The threat of an asteroid that will one day hit Earth is always trying to find a way out. China, which has recently been actively developing its space industry, plans to distance asteroids with the help of rockets.
Quoted from Reuters, researchers in the country of the Bamboo Curtain want to fly more than 20 of the largest domestically made rockets to repel dangerous asteroids, by hitting them. The hope is that that way, the asteroid won't hit Earth.
This kind of idea is not new. NASA will conduct spacecraft crash tests on asteroids considered a threat in a mission called the Double Asteroid Redirect Test (DART). The show is currently in the demo phase.
Intensive preparations are underway with a possible collision test in late 2022. The target is the Dimorphos space rock, one of the two 'moons' circling the Didymos asteroid system. Dimorphos will be hit by a NASA plane to change course.
At the National Space Science Center, Chinese researchers have performed a similar simulation, that as many as 23 Long March rockets attacking simultaneously, could deflect the path of an asteroid heading towards this planet.
The asteroid sampled was Benu, a large space rock almost as tall as the Empire State Building in New York. This asteroid is said to be potentially dangerous and could cause major damage if it hits Earth.
Changing the course of the asteroid was considered a better solution than blowing it up. Because if exploded, there is a possibility that pieces of the asteroid still go to Earth and remain dangerous. "It's a pretty good concept, using kinetic energy to deflect asteroids," said Professor Alan Fitzsimmons of the Center for Astrophysics Research at Queen's University Belfast.
Experts estimate that there is a 1% chance that a 100 meter wide asteroid will hit Earth in the next 100 years. Therefore, the reduction measures are indeed carried out by several space agencies.
The Long March 5 rocket itself is China's mainstay in achieving space ambitions. The rocket has flown since 2016 on various missions, including sending probes to the Moon and Mars.
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