China Plans Asteroid Defense Mission with High-Speed Impact
Quick Look
- China's planetary defense mission aims to alter an asteroid's orbit or break its structure with a spacecraft impact at over 9km/s.
- The mission, led by Li Mingtao of CNSA, is expected to target an asteroid near Earth in 2029 or 2030.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
China's planetary defense mission aims to directly alter an asteroid’s orbit relative to Earth or even break up its structure. The spacecraft is designed to hit its target at over 9km per second.
It aims to directly alter an asteroid’s orbit relative to Earth, “or even break up its structure”, according to a team led by Li Mingtao, chief scientist for planetary defence at the China National Space Administration.
The spacecraft was expected to hit its target at more than 9km (5.6 miles) per second – compared with Dart’s 6.1km/s – during a close approach to within about 7 million km of Earth in 2029 or 2030, the paper said.
The paper is under peer review by the Chinese-language Journal of Deep Space Exploration.
The impact speed is equivalent to over 26 times the speed of sound near sea level.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
The spacecraft will hit its target during a close approach to Earth.
Likely · Within years
