The Earth is now on the threat from an asteroid named BENNU. NASA is planning to destroy the asteroid BENNU with the help of is very own spacecraft named HAMMER.
HAMMER or Hypervelocity Asteroid Mitigation Mission for Emergency Response which is designed to save the Earth from a possible threat in future from asteroid BENNU. It was discovered during 1999 and currently coming near us at a whopping speed of 63,000 miles per hour. The asteroid is 54 miles from the Earth, but it was estimated that on September 21, 2135, BENNU might hit the Earth with a probability of 1 in 2,700 chances.
This incident may have a slight chance of hitting the Earth, and the size of the BENNU is not big enough to pose an extinction level threat to the Earth. However, experts are preparing for the future in which another asteroid like BENNU may hit the Earth and is capable of destroying the human race.
HAMMER is prepared jointly by NASA, the national Security Administrative and Weapons labs from the Energy Department. The main objective of the HAMMER is, if the asteroid is small in size then the spacecraft will be used to crash in the asteroid and change its course. If the asteroid is too big, then HAMMER will carry nuclear head and will crash into the asteroid to have a big impact. As a result, the asteroid will get diverted from its course or get destroyed.
The main problems which are arising are about the estimating the perfect trajectory of the asteroid so that the HAMMER can hit them at an accuracy. The trajectory of the asteroid gets affected by many factors in the space. Binzel said that the top priority of the NASA should be in detecting the dangerous asteroid that poses a threat to the Earth so that it will be easy for the HAMMER to destroy that asteroid.
