends holding regular briefings and drills to raise awareness of planetary defense and prepare for the threat of asteroid impacts.

Fortunately, Terik Daly, head of the Planetary Defense Department at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in the US, said that no large asteroids that will hit the Earth in the next 100 years have been detected so far. However, he also emphasized that we have not yet discovered the vast majority of asteroids that can cause regional damage.

TapTechNews noted that one of the most important gains of this drill is that we need to improve our ability to detect asteroid information. Although the possibility of asteroid impact is very low, it is always good to plan ahead. If an impact really occurs, I believe humans will also be able to find a solution and tide over the difficulties together.