Land in Apophis
As if back to the era of space fever in the last century, following the launch of the Dart satellite in the United States, South Korea has once again moved to the asteroid, and recently the South Korean side announced that it would land on the Apophis asteroid in early 2029 and bring back samples. But landing on an asteroid is not so easy, and what kind of difficulties will South Korea encounter in the process? Why is South Korea so intent on developing space technology? What kind of satellite is Apophis that is worth spending a lot of money on?
The Egyptian god of destruction
First of all, let's talk about the Apophis asteroid, the first time you hear this name, you may think it is quite a normal name, it seems that there is nothing special. But it also has another alias, "Destroy God Star", the destruction of "Destroy God" means that it is destructive, and who is the God it wants to destroy, I really don't know, is it the earth, or the human beings on the earth? What do you think? It is such a dangerous planet that will reach the eastern hemisphere of the Earth by April 2029 and has a 2.7% chance of contact with the Earth, and it is not known whether anyone knows how the 2.7% is calculated.
So, prepare for the worst, if the earthlings really win the jackpot, only a 2.7% chance of being hit, how powerful can it be? First, it has a diameter of 0.37 km and a weight of up to 600 tons, and according to professional estimates, if the planet descends on the earth's surface, it can release the energy released by the equivalent of 1.53 billion tons of TNT explosives, that is, the amount of an atomic bomb, and if it falls into a densely populated low area, the consequences are unimaginable. Therefore, Apophis caused quite a stir as soon as he was discovered.
How to log in
So how do scientists solve this problem? There are currently two solutions to the problem of how to "branch out" an asteroid, one is to change its orbit through gravity, and the other is to directly blow up. The Dart satellite launched by NASA not long ago is an experiment to change the orbit of the asteroid, and it is believed that once successful, it will be able to accumulate experience for this operation. It is difficult to blow it up directly, firstly because we do not understand its structure, and secondly, there is no suitable weapon to destroy it perfectly in space.
How to change
But either way, a lander is needed, and it's hard to succeed without understanding the condition of the asteroid. However, landing on an asteroid is not simple, and at present, only China, the United States and other countries with early start in space technology and strong financial resources can successfully study. Landing on an asteroid will mainly encounter two difficulties.
One is not familiar with the asteroid's environment, the asteroid is different from the Earth, its weight is too small relative to such a behemoth as the Earth, so gravity is almost equal to nothing, once the speed and landing method are not adjusted, it is easy to cause the login to lose control. Second, because of the complex surface situation of the asteroid, when Japan launched Hayabusa-1, it had no experience, so that the satellite was directly lost for 3 hours after landing. The south Korean trip is also facing an unknown situation, and it is estimated that it is also ill-fated.
Hardcore technology
Second, the technical requirements are extremely high, the development of planetary landers is not a matter of spending money, although Japan has become the first country to harvest the soil of the asteroid, but such achievements are essentially the result of multinational cooperation, not Japan alone, so the activity must require multinational cooperation to succeed, relying on South Korea alone is almost impossible. On the other hand, south Korea not only started late in space technology, but also developed a landed spacecraft for the first time, and presumably Korean scientists are also headaches.
This article summarizes
But fortunately, now there is no need to worry about the planet may hit the earth, after the scientists again discussed and studied, using the latest and most accurate data to calculate the surface, the threat of "Destroying God" no longer exists, this is because its probability of hitting the earth has been almost zero, not as large as a satellite of the same height. Therefore, the purpose of this trip to South Korea is only an experiment, but more to compete with Japan and other countries in space technology and expand their influence.