The Earth Day is an event dedicated to the support of the defense of the environment. Rightly so, that makes us think about issues such as pollution but on the occasion of Earth Day 2014 there was also the presentation of the data collected between 2000 and 2013 about 26 large explosions in Earth’s atmosphere caused by asteroid disintegration.
The data were collected by the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), an American group that includes several former NASA astronauts and calls for a ban on all nuclear tests. The organization operates a network of sensors that can detect explosions of nuclear weapons but in this beginning of the millennium has detected the explosions of asteroids in the atmosphere.
The power of the explosions detected by CTBTO goes from 1 to 600 kilotons. To get an idea of their power, keep in mind that the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima had a power of 15 kilotons. The Earth’s atmosphere represents a significant protection thanks to the fact that the enormous friction brings the meteorites at such temperatures that typically they disintegrate at an altitude high enough to avoid damage.
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However, on February 15, 2013 a small asteroid exploded over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, causing major damage and many wounded. This was one of the most powerful explosions among those recorded and the meteorite reached an altitude low enough to pose a big threat before disintegrating.
Yesterday’s presentation was made at the Seattle Museum of Flight by three former astronauts: Ed Lu, Tom Jones and Bill Anders. Ed Lu is also one of the founders of the B612 Foundation, a nonprofit organization that has exactly the goal to find ways to protect the Earth from asteroid impacts. Ed Lu was also one of the participants in a meeting at the UN on this issue in October 2013.
The B612 Foundation proposed the project of the Space Telescope infrared Sentinel, which should detect asteroids years before they reach the Earth. There are already a number of initiatives for the detection of asteroids by NASA and ESA. Building a new space telescope, which would be launched no earlier than 2018, only makes sense if’t is much better than existing instruments such as the WISE Space Telescope. However, these initiatives are important for the safety of a planet that is more and more populated so the possibility of danger are increasing.
