Preventing Asteroids to Prevent Extinction

There are always catastrophic threats to Earth and all life looming in space not too far from us, and there is nearly nothing being done to prevent it do to lack of funding. Many people in the United States, and the world, are not aware of the disastrous effect that an asteroid impact would have on the Earth, and human existence entirely. Unfortunately, many people of authority and power are aware of this potential danger, and choose to ignore it. Their reasoning is that the costs would be too high for the long odds of a large asteroid impact. However, with the cataclysmic information we have on past asteroid impacts, and with the technology and ideas NASA has to prevent future ones, I hope to convince you that it is worth funding the possible salvation of mankind.

One of the main reasons why there is not a large backing for the prevention of asteroids is the lack of understanding of how dangerous they can be, and what could be done to prevent or redirect asteroids. In the 1980’s, it was discovered that it was 200km Chicxulub impact crater that caused the mass extinction of the dinosaurs, and much other life on the Earth. This crater is still one of the largest discovered impacts on Earth today, according to the Encyclopedia of Space Science and Technology. What would happen if an asteroid this massive struck the Earth today? The effects on human life and Earth as we know it would be that of catastrophe. This would be the extinction of humans as a species.

However, even with this knowledge, some still don’t feel compelled enough to push for asteroid prevention projects. Many think something like this couldn’t happen in our lifetime, so why worry about it? Well, when the Earth is constantly moving at 30km/s(19miles/s) in its path around the sun, it’s only a matter of time before one of the millions of asteroids in our solar system strike Earth again. With understanding that Earth is vulnerable to catastrophic asteroid impacts, what could be done to stop of these rocky behemoths from hitting the Earth if it entered our atmosphere?

In terms of technology, and progression in terms asteroid prevention, NASA has the furthest advanced project so far. According to the article on NASA’s website, “ Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART Mission”, DART will be the first demonstration of the kinetic impact technique to change the motion of an asteroid in space. However, the launch window for this asteroid preventing mission project is as soon as 2020. The mission must launch by December 2020 if it wants to intercept the Didymos’ moonlet asteroid.

This being said, it is very clear how dire the need for support and funding for missions such as this are. If proper funding and support is not met, than another optimal asteroid window could take several more years, and projects could shut down. Another major project for preventing asteroids is the B612 Foundation. This non-profit organization is ran primarily by scientists, former astronauts and engineers. The goal of this organization is to protect Earth from asteroids, and they have launched two projects to do this. This foundation is at a halt for its next mission, which requires 450 million dollars worth of fundraising. In its first year of fundraising, it only made 3 million dollars. It is clear to see how important raising awareness for these programs are.

I think that it is rather clear how dangerous such asteroid impacts have been in the past, and how dangerous they will be in the future if we continue to do nothing about them. There is evidence on the Earth’s surface of outer space objects striking the planet, and wiping out many species here on Earth. I, along with the rest of my Astronomy class, call upon you to see the need for asteroid prevention programs. With programs far in their development process, and just needed government supported funding to finalize, it should be an easy choice to see how saving our planet from extinction should be a serious priority. I hope that with information my fellow students and I have given you, that you will not be like other government officials who turn a blind eye to the danger of Earth being destroyed by an asteroid.