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Asteroids made of "rubble" might be very, very hard to destroy, astronomers say - Salon

Asteroids made of "rubble" might be very, very hard to destroy, astronomers say - Salon

Asteroids made of
Feb 01, 2023 58 secs

According to new research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences(PNAS), led by planetary scientist Fred Jourdan from Curtin University in Australia, rubble pile asteroids are more durable (and common) than previously thought, possibly changing the way scientists think about potential planetary defense measures.

In the study, Jourdan and his colleagues looked at the origin, composition and durability of rubble pile asteroids thanks to the Japanese Space Agency's (JAXA) Hayabusa 1 probe sample-return mission.

As you may recall, JAXA collected samples from an asteroid named Itokawa in 2005 — and despite numerous setbacks to bring them back to Earth — they succeeded in 2010.

Over a decade later, using a technique called electron backscattered diffraction, Jourdan and his team were able to determine if the returned particles of Itokawa had previously been impacted in space.

This new discovery could be why the team of researchers discovered that Itokawa is so old — an estimated 4.2 billion years old, which is nearly the same age as our own solar system.

"So if the asteroid starts to be pushed by kinetic impact say three years before it collides with Earth, no problem; DART-like devices can do it," Jourdan said.

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