The US developing asteroids as a strike weapon, says expert; check out this 'celestial weapon'

Asteroids have fascinated humankind ever since they were first noticed. Thereafter, asteroid tales of destruction and the killing off of the dinosaurs, added a terrifying link too. Now, a Russian expert says that the US might be planning a celestial attack on Russia by using an asteroid as a weapon. On International Asteroid Day, Anatoly Zaitsev, honorary member of the Tsiolkovsky Cosmonautics Academy, and CEO of the Planetary Protection Center non-profit partnership in an interview stated that “The United States and other countries may be developing and testing asteroid weapons under the guise of creating planetary protection systems” He was speaking to news agency TASS.

A test of kinetic, laser, and even asteroid weapons under the guise of protecting the planet from dangerous celestial bodies, he averred.

He added, “These weapons can, for example, become a component of the space forces set up by the United States with the aim of its dominance in outer space."

He further mentioned two ways of developing asteroids as a weapon

The first method is to detect an asteroid and use it, but the expert dismissed this possibility as out of the thousands of asteroids approaching Earth, only about 0.1% of them are detected each year on time.

The second method involves changing and modifying the route of the asteroid in such a way that it collides with Russia!

Notably, NASA has successfully performed a mission to modify the asteroid route with its Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART). In October 2022 it altered the trajectory of the target asteroid, Dimorphos.

US space agency NASA says such missions were done to test and develop methods and ways to control the trajectories of these celestial bodies as a protection mechanism for the Earth.

Notably, Zaitsev also added that Russia is looking to safeguard itself and is building protection methods on its own without approaching anyone. This will not only strengthen Russia’s defense potential, it will go a long way to safeguard the Earth from any threats posed by wandering asteroids.

Is weaponizing asteroid possible?

Meanwhile, EurAsian Times took insights from a former scientist at ISRO, India’s premier space organization. On weaponizing asteroids, the scientist dismissed the idea of the Weaponization Of Asteroids as “purely science fiction,”

The scientist also said that countries like China and Russia have their own methods and tactic to alter the trajectory of asteroids.

As per EurAsian Times, it is possible to achieve this by using a "mass driver," which is an electromagnetic accelerator that uses linear motors to propel objects through space without the use of rockets.