Patrick Michel: Could we deflect an asteroid?
Bruce Willis isnt as young as he used to be, so what are our chances of deflecting an asteroid? Patrick Michel, Director of Research at CNRS at the Côte d'Azur Observatory explains that even though it sounds to Hollywood to be true, asteroid deflection could soon be a reality.
Patrick is also lead scientist of ESA's #HeraMission, which is Europe's contribution to an international effort to find out. First NASA's DART spacecraft will collide with the smaller of the two Didymos near-Earth asteroids, then Hera will perform a close-up survey of the result.
Asteroids can tell us about the origins of the Solar System and maybe even life itself, but they also pose a risk to Earth as many graze past our planet on a regular basis. Find out more about the what ESA is doing to protect us through its Planetary Defence Office, part of the Space Safety programme.
