Giant airplane sized asteroid just passed close to Earth; NASA reveals speed and size | Tech News

Giant airplane sized asteroid just passed close to Earth; NASA reveals speed and size

A giant airplane sized asteroid of 95-foot has passed Earth at a fiery speed, NASA informed. Know if it impacted the planet.

By: HT TECH
| Updated on: Dec 11 2022, 11:14 IST
Top NASA tech that solved Mars myths and mysteries like never before
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1/10 Humans have been studying Mars for hundred of years. In 1609, Galileo was the first person to peer through a telescope and get a more intimate image of what many could only have dreamed of. (Pixabay)
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2/10 An up close and personal view of the red planet emerged as time progressed and so did the capabilities of telescopes. In fact, from the late 1800s to the mid 1900s, many astronomers believed that Mars was home to majestic seas and lush areas of vegetation. The Dark markings on Mars surface were once believed to be caused by vegetation growing and dying. (Pixabay)
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3/10 Some even believed that intelligent life existed on Mars just because of what they saw through their simple telescopes. But that is exactly was science is about-you make educated guesses based on what you know, then change your ideas based on what you learn. (NASA)
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4/10 Now, thanks to new sophisticated equipment and robotic visits to Mars, it turns out they were caused by Martian wind. It was not until the 1960s, when NASA's Mariner missions flew by and snapped pictures of Mars that many of the myths about the red planet were dispelled. (NASA)
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5/10 That does not make Mars any less interesting. The possibility that life actually existed once on Mars is still a distinct possibility. Or it may even be existing on Mars today! No, not in the form of little green men, but on a microbial level. (NASA)
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6/10 Now, taking pictures is great and all. But nothing is better than getting to know the real thing. So, to get a better feel of Mars, Scientists and engineers built some nifty technologies, from spacecrafts to reach Mars and rovers (vehicles) to actually trundle and explore the planet. (NASA/JPL)
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7/10 Among the earliest tech deployed for Mars was Phoenix. It was launched on August 4, 2007 and so began its 9-month long, 681 Million km journey to the legendary red planet. Now, landing on a planet is not as easy as simply dropping a spacecraft onto it. There is actually a lot of steps to the process. (NASA)
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8/10 On May 25, 2008, Phoenix entered Mars atmosphere. It used its heat shield to slow down the high speed entry of 5600 meters per second or around 12500 miles per hour. It released a supersonic PARACHUTE, then detached from its parachute and used its rocket engines to land safely on the planet's surface. Phoenix' landing spot was further north and closer to the ice covered poles than any spacecraft has ever been before. (NASA)
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9/10 Phoenix had two primary goals: One was to study the history of water in the Martian arctic and the other was to search for evidence of a habitual zone and assess the biological potential of the ice soil boundary. And to do that the spacecraft was packed full of gizmos and gadgets to perform all sets of experiments and tests. One of these gizmos was a robotic arm with a shovel attached. It was used to dig up samples of the martian soil for experiments! (NASA)
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10/10 Another top tech on the Mars surface was the Surface Stereo Imager, which is really just a fancy name for the camera. Three surface stereo imagers were Phoenix' eye. Engineers built the device with two optical lenses that would allow for a three dimensional view, just like our eyes. And the SSI sent back some amazing images of the martian landscape. (Source: NASA/Justin Tully) (NASA)
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Here is all you need to know about the 95-foot asteroid 2022 WW. Know its size, speed, and more. (Pixabay)

Several asteroids of varied sizes can be found in space travelling in their orbits. However, there are instances when these asteroids start heading towards the planet Earth and that too at a fiery speed. If a large asteroid collides or hits the planet, it could have a severe impact on humanity and the planet, even cause mass extinctions. NASA has informed that one such giant 95-foot airplane sized asteroid just passed by Earth on Saturday, November 10. The asteroid was travelling at a fearsome speed of 22176 kmph (6.16 km/sec) and made a closest approach of 7350000 kilometers to Earth.

No, this asteroid did not .cause any harm even though it has been labelled as being potentially hazardous on account of its close approach to Earth. However, it is not always so. An asteroid named Chicxulub is considered responsible for ending the era of dinosaurs on Earth. Therefore, to avoid such kind of massive dangerous collision, NASA has deployed various technologies to detect the terror in advance. NASA tracks the trajectory of these asteroids to see if they pose any danger to Earth.

Talking about how dangerous the asteroids can be for planet Earth, NASA informed that the vast majority of Near Earth Objects (NEOs) that enter Earth's atmosphere disintegrate before reaching the surface (and more than 100 tons of dust particles fall on Earth daily).

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A potentially hazardous object (PHO) is a near-Earth object whose orbit brings it within 4.7 million miles (7.5 million km) of Earth's orbit, and is greater than 500 feet (140 meters) in size. Also, till date no known asteroid poses a significant risk of impact with Earth over the next 100 years. The highest risk of impact for a known asteroid is a 1 in 714 chance of impact by an asteroid designated 2009 FD in 2185.

NASA said, "One asteroid that NASA is studying up close, called Bennu, has a 1/2700 chance of impacting Earth between 2175 and 2195. The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will complete a 2-year investigation of Bennu before plucking a sample of asteroid material off its surface and delivering it back to Earth."

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First Published Date: 11 Dec, 11:13 IST
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