SpaceX Shares Breathtaking Video Of Rocket Separating At 5,984 Km/h!

By Ramish Zafar
Feb 6, 2022

The first stage of the SpaceX Falcon 9 standing tall after completing the COSMO SkyMed launch at the end of January. Image: SpaceX/Twitter

Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) has shared breathtaking footage of the company's Falcon 9 rocket. The footage is from SpaceX's recent launch for the Italian Space Agency, which saw the company launch the COSMO-SkyMed earth observation satellite. The footage marks a rare occasion where color and high-definition views of the Falcon 9's two separate stages separating were captured during flight, as SpaceX managed to land the first stage booster on land as opposed to on its traditional sea-based platforms.

SpaceX Video Shows Falcon 9 Separating In Mid-Air While Travelling Faster Than A Bullet

SpaceX is the only entity in the world, public or private, that is capable of landing the first stage rocket boosters of a medium-lift launch vehicle. According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), a medium-lift rocket is one that can carry 5 to 20 tons of payload to orbit, and the Falcon 9 is capable of delivering up to 22.8 tons to orbit according to its latest specifications.

Additionally, the Falcon 9 is also one of the cheapest rockets in the world, once it has been reflown a handful of times. This is due to the rocket being able to land its first-stage booster, which allows SpaceX to massively save up on the costs of building a rocket. In fact, statements made by the company's chief executive officer Mr. Elon Musk have suggested that the bulk of the costs for a Falcon 9 launch that reuses its first stage are those for the second or upper stage, which is incapable of landing.

The SpaceX Falcon 9 as it soars to the sky to deliver the Italian Space Agency's COSMO 

SkyMed satellite earlier this week. Image: SpaceX/YouTube

During the flight, the first stage is responsible for doing most of the work of pushing the rocket's payload out of the Earth's atmosphere. During this period, the Falcon 9 travels at least as fast as 5,000 kilometers per hour, and once its main engines shut off, the first stage detaches itself from the rocket to land back on Earth.

After detaching, and once it is safely away from the second stage, the first stage then reorients itself to make sure its engines are pointing towards its landing site. Following this, its Merlin engines reignite to slow down the half-rocket to ensure that it can successfully land.



The first (left) and second (right) stages of the Falcon 9 after separating during the COSMO

The second stage, visible at the right above, then ignites its Merlin vacuum engine to continue the remainder of the journey. This engine is also capable of shutting down and reigniting, and the number of times it does so depends on the trajectory of its payloads. Payloads with destinations higher in altitude often require more thrust before they can reach their destination.

SpaceX's latest video is a rare occasion where the entire sequence of events has been captured in color, providing us with a detailed peek into what occurs in the skies after the Falcons take off. Following the stage separation, pictured above, the Merlin engine on the second stage successfully ignited, and soon afterward, the payload fairings present on the second stage also successfully separated. The payload fairing is what is dubbed in the space industry as the 'shell' surrounding a payload, and both events are also clearly visible in the video

SpaceX Melts New Rocket Engine During Test Shows Fiery Video

The Cosmo SkyMed, short for 'COnstellation of small Satellites for the Mediterranean basin Observation', is an Earth observation satellite system funded by the Italian government and intended for both civilian and military use. It is built by the French-Italian aerospace manufacturer Thales Alenia Space, and each satellite weighs roughly four tons. SpaceX launched the second of the four satellites, with the previous one having taken to the skies on a Russian Soyuz rocket last year. The remaining two are planned to fly on the ISA and Ariannespace's Vega-C rocket.

You can take a look at the full footage from SpaceX below:

The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. WCCF TECH INC has a disclosure and ethics policy.

 

 SkyMed launch. Some of the white plumes are from the first stage's cold gas thrusters which fire at pre-determined times for reorientation before its primary engines reignite. Prior to this, the rocket was traveling at 5,984 km/h according to telemetry data from SpaceX's live stream. Image: SpaceX/YouTube

Cognitive Capitalism

Carlo Vercellone

Published 2008

9 Views25 Pages

2 Files ▾

Knowledge,

Division of Labour

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HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci-entific research documents, whether they are pub-lished or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et a ̀ la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés.

‘ A starving mob has no respect’.

