Levon Azizyan, director of the Center for Hydrometeorology and Monitoring, wrote on his Facebook page that China’s State Administration of Defense Science, Technology and Industry is recruiting for positions in planetary defense against asteroid 2024 YR4, which could hit Earth in 2032.
The South China Morning Post reported that a few weeks after the asteroid was discovered, the Center for Special Projects of China’s State Administration of Defense Science, Technology, and Industry published a recruitment notice listing three vacancies for planetary defense positions.
The newspaper notes that the center, responsible for aerospace engineering research and Earth observation, recruits graduates to study asteroid monitoring and develop early warning methods.
The National Center for Space Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences told China Science Daily yesterday that the probability of 2024 YR4 colliding with Earth will be dynamically adjusted as orbital observation data accumulates. At the same time, scientists have until April of this year to conduct observations of the asteroid, after which the next window of opportunity will open only in 2028, when the asteroid will approach Earth again.
If the asteroid does hit Earth, the most likely scenario is that it will fall into the ocean. If this happens in the open sea, there will be no significant impact on people. However, if it falls close to the coastline, it could lead to the formation of a tsunami that could affect coastal cities. If the asteroid falls on land, the shock wave caused by its disintegration in the air, thermal radiation, and light radiation can destroy an area the size of a medium-sized city.
Currently, the most advanced technical means of protecting against such asteroids is to launch a spacecraft that will collide with the asteroid at high speed, forcing it to change its orbit and fly past the Earth. In addition, technical methods such as gravitational attraction and laser ablation of asteroids are also being studied today.
