Asteroid destroyed New York in one of the latest simulations.

After the destruction of the French Riviera in 2013,the destruction of Dacca in 2015 and the rescue of Tokyo in 2017, in the framework of an international simulation of the asteroid's fall, New York was turned into ruins. Despite the fact that the simulation required eight years of preparation, scientists and engineers tried, but were not able to repel a devastating blow. In general, this exercise has become commonplace in the international community of “planetary defense” experts.

Asteroid destroys New York: simulation

Last edited nearWashington with the following installation: an asteroid is found approximately from 100 to 300 meters in diameter, and according to preliminary calculations, its chance to get into the Earth on April 29, 2027 is approximately 1%.

Every day during the conference about 200Astronomers, engineers, and emergency response specialists received new information, made decisions, and waited for further updates from the game organizers, developed by NASA's aerospace engineer.

As the simulations took placefictitious months, the likelihood of a giant space stone crashing into Earth increased to 10 percent, and then to 100. In 2021, NASA launches a probe to carefully examine the threat. In December of the same year, astronomers confirmed that it was an asteroid being sent directly to the Denver area and that this city in the western United States would be destroyed.

The largest space powers of the world are the USA,Europe, Russia, China and Japan - decide to build six "kinetic drummers", probes designed to strike an asteroid in order to change its trajectory.

To collect the drummers and waitA suitable startup window, it took time. The launch of shells is scheduled for August 2024. Three of them managed to hit the target. The main body was reflected, but a small fragment broke off and continued moving along a deadly path; this time to the east of the USA.

Washington decides to send nucleara bomb to reflect a 60-meter stone — repeating the successful strategy that saved Tokyo last year — but the solution is not supported by political differences.

It remains only to prepare for the strike.

Six months before the impact, the experts could only assume that the asteroid was heading for the New York area. Two months before the strike, it was confirmed that the city would be destroyed.

Evacuation!

The asteroid enters the atmosphere at a speed of 69,000 kilometers per hour and explodes 15 kilometers above Central Park.

The energy of the explosion will be 1000 times more powerful than a nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

Within a radius of 15 kilometers will not survive anything.

Manhattan will be completely destroyed. Within a radius of 45 kilometers, windows will be smashed, and the destruction will extend 68 kilometers from the epicenter.

Questions that raises such a scenario, a great many.

How do authorities evacuate ten million people? Moving people to a safe place even during hurricanes has proven difficult.

"Two months may not be enough toto evacuate for real, because you are evacuating people who have settled down, who will have to rebuild life where they are going. There will be many dissatisfied citizens. ”

Who will pay? Who will take refugees? How will the authorities protect everything from nuclear and chemical installations to works of art? How will people behave in the face of the end of the world script?

"If you knew that your house would be destroyedin six months and that you will not return again, would you continue to repay the loan? ”, asks Victoria Andrews, deputy NASA planetary defense officer.

Participants discussed insurance and legal issues for a long time. The United States saved Denver. But accidentally destroyed New York.

“In this situation, according to international law,The United States, regardless of its degree of blame, as the launching state, will absolutely be obliged to pay compensation, ”says Alissa Haddaji, coordinator of a group of 15 international space lawyers set up specifically to study these issues.

The fictional killer asteroid is, of course, “extremely unlikely,” said Paul Chodas, a NASA engineer who developed the game. "But we wanted the problems to open up and spark a discussion."

The next simulation exercise will be held in 2021 in Vienna.

What do you think, what city will be attacked next time? Offer an option in our chat room in Telegram.