2023-09-22 06:39:51
After 159 years, the American space agency NASA said that they are in efforts to stop the asteroid that is likely to hit the Earth in 2182. It will reach Earth on September 24, 2182. NASA has informed that the probability of this asteroid, named Bennu, hitting the Earth is only one in 2700. But NASA is trying to completely eliminate the risk of accidents. As part of this, NASA sent a satellite to Bennu seven years ago. NASA launched a spacecraft to Bennu in hopes of gathering information that could help avert disaster.
NASA announced that Bennu was discovered in 1999. It gets closer to Earth every six years. The asteroid, which is the size of the Empire State Building in New York City, has the yield of 22 atomic bombs. In 2020, NASA’s Osiris-Rex spacecraft visited the surface of Bennu and collected a rock-like object. The place where this sample was collected is known as Nightingale.
Scientists say that Bennu is believed to be more than 4.5 billion years old. Earlier it was known as 1999 RQ36. Later in 2013, the asteroid was renamed Bennu.
Activities of NASA
NASA says it has been trying for seven years to avoid asteroid Bennu from colliding with Earth. They added that they are in a last ditch effort. “They can feel it like reaching the last lap of a marathon. “Now we’re determined to finish the race well,” Rich Burns, project manager for the Osiris-Rex mission, told The Telegraph in an interview.
The samples collected from Bennu will arrive on Earth next week. The samples will reach Earth at 3.42 pm on Sunday. They come in fridge-sized capsules. It will be parachuted safely into the Utah desert, the Mirror reported. Scientists will quickly extract samples from Bennu to avoid damage. These samples are collected not only to prevent Bennu from falling to Earth. These samples are also expected to help in understanding the origin of life on Earth.
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