Could we be clobbered by an asteroid?
An asteroid nearly the size of a football field was, at one point, on track to possibly impact Earth in 2032. It was first discovered using a telescope in Chile as part of a planetary defense strategy led by NASA and other international agencies. The mission involves surveying the sky to detect and track potentially hazardous asteroids. While the discovery raised some alarms initially, the chances of it impacting Earth are now slim to none.
According to Addie Dove, a planetary scientist and associate professor in the department of physics at the University of Central Florida, “A 0.01% chance is actually very small. So, statistically, it’s unlikely to hit us.”
She explained that when scientists first detected the asteroid, they had very little information about its exact path. At first, they calculated a 2-3% chance of it hitting Earth, which seemed high compared to most space objects that usually have much lower chances.
However, as they gathered more data, they were able to better predict the orbit and get a clearer idea as to where it was headed. After further observations, they confirmed that while the asteroid will cross Earth's orbit, it won’t collide with the planet. As more accurate data came in, the chances of impact kept decreasing.
However, scientists are still not sure exactly how big the asteroid is because they don’t know how much sunlight it reflects. When they look at asteroids, they appear as bright dots, but to accurately measure their actual size depends on how reflective they are. To get a better idea, scientists collect data using different types of light.
Currently, scientists estimate the asteroid to be between 50 and 100 meters wide, roughly the size of a football field. This makes it much larger than the small car- or truck-sized objects that typically burn up in Earth’s atmosphere without causing any harm.
According to UCF’s Josh Cowell, “if an asteroid of this size were to hit land, it could cause significant destruction, similar to the impact that created Meteor Crater in Arizona. However, if it were to strike Earth, it would most likely land in the ocean.”
If an asteroid of this size were to hit, the impact would cause severe, local devastation. The aftermath could last for days, weeks, or even months, with atmospheric changes similar to those caused by a major volcanic eruption, like the Tonga eruption.
The Tonga eruption, a massive underwater volcanic event in January 2022, was one of the most powerful in recent history. It sent ash, gas, and steam into the atmosphere and triggered tsunamis that impacted coastal regions across the Pacific. The eruption caused widespread damage, including communication disruptions and ash fall in nearby areas, which effects felt globally.
Dove explained that if it were to strike in the ocean, it wouldn’t directly hit a city, but it could also trigger tsunamis that might affect coastal areas. However, if it were on course to hit land, scientists would likely detect it in advance, allowing time for evacuations and other safety measures.
The world’s first moon data center
At the cutting edge of data protection, Lonestar Data Holdings Inc. is reshaping the future of secure data storage by launching a new era of resilient infrastructure that promises to safeguard our digital world, off the planet. The company is starting with the moon.
Lonestar is a pioneering data center and services company working to protect all our data by providing the world with a new critical layer of resilient infrastructure.
Chris Stott, the founder, chair and CEO of Lonestar, built his company on the motto: "Saving Earth's data, one bit at a time." He described the idea that data is one of the most important aspects of society, aside from humans themselves, because it gives us our technological civilization.
Stott explained that he is collaborating with Fasion, the world’s leading provider of thumb drives and solid-state devices through their Pascari brand. “For this mission, we’re sending eight terabytes of commercial drives into space to test their performance in the harsh conditions of radiation and the cold vacuum of space,” he said.
These are the same drives that are active on Mars, in the Mars Rovers and on helicopters. Now, they are on the moon.
Stott explains that operating data centers in space has key advantages over traditional Earth-based data centers. On Earth, data centers require a lot of power and produce significant heat, making cooling one of their biggest operational costs.
In space, however, they benefit from natural cooling due to the cold vacuum and can generate power efficiently using solar energy from the sun.
Stott said Lonestar has successfully met commercial milestones on their journey to the moon, completing edge processing and disaster recovery tasks for all their customers multiple times.
They've also handled unexpected challenges. These accomplishments have been made possible thanks to their dedicated team, their partner Intuitive Machines, and a strong collaboration.
"We're creating a service that backs up premium and mission-critical data," said Stott. "This service is for our government, corporations, citizens, and even NGOs."
