Source: US Geological Survey
And although eyes were initially closely watching 2024 YR4 and its potential to impact Earth, NASA has eased our minds, by stating the latest calculations now show it’s no significant threat to Earth in 2032, and for the foreseeable future.
Dr. Tim Titus, Research Space Scientist at USGS Astrogeology Science Center, said “While no longer a threat, this provided a real-life test of the asteroid warning protocols.”
When we hear about asteroids like 2024 YR4, most people recall the Chicxulub impactor, or comet, that slammed in the Gulf of America. That’s because it carries the criminal record of wiping out the dinosaurs, and some animal and plant species, 66 million years ago. While some people would have loved to have seen dinosaurs, others are content to view their skeletons in museums and feel fear at the prospect of an asteroid approaching Earth.
Scientists have said impactors like Chixculub occurs every 100 million years or so. So it’s millennia too early to pack up the family and pets, expecting an asteroid with catastrophic power to impact the blue marble any time soon. According to NASA, the likelihood of that is slim.
But this doesn’t mean scientists are out of the woods as they prepare for asteroid impacts all together.
First, we are no strangers to impacts: raising awareness!
In July 1994, the founder of Astrogeology, Dr. Euguene Shoemaker, and wife, Carolyn Shoemaker, and colleague, David Levy were responsible for showing the world a comet slamming into Jupiter, leaving for months an observable, deep, dark scar. The Shoemaker-Levy impact was a landmark event that raised the awareness about the risks of otherworldly objects, and the first time that astronomers were able to directly observe an asteroid, or comet, colliding with a planet.
Earth’s satellite, the Moon, reflects its numerous scars from impacts of asteroids and comets. There is still a small possibility that 2024 YR4 could impact the Moon. But as we research other planets to understand our home and support space travel, we recognize they possibly can provide Tim Titus has alerted us of Cascading Hazards from asteroid or comet impacts. These are secondary hazards that emergency responders and community workers should investigate in an effected and surrounding community. It is paromount to consider not just the immediate immediate effects, he said, but also the broader, long-term implications for the safety of Earth’s inhabitants.
Fourth, NASA implements a strategy: technology flourishes!
In preparation for planetary defense, in 2022, NASA tested changing the trajectory of an asteroid during its Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) program. The Eruopean Space Agency (ESA) has followed up the DART mission by sending its own mission, Hera, to investigate the damage done by DART.