Know NASA's plan if an asteroid comes to Earth

We already know that it is not uncommon to see asteroids passing very close to our planet. It sounds like a scary situation, but NASA warrants the chances of a collision are slim. However, this does not mean that the US agency will relax and risk a catastrophe.

An exercise by NASA, in conjunction with the US Federal Emergency Management Agency, simulated what could be done if an asteroid hit the planet and we had only a few years to prepare.

It may seem like a long time, but the deadline was chosen precisely because it would not be enough to destroy the asteroid before impact.

The test consisted of a celestial body, somewhere between 100m and 250m in size, hitting Earth in 2020. It may seem like a long time, but the deadline was chosen precisely because it would not be enough to destroy the asteroid before impact.

In this fictional scenario, the asteroid would have been discovered this year and its chances of hitting our planet were only 2%. Scientists continued to watch the star pass until, by May 2017, that number rises to 100%. Now the body will surely hit Earth, probably in a Pacific Ocean region, very close to California.

NASA wants to show that it's ready

The result was a series of data with all we can do on a similar occasion. One of the main points is the need to always have a plan ready for large city evacuations. In the case of this test, the entire Los Angeles area would need to be left behind.

Another issue discussed was how best to prevent false information from spreading and to ensure rapid and direct communication with the population. With all this, NASA wants to show that it is prepared for such an event.

So much so that she has a Planetary Defense Coordination Office, dedicated exactly to the protection of the Earth. It may sound crazy, but at least we'll be ready when that possibly happens.