In a recent alert that has captured the attention of both the scientific community and the general public, renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has sounded the alarm over a “mansion-sized” asteroid, 2024-YR4, that is more likely to collide with Earth.
This warning comes when NASA has doubled its assessment of the asteroid’s impact probability.
Asteroid 2024-YR4, described by Tyson as a “city-killer” due to its potential for catastrophic damage, measures between 130 to 300 feet in width.
Initially, this asteroid was given a 1% chance of impact; however, following further observations, NASA estimated the probability to be around 2.3%.
The potential collision date is set for December 22, 2032, nearly doubling the previous odds from when it was first identified as a threat in December of the last year.
Neil deGrasse Tyson, known for engagingly communicating complex astronomical concepts, took to social media to emphasize the urgency of the situation.
His message was clear: “At the moment, mansion-sized Asteroid 2024-YR4 has a one-in-fifty chance of hitting Earth in the next eight years.
Now might be a bad time to reduce spending on Science. Just sayin’.”
His call to action highlights the critical role that scientific research plays in planetary defense, especially at a time when federal funding for science has faced significant cuts.
NASA, always vigilant about near-Earth objects (NEOs), has been tracking this asteroid since it was first spotted approximately 27 million miles away from Earth.
The agency’s Asteroid Watch program, which monitors NEOs, has been instrumental in updating the public and the scientific community about the changing probabilities.
Despite the increase in impact odds, NASA has reassured that methods like the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) have been successfully tested to alter an asteroid’s trajectory, offering hope for potential deflection if needed.
This scenario underscores the broader implications of asteroid monitoring and planetary defense.
With the National Science Foundation (NSF) facing drastic budget cuts, the timing of this asteroid threat could not be more critical.
The NSF, which is pivotal for funding non-medical scientific research in the U.S., has been told to prepare for significant staff and funding reductions, which could hamper efforts to study further and mitigate such cosmic threats.
