An Irish space expert has confirmed the possibility of an asteroid smashing into earth, just like in Oscar-nominated movie Don’t Look Up.
Dr Ruth Freeman of State body Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) claims the nightmare scenario that would obliterate Earth could happen.
But she has assured the public that the world’s space age technology means any life-threatening asteroid hurtling towards us could be blown out of the sky.
In fact, Dr Freeman insisted that the potential threat from huge a space rock would be spotted “decades before” impact and could simply be knocked off course.
She said: “We are monitoring the sky all the time.”
A planet-killing asteroid that is nine-kilometres wide is seen plummeting to Earth in the apocalyptic Hollywood blockbuster Don’t Look Up, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence.
Dr Freeman, who is director of Science for Society at SFI, said: “The chance of us being bit by one is very small, but some things are hitting us from space all the time.
“The film Don’t Look Up, where scientists do find this huge asteroid hurtling towards Earth, has prompted planetary scientists to [examine] what could happen and what could we do if there was an enormous 10km-wide asteroid heading for us, as in the film.
“It’s reassuring in some ways that we do probably have the technology to deal with it.
“Even if it was very close before we spotted it, we do have the technology, like in the film, to penetrate the rock and break it into small pieces that would then burn up in the atmosphere.”
She added: “We are monitoring the skies all the time. The reality, hopefully, is that we would see something about to hit the planet decades before it would hit us.
“So, rather than the dramatic blowing up, we are looking at other technologies to allow us to maybe nudge something with a spacecraft to change its trajectory when it is still very far away from us.”
Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) was established in 2000 after the Government had commissioned a 1998 study to explore biotechnology and communications technology as future growth areas for the economy.
SFI was then established on a statutory basis in July 2003 under the Industrial Development (Science Foundation Ireland) Act.
Its awards support scientists in the fields of biotechnology and communications technology.
Dr Freeman was appointed director of Science for Society in 2018 after joining in 2006, following a successful career a researcher at Trinity College Dublin, where she earned PhD and Bachelor degrees in genetics.
