#Socialites, get into this! NASA scientists are predicting that on September 24, 2182, Earth will be hit by an asteroid with the force of 22 atomic bombs; and now they’re trying to do everything to stop it from happening.
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According to reports, Bennu, an asteroid that passes by Earth every six years, could end up hitting the planet 159 years from now. It’s reported that Bennu is about a third of a mile wide, and is about half the size of the asteroid that reportedly made the dinosaurs go extinct. So, although Bennu could cause devastation up to 600 miles from the crash site, it is not big enough to cause the whole planet to become extinct.
Additionally, when it comes down to the numbers, it’s reported that the odds of the Bennu asteroid even hitting Earth in 2182 are 1 in 2,700. And there is a 1 in 1,750 chance that Bennu will hit Earth by 2300.
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While revealing the exact date the asteroid hit, scientists also reveal that the impact of the asteroid could equal the force of 22 atomic bombs. Now, NASA is said to be working on plans to divert Bennu from colliding with us, even though we have nearly 200 years until the predicted impact.
Speaking with the Sunday Telegraph, Rich Burns, the project manager for OSIRIS-REx at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, said, “We are now in the final leg of this seven-year journey, and it feels very much like the last few miles of a marathon, with a confluence of emotions like pride and joy coexisting with a determined focus to complete the race well.”
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Also, Nicola Fox, the associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington, D.C., spoke on samples from the asteroid being due back to the lab this week. Seven years ago, NASA sent a spacecraft to collect samples, and the craft will return this week.
It will enter the atmosphere at nearly 28,000 miles per hour, reaching temperatures double that of lava. And before landing in Utah, the craft will release a parachute to slow itself down and land safely.
Fox said, “Pristine material from asteroid Bennu will help shed light on the formation of our solar system 4.5 billion years ago and perhaps even on how life on Earth began.”
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