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Giant asteroid could crash into moon in 2032, firing debris towards Earth
- A giant asteroid, Asteroid 2024 YR4, may collide with the moon in 2032, potentially sending lunar debris towards Earth, creating a vivid meteor shower and posing risks to satellites.
- The asteroid initially had a 3% chance of hitting Earth, triggering a planetary defense response, but later observations lowered the probability to a negligible 0.0017% for Earth while raising it to 4.3% for the moon.
- Researchers simulated the impact, predicting the creation of a 1km crater on the moon and the launch of millions of kilograms of debris toward Earth, arriving days later.
- The resulting meteor shower could be visible and spectacular, with some debris posing a hazard to satellites, spacecraft, and astronauts.
- The impact would release a significant amount of energy comparable to a large nuclear explosion.
- Nasa and other space agencies focus on tracking near-Earth asteroids and comets but consider the moon secondary. A test conducted by Nasa in 2022 successfully diverted an asteroid's orbit.
- Despite concerns of altering the moon's orbit, Nasa ruled out this scenario after reassessing the asteroid's size in April 2022.
- Asteroid 2024 YR4 orbits the sun and will not be observable until 2028 for further assessment.
- Researchers suggest extending planetary defense strategies to cover threats from distant regions in space.
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