From time to time, nature, the Universe, God, or whatever you want to call the force that governs the physical reality where we all live, wants to remind us all how truly vulnerable we are in the Cosmos. Just the simple fact that a huge asteroid is approaching our planet even without posing a threat to hit us is indeed frightening. That’s because, at this point, humanity doesn’t have the right tools to deal with a “Chicxulub 2.0” impactor.
However, NASA is eager to use its DART mission to try to deflect an asteroid from its main orbit by simply smashing the spacecraft into the space rock. If the method proves to be successful, it will become humanity’s best bet in case a huge asteroid will ever be on a collision course with our beloved planet. NASA will broadcast its initiative live on YouTube tomorrow, September 26.
Asteroid 2022 SK measures 160 feet
According to Hindustan Times, the asteroid known as 2022 SK approached our planet yesterday, September 24, making its closest approach at just 4.31 million miles away. The speed of the space rock is phenomenal: 16.64 kilometers per second.
Asteroid 2022 SK certainly wouldn’t have been a second Chicxulub if it had collided with our planet. But at the same time, it would have been suicidal to stand anywhere in its trajectory. A space rock of such size would probably wipe out an entire town easily.
While the 2022 SK asteroid safely passed by our planet, there’s no telling for sure that we are entirely safe. The Universe is far too big for astronomers to ever be able to monitor it completely, which means that a major threat could theoretically appear at any moment. What’s for sure is that asteroids and comets will keep approaching our planet in the recent future.
