The Chinese space agency announced a new defense plan against possible asteroids that pose a danger to Earth. The idea is to send a vehicle to collide with the body, changing its orbit.
The announcement was made by Wu Yanhua, director general of the National Space Administration of China, last Sunday (24), when China’s Space Day was celebrated.
Chinese authorities have not yet determined which asteroid will be impacted, but the first mission is expected to take place in less than four years. It will act as a practical test of the initiative, which can be integrated into a new global plan for planetary defense.
According to the Global Times, a Chinese state-controlled news outlet, this new plan should also include monitoring of near-Earth asteroids, a new warning system, software to simulate possible impacts and training to deal with this situation.
The topic has been a constant concern of the Chinese government. The country hosted a conference on planetary defense in October and an official document proposing the initiative was published in January.
NASA, the US space agency, is expected to conduct its own test to “deflect” asteroids later this year. The DART (Binary Asteroid Redirection Test) project is expected to impact the asteroid Dimorphos on September 26.
For this, NASA will use the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, whose launch took place on November 23. If the mission is successful, it is expected that it will generate useful data for similar cases in the future where there is a real danger to humanity.
