An asteroid, no more than a pile of rubble, is extremely difficult to destroy. Astronomers believe that if the Earth is at risk of being attacked by it, it will be impossible to protect our planet.
When it comes to defense against asteroids, scientists have a number of methods they believe they can rely on. Recently, NASA performed the Dual Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) to see if a spacecraft colliding with an asteroid could push it away. Another method involves using nuclear weapons to destroy an asteroid. However, astronomers have discovered an indestructible type of asteroid. This means that if Earth ever faces this type of asteroid, a devastating attack is almost inevitable.
According to one report published by EurekAlert, the study was carried out by an international team of researchers led by Curtin University in Australia involves the study of three dust particles collected from the surface of a 500-meter-long asteroid called Itokawa, which was returned to Earth by the Japan Space Agency’s Hayabusa 1 probe. It is revealed that Itokawa is a wrecked asteroid, which means that it will act as a cushion when anyone tries to destroy it and can withstand or absorb almost any force applied to it. it.
can not destroy small planet
500 meters wide small planet Itokava has an interesting story. It was formed 4.2 billion years ago, and despite being bombarded by other asteroids, it remains completely intact. The reason behind its durability is that it is not a single piece of rock but a huge collection of dust and small pebbles. As a result, no matter what hits it, it is able to spread the impact across its entire surface, almost like a foam pillow, and quickly regain its original shape afterwards.
So if such an asteroid was threatening to hit Earth and it was hit by a nuclear weapon or NASA’s DART-esque spacecraft, it would almost certainly have no effect against it. it.
This is still not the worst part of this new revelation. The scientists involved in the study stated that this type of wreckage asteroid is quite common on the asteroid belt and closer to Earth than any other. So if an asteroid tried to hit Earth, it would most likely look like this.
