China set to shoot projectile at asteroid in space by 2030. Will it threaten Earth?

To make a mark in the world of space science, China has now planned to strike an asteroid to deflect it by 2030, on the pretext of planetary defence.

The scientists have said that the mission has a dual purpose - the asteroid will be impacted by one spacecraft and its partner will make observations of the space rock to understand more about the solar system and its formation.

As per the reports, thenear-Earth object(NEO) 2015 XF261 - which is a 100-foot-wide (30-metre)asteroid - is most probably the selected target of the China National Space Administration(CNSA) mission.

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According to the database of NASA'sJet Propulsion Laboratory(JPL), asteroid 2015 XF261 had made a relatively close flyby to Earthon Tuesday (July 9). It was at a distance of 31 million miles (50 million kilometres) from Earth.

The space rock whizzed at a speed of around 26,000 mph (42,000 kph), which was 30 times faster than the speed of sound.

NASA's DART to pave way for Chinese mission

It was reported by the nonprofit Planetary Society that the proposed 2015 XF261-targeting mission was discussed in a recent paper in theJournal of Deep Space Exploration.

"For China's first near-Earth asteroid defence on-orbit verification mission, a defensive disposal demonstration will be carried out on the potential risk of near-Earth asteroids impacting the Earth," stated the study.

"The scientific objectives of the on-orbit verification ofasteroid defenceand its specific scientific exploration mission will be designed and proposed," it added.

"A scientific payload demand analysis will be carried out, and payload configuration plans and exploration mission requirements will be proposed to provide a decision-making basis for the future implementation of asteroid defence missions," researchers wrote.

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China is set to follow in the footsteps of NASA's planetary defence mission - theDouble Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) - which deflected a small body in theDidymos binary asteroid system in September 2022.

It is difficult to say if the asteroid will be safely deflected or if our Earth will face some impact, in case the process goes wrong. One cannotforget the mounting evidence which suggestshow an asteroid hitting the planet Earth led to the extinction of the dinosaurs.

(With inputs from agencies)