Asteroid "Bennu": NASA corrected - will it hit Earth after all?

The asteroid "Bennu" is one of the most dangerous known asteroids in our solar system.

According to NASA, an impact on Earth is even more likely than previously assumed.

Houston - The asteroid "Bennu" keeps coming dangerously close to Earth.

According to new calculations, an impact is even more likely than originally thought.

NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission started in 2016 for more detailed investigations of the asteroid.

The aim of the mission is to better understand the trajectories of asteroids with the help of a space probe.

The space probe reached Bennu in 2018 and was able to take a small rock sample.

First data have now been evaluated and provide information about the future trajectory of the asteroid "Bennu", announced NASA.

NASA: Asteroid "Bennu" - highest impact risk 2182

According to the results of the study published in the journal Icarus, the risk of an impact by 2300 is 1: 1750.

In an earlier calculation, NASA scientists assumed a probability of 1: 2700.

According to current calculations, the highest risk of an impact is on September 24, 2182, on this day the probability is 0.037 percent.

"The OSIRIS-REx data give us so much more precise information that we can test the limits of our models and calculate the future trajectory of Bennu up to 2135 with a very high degree of certainty," said study director Davide Farnocchia from the Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) .

Asteroid "Bennu";

One of the most dangerous asteroids known

Although the probability that it will hit Earth is very low, "Bennu" remains one of the two most dangerous known asteroids in our solar system, along with another asteroid named 1950 DA, according to NASA *.

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The asteroid "Bennu" is one of the most dangerous known asteriods in our solar system.

© NASA / dpa

If the asteroid Bennu, 500 meters in diameter, collided with the earth, it would cause a crater 10 to 20 times its own size, says Lindley Johnson, head of NASA's planetary defense division, according to CNN .

In addition, the devastated area would be a hundred times larger than the actual crater.

NASA mission OSIRIS-REx: provides important data for hazard assessment

Although the likelihood of impact is low, this study underscores the critical role that OSIRIS-REx operations have played in precisely characterizing “Bennu” 's orbit, explains NASA.

"The orbital data from this mission helped us to better estimate Bennu's chances of impact over the next few centuries and our overall understanding of potentially dangerous asteroids - an incredible result," said Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx research director and professor at the University of Arizona.

The asteroid "Apollo" also comes dangerously close to Earth.

(jsch) * Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA

List of rubric lists: © NASA / dpa