 Urban markets and food riots in the Roman world, 100 BC - AD 400

Paul Erdkamp

19 Pages

1 File ▾

Ancient History,

Roman History,

Food History,

Mobs, Riots, and Revolutionary Crowds                                                                                                                                             

Bakers and the Baking Trade in the Roman Empire: Social and Political Responses from the Principate to Late Antiquity

Harry Morgan

53 Pages

1 File ▾

Ancient History,

Cultural History,

Roman History,

Sociology of Work,

Social History,

Roman Economy,

Baking,

Bread History

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A baker’s funerary relief from Rome

     Published 2009

539 ViewsPaperRank: 4.824 Pages

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Rome, City of,

Roman Funerary Art

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This article presents a previously unpublished Roman travertine relief showing scenes of breadmaking, currently in the restaurant Romolo in Trastevere in Rome. It presumably came originally from a tomb monument, possibly in the vicinity, and might be dated on grounds of material and style anywhere between the very late Republic and the Flavian period. From left to right it shows two men delivering of sacks of grain, a man loading grain into an animal-driven mill, three men keading dough by hand, three more shaping loaves, and one putting loaves into the oven. The article discusses parallels in other reliefs of bakery scenes, and highlights the importance of this one for the evidence that it provides for the extent of division of labour in a fairly large-scale bakery. Despite points of comparison with other better-known bakery scenes, notably that from the tomb of Eurysaces, the narrative sequence is clearer and not directly paralleled, and the relief is the only one to show the manual kneading of dough. 

           

The First Fruits of God's Creatures: Bread, Eucharist, and the Ancient Economy

Andrew McGowan

2019, Full of Your Glory

260 ViewsPaperRank: 2.023 Pages

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Early Christianity,

Liturgical History,

Bread History

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Publication Date: 2019

Publication Name: Full of Your Glory                                                                                                                                                                          

 

Animal genomes: Chromosomes almost unchanged for over 600 million years

by University of Vienna

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

By comparing chromosomes of different animal groups scientists at the University of Vienna led by Oleg Simakov and at the University of California made an astonishing discovery: Every animal species has almost the same chromosomal units that appear over and over again—and this has been the case since the first animals emerged about 600 million years ago. Using new principles, human chromosomes can now also be dissected into these primordial "elements." The new study has just been published in the journal Science Advances.

Animal diversity is fascinating, but how is this reflected in their genetic material, the genome? Is it possible to definitely distinguish animals from one another based on genetic information, and perhaps even make predictions about how genetic information changes over time? This has been the great hope since the beginning of the "genome era" in 2000, when the human genome was sequenced for the first time. More than 20 years later, scientists now have access to technologies that can reveal the complete sequence of entire chromosomes that comprise the genome. Before, they could only study smaller fragments of chromosomes.

In their new study, the researchers compared chromosomes from different animal groups. Their conclusion: every animal species has almost the same chromosomal units. These chromosomal units, also called "elements," have remained constant in evolution, so that genomes of almost every animal can be represented exactly by listing the combinations of these basic building blocks.

Genomic diversity through mixing of these elements

Although these chromosomal elements remain constant during evolution, they can mix in different ways. The researchers succeeded in classifying these mixtures and deriving general principles that can be viewed as simple mathematical formulas. Until then, it was only possible to determine how many chromosomes an animal had, but not which ones exactly and their evolutionary history. "So now, for example, we can break down each human chromosome into its elements using algebraic notation. Then we deduce what happened to these primordial elements in different species and genera such as corals, molluscs, birds and many others, and what new chromosomes these elements had assembled into," explains molecular biologist Oleg Simakov from the University of Vienna.

Mixing of elements is irreversible

Another finding from the study: the individual chromosomal elements never return to their original, separate state once they have mixed together to form a new chromosome. "Such events are irreversible in evolution and every group of animals—from corals to humans—has such unique combinations that will forever distinguish the descendants of these groups and set these groups apart from others," Simakov said.

The researchers were also able to determine the origin of many animal chromosomal elements and show that the single-celled organisms most closely related to animals have only a few of these elements—many elements therefore only evolved in the very first animals. Why the chromosomal elements are so well conserved, what role the mixing of the elements might play in evolution and many other questions remain open and are still being researched.Unravelling the ancient stories hidden in DNA

More information: Oleg Simakov et al, Deeply conserved synteny and the evolution of metazoan chromosomes, Science Advances (2022). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abi5884. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abi5884

Journal information: Science Advances 

Provided by University of Vienna 

Martian Atmospheric Breakdown: Helicopters Flying on Mars May Glow at Dusk

By BILL STEIGERWALD, NASA GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER FEBRUARY 4, 2022

