ISRO Chief S Somnath has recently made a huge revelation, saying that there is a possibility that Asteroid is going to hit the earth and eventually they have to prepare for this phenomenon.
Speaking to News18 about this possibility ISRO chief S Somanath said, ‘Our lifespan is 70-80 years, and we don’t see such catastrophe in our lifetime, so we take it for granted that these are not likely. If you look at the history of the world and universe, these events are frequent…approach of an asteroid towards planets and its impact. I have watched an asteroid hitting Jupiter, Shoemaker-Levy hitting. If such an event happens on Earth, we all are extinct.’
Furthermore, he also emphasized, these possibilities are real, and they should be ready for this eventuality.
What Can We Do?
S Somnath also said, that even though we don’t want this to happen, and we want humanity to survive with all life forms alive. However, this possibility can’t be stopped.
But for that, alternatives have to be found, they already have a method through which, it can be deflected.
Later, sharing the alternative ISRO chief revealed, ‘So, we have a method by which we can deflect it. We can detect near-Earth approach and take it away and sometimes it might be impossible also. So, technology needs to be developed, prediction capabilities, ability to send heavier props up there to deflect it, observation improvement and joint working with other nations for a protocol.’
Asteroid Exploration
Meanwhile over the past decade, our understanding of asteroids has greatly advanced, thanks to sample collections from various scientific missions dedicated to asteroid exploration.
The recent DART Mission has further intensified global interest in this field. Capitalizing on this growing interest, ISRO also aims to prioritize planetary defense efforts.
Talking about this, He said, It will take shape in the days to come. When the threat becomes real, humanity will get together and work on it. As a leading space nation, we need to take responsibility. It’s not just for India alone, it’s for the whole world that we need to take the onus on us to prepare and develop technical capability, programming capability to do that and ability to work with other agencies.’
This World Asteroid Day, ISRO on June 30 organized a workshop featuring prominent experts from space agencies such as JAXA and ESA.
During the workshop, they had a technical discussion on topics including the Hayabusa-2 asteroid mission, ongoing efforts in planetary defense and asteroid monitoring by ESA, and the roles of organizations like IAWN (International Asteroid Warning Network) and SMPAG (Space Mission Planning Advisory Group) in addressing threats from asteroid impacts.
