Relax: An asteroid will just miss hitting Earth. But our actions could still have a deep impact GlobeDebate
Michael Byers holds the Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law. Aaron Boley holds the Canada Research Chair in Planetary Astronomy. Both are at the University of British Columbia, where they co-direct the Outer Space Institute.
The bad news: asteroids do hit the Earth. Most harmlessly break into pieces as they enter Earth’s atmosphere, but even a relatively small asteroid can damage property and injure people. In 2013, a 17-meter-wide asteroid sent 1,500 people to hospital in Chelyabinsk, Russia, most of them injured by flying glass from broken windows.
In contrast, a 500-metre-wide asteroid would carry the energy of 500,000 Hiroshima-sized bombs, enough to cause continent-wide destruction. Asteroids this size strike the Earth about once every 100,000 years. Entrepreneurs and investors, meanwhile, are already eyeing natural resources such as platinum, cobalt and tungsten that may exist on these asteroids. They are especially interested in ice and water-bearing minerals that could be used to produce rocket fuel that, being sourced in space, will not need to be lifted – at great expense – out of Earth’s heavy gravity.
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