Website design By BotEap.comMany asteroids are considered to be very porous rock piles and many comets are made mostly of loosely connected ice or debris, at least that’s what we think, or what astronomers and scientists tell us it is. Even if we’ve visited or flown nearby asteroids with spacecraft in the past taking high-definition pictures, that doesn’t mean we’re sure what they’re made of; Likewise, following a comet and collecting debris from its tail doesn’t tell you what it’s all made of either.

Website design By BotEap.comWorse still, let’s not be naive to think that meteorite samples found here, our moon, or even on Mars tell the whole story, and yes, it does matter. Consider if you like, a vaguely large asteroid could break into 10,000 pieces if it hits our atmosphere on a shallow slope. Yes, some of those pieces will make it to the Earth’s surface without burning up as they enter our atmosphere.

Website design By BotEap.comIf a comet made mostly of ice broke up and escaped our atmosphere in the past, now all we have is water to show for it, and maybe if one hits us, anything in the center maybe on the ocean floor now . in which case it’s now buried under sediment, maybe 100 million years of sediment? In fact, since most of our surface is covered in water, we most likely would not have found it. If one fell on Earth, the crater might as well have been buried, with vegetation and soil on top of it now.

Website design By BotEap.comIn an interesting article titled; “Asteroid Density, Porosity, and Structure”, by D. T. Britt, D. Yeomans, K. Housen, and G. Consolmagno, stated that: “Analysis of density trends suggests that asteroids fall into three general groups: ( 1) asteroids that are essentially solid objects, (2) asteroids with ~20% macroporosity that are likely to be highly fractured, and (3) asteroids with >30% macroporosity that are loosely consolidated “rubble-pile” structures.”

Website design By BotEap.comWhy is this important? Well, consider if a large asteroid is headed for Earth and is discovered early enough to do something about it. Macroporosity is paramount, as is microporosity in understanding how well it will break up, and we know that asteroids are not guaranteed to have the same consistency every time.

Website design By BotEap.comWhy do I mention this? Because our think tank is working on solutions to defeat the next big rock that could make humans extinct, and we need to know what we’re up against, and just looking at rock samples here on Earth, well that could help guess, but that doesn’t give us the full answer. Please consider all of this.

Website design By BotEap.comAdditional reference:

Website design By BotEap.com“The Density and Porosity of Meteorites in the Vatican Collection”, by GJ Consolmagno and DT Britt, published in Journal of Meteoritics & Planetary Science, Vol. 33, no. 6, p. 1231-1241. (BC: 1998M&PD…33.1231C).