Scientists have determined that an asteroid the size of the Empire State Building in New York will pass by the Earth in 2182.
Although experts do not think there is a possibility of contact with the planet, many scientists said it is important to study asteroids and other objects from space and be prepared for any scenario.
Dante Lauretta, principal investigator of the NASA OSIRIS-REx mission that collected samples from the asteroid Bennu, located about 200 million miles away, explores these issues in his new book, “Asteroid Hunter: A Scientist’s Journey to the Dawn of Our Sun.” System.”
Lauretta spoke with ABC News’ Linsey Davis about her book and research.
ABC NEWS LIVE: Give us some insight into why it’s so important to prepare for something that’s more than a century and a half away.
DANTE LAURETTA: Yes. Asteroids are interesting for many reasons. The danger of impact is one of them, but it is also a treasure trove of scientific information about the early solar system. There is a possibility that the asteroid will hit the Earth. Not 100%. It’s actually 0.05%.
MORE: How OSIRIS-REx’s capsule could hold keys to the ‘building blocks of life’ on Earth
ABC NEWS LIVE: So it’s relatively low.
LAURETTA: Relatively low. I’d like to say you’d cross the street with these odds, but it’s important to understand this danger in general and what we can do if an asteroid were to eventually hit Earth, because it’s happened many times. It’s happened before throughout geological history, and it’s the only natural disaster we can do anything about right now.
ABC NEWS LIVE: You were part of a mission that collected a small sample from this asteroid in September. What could we potentially learn about our past, present, and future from this example?
LAURETTA: Yes. OSIRIS-REx is a NASA mission that goes to this asteroid called Bennu, primarily to collect these samples and bring them back to Earth. We opened that box and are analyzing the material. It is really rich in water in the form of clay minerals and carbon, mostly inorganic compounds. These are key.
This asteroid is 4.5 billion years old, and we think objects like it may have brought water in our oceans, air in our atmosphere, and even molecules that led to the origin of life on our planet. This example seems perfect to answer these questions.
ABC NEWS LIVE: Now, you mentioned that humanity is facing two really difficult decisions, right? I had a question about this because one of them evacuated a large area of the Earth because the asteroid might hit there. How would you know? If we could evacuate a large part of the world, how would you determine which area you should evacuate?
LAURETTA: In the years until 2182, future people will need to follow this asteroid very closely. We need telescopes, or even a spacecraft near the object that transmits position information to Earth.
And as it gets closer to the planet, we’ll eventually be able to predict very accurately where it will hit.
ABC NEWS LIVE: OK, that’s an option, Option A. Option B would be to send something that could divert the asteroid from its current path. Which option do you think is the smart money?
LAURETTA: We should definitely be tracking this object and will continue to do so in the future. And all the information we collect from our mission will make this possible.
I think this is Option A because we don’t know yet if it will hit Earth. So you wouldn’t need to develop a diversion task until you were really confident. The other thing to keep in mind is that we don’t know if it will hit with 100% accuracy, but the humans of the year 2135 will because then Bennu will fly between the Earth and the moon. And this event will determine his future path.
And at this point it will be pretty certain whether the danger of impact is real or not.
MORE: ‘Asteroid Hunter’ video reveals details of a rare asteroid heading towards Earth
ABC NEWS LIVE Why did you make something that will never happen in your life your life’s work?
LAURETTA: It’s about science. The big questions I ask, and I think everyone asks themselves at some point, are: Where did we come from? So are we alone in the universe?
I’m trying to understand how life came to dominate this planet. So could this have happened on Mars? So could this have happened on Venus as well? Are there life forms around extrasolar planets?
We don’t know how to get from a non-living thing to a living thing. This is the biggest mystery in science right now. And I think this asteroid and the samples we brought home hold the clues.
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