Chinese researchers are planning to use the Moon as a base to protect the planet from deadly asteroids that are wiping out the Earth. Read all about it.
Small planet are harmless space rocks that give we something to stare at as they pass by the Earth. However, if they are slightly off-angle while approaching Earth, that can often be lethal to us. After all, a large asteroid did it nearly 65 million years ago to wipe the dinosaurs off the planet. But what if humanity faces such an extinction event in the future? Chinese scientists have proposed a way to use Moon to protect us from the space rock!
Wu Weiren, chief designer of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, wrote in an article published in the peer-reviewed Chinese journal Scientia Sinica Informationis that humans could use the Moon as a station. basis to protect us from these rocks. With other planetary defense options, everything has to be done from The earth and that can cost us time, which is very valuable when a space rock is heading directly towards us.
China uses the Moon to protect us
The paper proposes an idea that plans to install two powerful space telescopes on the North and South poles of the Moon. These telescopes will find threats that Earth-based telescopes may have missed. They can also see rocks approaching from the hidden side of the Earth, which is the direction of the Sun. Currently, telescopes and radar systems cannot look at the rocks that are moving towards the Sun.
With the detection system in place, China would then use the missile to counter the threat. These “guardian rockets” will carry fuel and weapons into the Moon’s orbit. In the event of an incoming asteroid, the system could deploy one or all of the rockets to deal with the rock.
“It will be able to intercept asteroids coming from all directions, and can form a defensive circle at twice the distance between the moon and Earth – about 800,000 km. about diameter,” said Wu and his colleagues.
Although the system sounds promising, it remains to be seen whether this is possible in practice. Bringing enough fuel and weapons into the Moon’s orbit would require massive rockets and multiple checks to make sure they’re functional when needed.
Then there is the case of how to deflect asteroids. Humans don’t have the technology to vaporize space planets or space rocks, and NASA is currently on a mission to check for a collision with an asteroid. small planet can skew its angle slightly. The most sensible way to deal with these rocks is to simply deflect their approach enough for them to pass peacefully.
