Planetary defense

What If an Asteroid Was Going to Hit Earth? NASA Will Make Believe This Week

What would we do if we knew an asteroid would hit Earth in 2027? That's what NASA personnel will explore during a simulation taking place next week.

The project will play out as a tabletop exercise held during the 2019 Planetary Defense Conference in College Park, Maryland. NASA asteroid experts have prepared a fictional scenario in which scientists identify an asteroid that seems poised to crash into Earth in 2027. They'll talk through how to determine what regions face what risks and how to respond — all in the hopes that if they ever face a similar situation in real life, they'll be ready for it.

"These exercises have really helped us in the planetary defense community to understand what our colleagues on the disaster management side need to know," Lindley Johnson, NASA's Planetary Defense Officer, said in a statement. "This exercise will help us develop more effective communications with each other and with our governments."

You'll be able to watch the Planetary Defense Conference live here, beginning Monday, April 29, at 8 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT), courtesy of NASA. You can watch directly from NASA and its partners here.