admin According to officials from NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office, the probability of an asteroid named DW 2023 that was detected on February 27 is higher than the average.
In particular, the asteroid’s ability to orbit it sent plummeting to Earth in 2046 was 1/625, a rate that was higher than average but still small enough for NASA to offer reassurances to the public.
2023 DW is estimated to have a diameter of about 50m, roughly the length of a swimming pool, with a very close approach to Earth and a chance of a collision on Valentine’s Day (14-2) in 2046.
“Often for new objects to be discovered for the first time, it takes several weeks of data collection to reduce the probability of command misconduct and the full prediction of its orbit over the coming years. Orbital analysts will continue to follow the asteroid 2023 and update predictions as more data is available” – Live Science newspaper quoted the announcement from NASA.
While the probability is low, it is sufficient for NASA to follow up closely and be prepared for the rescue mission if necessary, perhaps a suicide probe plummeting into the asteroid to deflect it like the famous 2022 test DART.
Last week NASA announced four studies that showed the DART test mission was a success, offering hope for a possible setback to future space catastrophe.
A direct impact from an asteroid as large as 2023 DW may not be enough to cause a catastrophic extinction event such as the asteroid that killed the Chicxulub dinosaur 66 million years ago, however it could still cause extensive loss of life and property if it landed in the middle of a large city or populated area.
10 years ago, a rock of space less than half the size of 2023 DW and has not collided, only exploded over Chelyabinsk in Russia, which was enough to cause a violent shock wave that injured 1,500 people and damaged thousands of buildings.
