00:00I'm your host, Zainab Sabir, and today, we are diving into a story that's equal parts thrilling, terrifying, and thought
00:07-provoking.
00:09It's a tale that spans the cosmos, involves cutting-edge science, and could determine the fate of our planet.
00:16If you're as captivated by the drama and intrigue of the unknown as we are, don't forget to hit that
00:22like button,
00:23subscribe to Positive Post TV, and ring the notification bell so you never miss a story like this.
00:30Let's dive in.
00:31Mark that date in your calendar, because it could be the day humanity faces its greatest challenge yet.
00:39A newly discovered asteroid, designated 2024 year 4, is hurtling through space with a 1 in 83 chance of striking
00:48Earth.
00:49That's a 2.3% probability, small, but not small enough to ignore.
00:55This 196-foot, 60-meter, wide space rock, roughly half the length of a football field, is currently 27 million
01:05miles away.
01:06But by 2032, it could come within 66,000 miles of Earth, closer than the Moon.
01:14And if orbital uncertainties align in the worst possible way, it could slam directly into our planet.
01:25Asteroid 2024 year 4 has earned the ominous nickname, City Killer.
01:30If it hits, the impact could release energy equivalent to millions of tons of TNT,
01:36flattening entire cities or causing massive tsunamis if it strikes the ocean.
01:41To put it in perspective, the 1908 Tunguska event, a similar-sized asteroid explosion over Siberia,
01:50flattened 80 million trees across 830 square miles.
01:55If 2024 year 4 hits a populated area, the devastation would be unimaginable.
02:02Here's the problem.
02:04We might already be too late to stop it.
02:07Dr. Robyn George Andrews, a renowned science journalist and author of How to Kill an Asteroid,
02:15warns that deflecting an asteroid requires at least a decade of planning.
02:20With only 8 years until 2032, time is not on our side.
02:25It's not like you're playing pool and you hit the cue ball into something and it flies off in the
02:31other direction,
02:32Dr. Andrews explained in a chilling thread on X.
02:378 years is tight, basically.
02:40If traditional methods fail, humanity might have to resort to a last-ditch, controversial solution,
02:47nuking the asteroid, yes, you heard that right.
02:51If you put a nuclear weapon next to an asteroid, chased it through space, basically,
02:56and detonated it, it would give it an even bigger push, DR.
03:01Andrews said.
03:03If the choice was to evacuate the area or maybe use a nuke to deflect it.
03:09I imagine people are talking about that as a possibility.
03:13This would break a long-standing taboo against the use of nuclear weapons in space.
03:19But in a life-ordered scenario, would we have a choice?
03:22In 2022, NASA made history with its DART mission,
03:28successfully deflecting the asteroid Dimorphos by slamming a spacecraft into it.
03:33The impact altered Dimorphos orbit by 33 minutes, a small but significant change.
03:40However, DR.
03:43Andrews cautions that this method isn't foolproof.
03:46You don't want to deflect it so it hits somewhere else on Earth
03:51or breaks up into fragments that are still big and may hit random spots, he said.
03:57The good news?
03:592024 year 4 is smaller than Dimorphos, so a similar mission might work.
04:05But with only 8 years left,
04:08developing and launching a more powerful spacecraft would be a race against the clock.
04:13Right now, NASA is using the James Webb Space Telescope,
04:17the most powerful telescope ever built, to study 2024 year 4.
04:24Scientists hope to determine its size, composition, and exact trajectory.
04:29But here's the catch,
04:31the asteroid will soon move too far away for observation.
04:35After that, we'll have to wait until 2028 for another close approach.
04:42By then, it might be too late to act.
04:45Before you panic, remember this,
04:48there's a 97.7% chance that 2024 year 4 will miss Earth entirely.
04:54But as DR Andrews puts it,
04:58if it really starts to look like a direct hit,
05:01governments and space organizations will speed up efforts to deflect it.
05:06The world is watching.
05:09Astronomers are tracking 2024 year 4's every move,
05:13and space agencies are preparing for the worst.
05:16Will we develop a new deflection mission in time?
05:20Will we have to resort to the nuclear option?
05:24Or will the asteroid pass us by,
05:26leaving us with nothing but a cosmic close call?
05:30One thing's for sure,
05:31this story is far from over.
05:34What do you think?
05:36Should we prepare for the worst,
05:38or trust the odds?
05:40Let us know in the comments below.
05:42And don't forget to like, subscribe,
05:45and hit that notification bell for more stories
05:48that explore the boundaries of science,
05:51adventure, and the human spirit.
05:53Until next time,
05:55this is Zainab Sabir,
05:57signing off from Positive Post TV.
06:00Stay curious, stay informed,
06:02and stay positive.
06:12Stay curious,
06:13stay curious,
06:14and stay curious.
06:14and stay curious,
06:14and stay curious,
06:15and stay curious,
06:15and stay curious,
06:15and stay curious,
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