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Russian specialists will create a sattelite for the study of dangerous asteroid.. / May 20, 2010 /

Russian specialists will create a sattelite for the study of dangerous asteroid. / May 20, 2010 /

Russian specialists from the NGO behalf Lavochkin develop a satellite to study the asteroid Apophis-99942. This was at a scientific seminar, which took place at JSC «Russian space systems,» said Director of IKI, Academician Lev Matveevich Green. Briefly describe the outcome of the workshop site Roskosmos.

Apophis-99942 — asteroid about 270 meters (according to other estimates, up to 400 meters) — is moving closer to Earth periodically. After 19 years it will take place at a minimum distance from the planet — about 37,5 thousand kilometers, but astronomers believe that the probability of collision of the asteroid with the Earth in 2029 to zero. Just over fears of experts is in 2036, when Apophis-99942 again perilously close to the Earth. Astronomers estimate the chances of a collision as 1 to 250 thousand (0.000004 percent).

Green noted that the impact of the meeting of our planet with Apophis can be very serious, and the destruction may be several times exceed the devastation caused by the fall of the Tunguska meteorite.

Earlier, the head of Federal Space Agency Anatoly Perminov said that the Federal Space Agency intends to not only learn, 99942 Apophis, but also to create a spaceship that could protect the Earth from this and other potentially hazardous asteroids. Perminov did not say exactly how the ship would prevent a collision with celestial bodies, and approximately when it will be created.

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