NASA warns the threat of an Earth-destroying asteroid is no joke

Jim Bridenstine, the head of NASA has warned that it is time to take the threat of an Earth-destroying asteroid seriously.

Speaking at the International Academy of Astronautics’ 2019 Planetary Defense Conference in College Park, Maryland, Bridenstine said the space agency and other asteroid scientists need to make sure people understand that the threat is very real and not just the imagination of big-budget blockbuster movie directors.

NASA’s administrator expressed concern that similar warnings have historically prompted amusement and said that asteroid collisions were more common than people believed.

“I wish I could tell you these events are exceptionally unique,” Bridenstine said during the presentation, noting they have occurred three times in the past 100 years. “But they are not.”

Planetary defense and astronomical experts have warned against humanity destroying large asteroids with nuclear weapons out of the concern that they would simply shatter into smaller dangerous pieces.

A scientific study released in March poured cold water on the popular theory that humans could simply blow up an asteroid on a collision course with Earth, and found that blasted away fragments from the asteroid would be likely to reform with it because of gravity.

There are approximately 18,000 near-Earth Objects, also known as NEOs. and that number is constantly growing.

Via The Independent/ Fox News