Russian media attention: China will send a group of CubeSats to study dangerous asteroids!
On June 30, Russian newspapers published an article.
Some Chinese scientists have recently proposed a mission to the asteroid Apophis, which will approach Earth on April 13, 2029.
This cosmic rock will be as close as 32,000 kilometers from the Earth's surface. At that time, residents in most of Europe and Africa will be able to see the asteroid in the sky with the naked eye.
Chinese scientists' idea is to use a group of CubeSats to study Apophis.
These spacecraft will be launched either as secondary payloads for other missions or separately.
Russian media explain: CubeSats are small satellites with dimensions of 10cm × 10cm × 10cm and a mass not exceeding 1kg. CubeSats will carry various scientific instruments, which can measure the mass of the asteroid, study its surface morphology, rotation, and internal structure.
The Russian newspaper pointed out: Although the design of the Chinese mission has not been officially approved yet, it can be certain that China will give the green light for the mission, considering the great scientific interest of scientists from Europe and the United States.
Chinese scientists believe this mission is very important. They suggest launching a group of CubeSats and carrying out this mission as soon as possible in the near future, because Apophis will be only 32,000 kilometers away from our planet in 2029.
This asteroid is considered potentially dangerous, because its flight path may change at any time. A collision with Earth could have serious consequences for humanity.
Russian netizens are also very interested in this. Alexey Ostrovsky said:
Will diamonds and gold be found there, and will workers be recruited to mine them.
(Image from the Internet)
Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1836306702720012/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.