This is an artist’s concept of a glow surrounding a drone at Mars during flight. The glow, exaggerated for visibility, might happen if the drone’s spinning rotor blades generate an electric field that causes electric currents to flow in the Martian air around the craft. Although the currents generated by the drone in the atmosphere are small, they might be large enough to cause the air around the blades and other parts of the craft to glow a blue-purple color. Credit: NASA/Jay Friedlander

The whirling blades on drones flying above Mars may cause tiny electric currents to flow in the Martian atmosphere, according to a NASA study. These currents, if large enough, might cause the air surrounding the craft to glow. This process occurs naturally at much larger scales on Earth as a corona or electrical glow sometimes seen on aircraft and ships in electrical storms known as Saint Elmo’s Fire.

“The faint glow would be most visible during evening hours when the background sky is darker,” said William Farrell of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, lead author of a paper on this research published in Planetary Science Journal. “NASA’s experimental Ingenuity helicopter does not fly during this time, but future drones could be cleared for evening flight and look for this glow.”

“The electric currents generated by the fast-rotating blades on drones are too small to be a threat to the craft or the Martian environment, but they offer an opportunity to do some additional science to improve our understanding of an accumulation of electric charge called ‘triboelectric charging’,” added Farrell.

Triboelectric charging happens when friction transfers electric charge between objects, like when a person rubs a balloon against their hair or sweater. The electrified balloon will attract the person’s hair causing it to lift toward the balloon– which indicates that the balloon has developed a large electric field from the triboelectric charging process.

The team applied laboratory measurements and used computer modeling to investigate how electric charge could build up on a drone’s rotor blades. Charge buildup also happens on terrestrial helicopter blades, especially in dusty environments, so the team also used interpretations and modeling of the charging from terrestrial helicopters as a basis for understanding the Mars case.

They found that as the drone’s blades spin, they run into tiny dust grains in the Martian air, especially when the helicopter is near the surface and blowing dust around. As the blades impact the grains, charge is transferred, building up on the blades and creating an electric field. As charge builds to high levels, the atmosphere starts to conduct electricity, a process known as “atmospheric breakdown,” creating a population of electrons that form an enhanced electric current that acts to dissipate or offset the charge build-up on the rotorcraft.

The team found that breakdown begins as an invisible “electron avalanche.” Electrons are very small particles with negative electric charge. The charge makes electrons respond to electric fields – attracted to a field generated by positive charge and repelled from a field generated by negative charge. Free electrons – those not bound to an atom – in an electrically conducting material such as a copper wire are responsible for the flow of electric current. Atmospheres can have free electrons as well, and the few free electrons in the Martian air feel the force of the electric field from the rotorcraft and crash into atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) molecules. The impact liberates more electrons from CO₂ molecules, which amplifies the current.

The Martian atmosphere is extremely thin, at the surface just about one percent of the pressure of Earth’s atmosphere at sea level. This very low pressure makes breakdown more likely. On Mars, the molecules that make up the atmosphere are spaced further apart than in an atmosphere like Earth’s, since they are less dense. Think of the electric field propelling the free electrons much like a car at the start of a drag race. If there are many large obstacles along the path, the accelerating car may hit them and slow down (or stop). The collisions limit the car’s speed to remain relatively slow. However, if the obstacles are very widely spaced, that same car will now accelerate to high velocities before hitting the obstacle. Similarly, the extra space in Martian air gives free electrons a greater path for acceleration before they ‘crash’ into a molecule, so they can reach the required velocity to kick off other electrons from the CO₂ molecules and start an electron avalanche within a relatively low electric field of around 30,000 volts per meter (1 meter is about 3.3 feet). On Earth, the same electron avalanche can occur, but in the denser atmosphere, the electric fields must be much larger, about 3,000,000 volts per meter.

Although the currents generated by a drone flying in the atmosphere are small, they might be large enough to cause the air around the blades and other parts of the craft to begin the electron avalanche and possibly even glow a blue-purple color.

However, the researchers acknowledge that their result is a prediction, and sometimes nature has other plans. “In theory, there should be some effect, but whether the electron avalanche is strong enough to create a glow, and if any weak glow is observable during operations all remain to be determined in future drone flights on Mars,” says Farrell “In fact, one could even place small electrometers up near the blade and at the legs to monitor the effects of any charging. This kind of electrical monitor could be of both scientific value and provide critical input on drone health during the flight.”

