When Chinese missiles hit large asteroids
16. Juli 2021When Chinese missiles hit large asteroids
Beijing, 7/16/2021
China is exploring the possible use of missiles to deflect near-Earth asteroids. Researchers found that 23 of China’s Long March 5 missiles hitting a large asteroid at the same time could deflect it by 1.4 times the Earth’s radius, avoiding a disaster. Long March 5s are the largest missiles China has in its fleet.
Asteroids vary in size. According to NASA, the largest is 329 miles (530 kilometers) wide, while others are about 30 feet in diameter. Currently, there are 1,100,748 known asteroids in our solar system with a total mass less than that of the Moon.
On average, asteroids larger than 1,000 feet in diameter strike the Earth once every 10,000 years. Such impacts can cause widespread global destruction.
