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Question
Can Apophis (an asteroid, that will get close to Earth in 2036) destroy or make damage to our planet? If yes, why can't we blow up that thing?!
Apophis, an asteroid about 300 meters long, is very unlikely to hit the Earth in April 2036. We should know for sure by 2013, when it comes close enough for good radar measurements of its orbit. If it did hit it could badly damage an area the size of a country like France or Germany. It would certainly not “destroy our planet”. The Earth has been hit repeatedly by equally large asteroids throughout its existence with no bad consequences. Even if it did pose a risk of hitting, we could not “blow up the thing”. We don’t have any weapons that could destroy it (although there are other ways to defend ourselves by modifying its orbit). You can read about Apophis and other potentially dangerous asteroids on these two NASA websites: [impact.arc.nasa.gov] and [neo.jpl.nasa.gov].
David Morrison
NAI Senior Scientist
June 3, 2009
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