Reference: “Will the Mars Helicopter Induce Local Martian Atmospheric Breakdown?” by W. M. Farrell, J. L. McLain, J. R. Marshall and A. Wang, 10 March 2021, The Planetary Science Journal.
DOI: 10.3847/PSJ/abe1c3

The research was funded by NASA under the NASA Internal Science Funding Model and its Fundamental Laboratory Research (FLaRe) program, as well as a NASA grant funded under the Solar System Workings program.

This Is Real: NASA Camera – A Million Miles Away – Shows Moon Crossing Face of Earth

By COLIN KOVARIK FEBRUARY 5, 2022

This animation features actual satellite images of the far side of the moon, illuminated by the sun, as it crosses between the DSCOVR spacecraft’s Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) and telescope, and the Earth – one million miles away. Credit: NASA/NOAA

Although it looks fake, this viral footage of the Moon orbiting Earth is actually real. It’s just not new, despite making the rounds again this week; it actually was captured over 6 years ago.

Back in 2015, a NASA camera aboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) captured this unique series of images displaying the ‘dark side’ of the moon. The ‘dark side’ of the moon is often used to refer to the hemisphere of the moon that is facing away from Earth. However, it is more properly called the ‘far side’ as it is exposed to an equal amount of sunlight as the side facing Earth. We can never view the ‘far side’ from Earth due to a phenomenon called tidal locking, which occurs when an astronomical body takes the same amount of time to complete a full rotation around its axis and fully orbit around its partner.

Although DSCOVR’s primary purpose is to monitor solar winds for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the satellite also houses NASA’s Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) which captured these images. This four-megapixel CCD camera and telescope maintains a constant view of Earth as it orbits and takes 13-22 images every day.

In order to capture Earth’s ‘natural color’, NASA combines three different monochrome exposures taken 30 seconds apart. The final combined image has a slight green offset to the right of the moon and thin blue and red offsets to the left of it which is due to the Moon’s movement between each exposure.

If you wish to view more images taken by EPIC, NASA publishes daily color images of different views of the Earth as it rotates throughout the day.

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is cooling down for its next trick: Observing the universe

By Elizabeth Howell 

published about 1 hour ago

The telescope's chief scientist discussed its nearly 40 days in space so far.

(Image credit: ESA)

It's been a whirlwind 38 days in space for the James Webb Space Telescope, but its chief scientist says the mission is well on track to uncover the universe soon.

"The telescope is cold ... the instruments are cooling," John Mather, a Nobel laureate and astrophysicist who also works at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, said during a livestreamed Explore Mars event Thursday (Feb. 3).

Webb needs to be very cold for its infrared instruments to pick up subtleties in galaxies, exoplanets and other objects it is examining, and Mather said individual photons (particles of light) are starting to register in the telescope's detectors. "No images to show you yet," he said, "but it will be soon, I hope."

Related: The James Webb Space Telescope explained in pictures

Live updates: NASA's James Webb Space Telescope mission

Mather told participants about the epic journey Webb has taken so far to a distant location known as Lagrange Point L2, which balances out several gravitational forces to allow the telescope to orbit a point in space with a minimum of fuel.

In about five more months, Webb will begin an ambitious science program covering all aspects of astrophysics, but it must pass a rigorous commissioning period first, he noted.

Right now, a key activity is aligning the 18 hexagonal elements of the primary mirror. For the time being, they are working as 18 separate telescopes, but will soon need to act as a single mirror looking at the deep universe, Mather explained.

"First, we have to find the images that all of those 18 different hexagons are making then figure out which one is which, and then start sending commands to the little motors that move the viewers around to get them in the right place," he said.

"Then surely, we get them lined up so they do a nice sharp image with a near-infrared camera. Then we have to check that the other three instruments are also in focus."

One of the instruments isn't even turned on yet (the mid-infrared instrument), so the process hasn't started yet. It will be ready about four months after the Dec. 25 launch, while the others should be available two months post-launch. "Then we're ready to start announcing our first results around the summer solstice next year," Mather said.

Mather said the images Webb produces, since they are largely in infrared, will be different than what we are used to with the long-running Hubble Space Telescope that uses different infrared wavelengths, along with visible light.

