The most effective asteroids monitoring system may be created till 2020 in Russia. Nowadays there are three asteroids danger monitoring and prediction systems in Russia: the first belongs to the Department of Defense, the second - to Russian Academy of Sciences, and the third one, which serves for artificial extraterrestrial objects monitoring, is being created in Roscosmos. "They are to be united. It will be good if till 2020 we create an effective asteroids monitoring system", - the head of Roscosmos says. "We should make the first step: learn to reveal asteroids, - he explains. – Now the scientists can monitor only a little part of what is flying in the space and what can threaten the Earth".
Russian specialists, according to the head of Space Agency, in the scope of their plans of asteroids danger studying, are going to hang a radio beacon on the asteroid Apophis. "Some astronomers state, that in 2036 Apophis can threaten the Earth greatly. But in order to understand it, scientists should accurately calculate the asteroid’s orbit. – he clarifies. – For these very reasons in 2024-2026, when Apophis will be flying close to the Earth we will hang a radio beacon".
Author: Anna Dorozhkina