Science

13007 readers

2 users here now

Studies, research findings, and interesting tidbits from the ever-expanding scientific world.

Subcommunities on Beehaw:

Space

Be sure to also check out these other Fediverse science communities:

This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

remington

alyaza

Gaywallet

NASA aims to destroy an Empire State Building-sized asteroid (interestingengineering.com)

submitted 1 year ago by Bobo@lemm.ee to c/science

32 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Astronomers have been closely monitoring Bennu, which swings close to Earth every six years. However, the real cause for concern arises from the possibility that on September 24, 2182, Bennu could collide with our planet with a force equivalent to 22 atomic bombs. While the odds of such a catastrophic strike are estimated at 1 in 2,700, NASA is not taking any chances.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] luciole 26 points 1 year ago

Wikipedia (citing NASA) states that the force would be 1,200 megatons in TNT equivalent. Tsar Bombas being 54 megatons, Bennu is 22 Tsar Bombas.