"We can see into and through the dust clouds using infrared because the infrared will go around the grains instead of bouncing off," Mather explained. So in other words, Webb will be able to peer deep into dust clouds where exoplanets are forming, or to look at the hearts of dust-filled galaxies. "It will still be beautiful pictures, but it'll be different," he noted.

Closer to home, he promised Webb will turn its attention to solar system objects like Mars or Jupiter's moon Europa, which are targets of more robotic exploration in the 2030s and beyond. Webb will also bring some attention to Earth-sized planets orbiting M-dwarf stars, which may be habitable depending on the radiation environment.

— How the James Webb Space Telescope works in pictures
— Building the James Webb Space Telescope (gallery)
— NASA's $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope launches on epic mission to study early universe

In seeking life in distant areas of the universe, Webb will not be able to give definitive answers but can give us some pointers, Mather said during the question and answer period.

"We do not expect to see oxygen with this observatory; it's too hard," he said of looking at Earth-sized planets for signs of life. "We're not looking at the correct wavelength to be able to do it. But we do expect to be seeing presence of water vapor in little planets' atmospheres."

Webb may also be able to assist with dating stars in globular clusters, Mather said in response to another question, that would help us with understanding stellar ages and the evolution of the universe at large. Examples of other forthcoming investigations he pointed to included looking at young solar systems in nebulas or gas clouds, and using supernovas to assess the expansion rate of the universe.

How a Magnetic 'Tug-of-War' With Io's Volcanic Eruptions Creates Jupiter's Auroras

(NASA, ESA, and J. Nichols/University of Leicester)
SPACE

MORGAN MCFALL-JOHNSEN, BUSINESS INSIDER
5 FEBRUARY 2022

Jupiter's auroras – the lights that dance around its poles – are the most distinct in our solar system and over a thousand times brighter than Earth's aurora. Now, a new study confirms that these otherworldly polar lights come from a unique source: space lava.

Jupiter's moon Io is the most volcanically active world in the solar system. Its more than 400 active volcanoes regularly shoot lava dozens of miles high, where it falls into Jupiter's orbit and becomes plasma – "a soup of electrically charged material," astronomer James O'Donoghue told Insider.

That space-lava-turned-plasma is then swept up in Jupiter's powerful magnetic field, which channels it to the planet's poles. There, the electrically charged particles interact with gases in the atmosphere to create aurora lights.

This was the reigning theory for two decades.

"The science was rather settled," said O'Donoghue, who studies giant planets' upper atmospheres at Japan's space agency, but was not involved in the new study.

NASA's Juno mission threw that theory into question once it arrived at the giant planet in 2016. The Jupiter-scouting spacecraft didn't find any signs of electric currents at the poles.

"It has been a tense few years in our community trying to figure out what is going on," O'Donoghue said.

Research published last month from the University of Leicester confirms the original theory and unites it with Juno's findings. Scientists gathered observations from the Hubble Space Telescope, which charted the brightness of Jupiter's auroras, and compared them with Juno measurements of the planet's magnetic field and electrical currents traveling through it.


"I nearly fell off my chair when I saw just how clear the connection is," Jonathan Nichols, an astronomer at the University of Leicester who lead the new study, said in a press release.

The results confirm the relationship between Io's volcanic eruptions, electrical currents in Jupiter's magnetic field, and the aurora – but the Juno measurements paint a more complicated picture than the initial theory.
Space lava takes a loop-the-loop ride around Jupiter

The study, published in the January edition of the Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, describes the process as a tug-of-war between Jupiter's magnetic field and Io's space-lava plasma.

Jupiter's magnetic field initially pushes the plasma away from the planet, but as the material travels further away, it can't orbit fast enough to maintain distance.

Instead, it travels along Jupiter's magnetic field lines, back toward the planet's poles, cycling through Jupiter's upper atmosphere.

(Emma Bunce, Stanley Cowley, Jonathan Nichols/University of Leicester)

Above: Illustration of the mechanism behind Jupiter's 'tug-of-war' – the delicate current cycle driven by Jupiter's rapid rotation and the release of sulfur and oxygen from volcanoes on its moon, Io.

Other planets orbiting other stars – many of them similar to Jupiter – could have their own auroras. Their magnetic fields could behave in similar ways to Jupiter's.


Astronomers have observed auroras on seven planets in our own solar system. They seem to be common, but Jupiter's are exceptionally powerful, partially thanks to Io's volcanoes.

Juno, which is still flying around Jupiter and its moons, could tell scientists even more about the planet's stunning auroras.

