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How to Kill an Asteroid: The Real Science of Planetary Defense
Hardcover
Technology & EngineeringAstronomy & SpacePhysics
Publisher Price: $29.99
ISBN13: 9781324050193
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: Oct 1 2024
Pages: 336
Weight: 1.15
Height: 1.20 Width: 6.50 Depth: 9.40
Language: English
There are approximately 25,000 city killer asteroids in near-Earth orbit--and most are yet to be found. Small enough to evade detection, they are capable of large-scale destruction, and represent our greatest cosmic threat. But in September 2022, against all odds, NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission deliberately crashed a spacecraft into a carefully selected city killer, altering the asteroid's orbit and proving that we stand a chance against them.
In How to Kill an Asteroid, award-winning science journalist Robin George Andrews--who was at DART mission control when it happened--reveals the development of the technology that made it possible, from spotting elusive asteroids and comets to figuring out their geologic defenses and orchestrating a deflection campaign. In a propulsive narrative that reads like a sci-fi thriller, Andrews tells the story of the planetary defense movement, and introduces the international team of scientists and engineers now working to protect Earth.
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