Express by Freddie Jordan 7/9/2019
A COLOSSAL, extinction-event asteroid impact with Earth “could happen†according to a top former NASA astronaut.Speaking to RT America, former International Space Station commander Leroy Chiao claimed that “of course†this “big disaster†could theoretically take place - and has done so in the past. However, reassuringly, the chances of it occurring in the near future remain “pretty small.†Mr Chiao explained: “If you look at the movies that have been made about it, it’s this big disaster.
“And, of course, it could happen.
“And we know that about 60 million years ago a very large asteroid impacted the Yucatan peninsula and probably wiped out the dinosaurs.
“And so that kind of thing can happen and does happen periodically.
“However, I think the chances of it happening are pretty small.â€
The comet that is presumed to have killed the dinosaurs is thought to have occurred 66 million years ago.
The giant space object measured between 6.8 to 50.3 miles in diameter and triggered a mass extinction event that wiped out 75 percent of plant and animal species on Earth - including all non-avian dinosaurs.
NASA’s asteroid trackers have meanwhile revealed that an asteroid with the destructive power of 2,700 megatons of explosive TNT risks slamming into the Earth later this year.
More:
https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1151014/NASA-asteroid-warning-danger-ISS-yucatan-crater-Asteroid-FT3-hit-earth-October-NASA-news