As O'Donoghue put it, the relationship between Io's volcanoes and Jupiter's aurora "is one of the most fascinating aspects of the solar system."

This article was originally published by Business Insider.

DON'T LOOK UP!
Humanity could avoid asteroid apocalypse using nukes, scientists reveal


Harry Pettit, Deputy Technology and Science Editor
2:30 ET, Feb 5 2022

IN THE sci-fi comedy "Don't Look Up", humanity has just six months to avert the destruction of Earth by a 10-kilometre wide asteroid.

The movie satirises the global response to climate change, but it raises the question: Would we survive if we spotted a planet-killer at the last minute?

2Leo DiCaprio as Dr. Randall Mindy in 'Don't Look Up'Credit: AP

In a recent study, scientists at the University of California analysed how mankind might swerve extinction-by-asteroid.

Just like the plot of the Netflix hit, they gave their hypothetical protagonists just half a year's notice before an impact by a 10km comet.

The team concluded that the best means of survival would involve training thousands of the world's nukes at it – and crossing our fingers.

"Our reason for writing the paper was to ask: 'Could one prevent a catastrophe of this nature'," lead author Philip Lubin, a professor of physics at UC Santa Barbara, told The Sun.

"It's a serious attempt to look at whether humanity has reached a point where we could prevent what happened to the dinosaurs 65million years ago."

In the paper, published last week on the Arxiv database, Prof. Lubin and a colleague first analyse the impact that such a collision would have on Earth.

A 10km asteroid would likely wipe out almost all life on our planet, causing the temperature of our atmosphere to rocket to 300C.

Given a timescale of several years, Nasa's preferred method to avert such a catastrophe involves using a spacecraft to deflect the incoming object.


However, diverting a rock of planet-killing size with a few months' notice simply wouldn't be possible, Prof. Lubin says.

His analysis shows that the only viable option in that scenario would be a nuclear strike.

"What we point out is that we easily possess enough nuclear devices to take apart a large object like the one in 'Don't Look Up'," Prof. Lubin told The Sun.

"Our nuclear arsenals are designed to essentially threaten other nations – but those same devices could be used to protect us."

The paper suggests that it would be possible to "take apart" the object with a thousand javelin-shaped "penetrators" loaded with nuclear warheads – less than 10 per cent of the world's current arsenal.

They could be launched on one of two deep-space rockets currently under development: SpaceX's Starship and Nasa's Space Launch System (SLS).

Both spacecraft are still in development but are due to liftoff on their first spaceflights in the coming months.

The explosions would peel away layers of the space rock like an onion, breaking it into smaller parts.


There's just one problem: The blasts would lead to the creation of radioactive debris that would then rain down on Earth.

While it's a grim scenario, it's far better than simply accepting our fate at the hands of an enormous space rock, Prof. Lubin says.

"In the case of a 10km asteroid, you're talking about an existential threat that's going to kill billions of people," he explained.

"You can say 'but, I'm really worried about the radiation [created by a nuclear defence strategy]', but also just die."

Earth's last major extinction event was the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs.

It's believed to have measured about 12 km across and obliterated up to 80 per cent of all life on Earth.

Since then, our planet has been battered by a number of smaller, unwelcome celestial guests – including the Chelyabinsk meteor.

At just 20 metres wide, the space rock injured 1,500 people and smashed the windows of 7,000 buildings when it exploded over central Russia in 2013.


Prof. Lubin says that, given the frequency with which the Earth is hit by space rocks, we need strategies in place to deal with whatever's thrown at us.

"It's the nature of our natural world that we get hit by comets and asteroids because there are many around," he said.

"There are big things out there that, if they did hit us, it would be catastrophic.

"On the other hand, there are a lot of smaller things out there, some of which are of similar size to the Chelyabinsk meteor, which are not existential threats, but they could potentially kill a lot of people."


2Researchers explored whether humanity could avert the impact of an asteroid the size of the one that wiped out the dinosaurs 65million years agoCredit: Getty

In other news, a four-tonne chunk of a SpaceX rocket is on a collision course with the Moon, according to online space junk trackers.

Boeing has sunk $450million into a flying taxi startup that hopes to whisk passengers across cities by the end of the decade.

Personalised smart guns, which can be fired only by verified users, may finally become available to U.S. consumers this year.

And, scientists are embarking on a mission to unravel the mystery behind dozens of grisly child mummies buried in an underground tomb in Sicily.