The last 12 October 2017 at 7.42 a.m. it was done the first anti-asteroid exercise with the 2012 TC4 asteroid.
The 2012 TC4 grazed the Earth, in particular the Antarctic, less than 44.000 km that is one-tenth of the distance between Earth and Moon.
It was discovered on 4th October 2012 when it was distant 4.500.000 km from Earth and it came up with a speed of 30.000 miles per hour. This 15 metres of diameter asteroid falls into the category of near-earth object (NEO) of the Apollo group.
In this manner the asteroid had permitted the first planetary defence international test in order to prevent risks linked to the asteroids transfer thanks to the work of a scientists team guided by NASA‘s Centre for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) and the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, that have followed the asteroid collecting step-by-step very accurate data.
This collection is special and important for the aerospace world because is the first international practice exercise for planetary defence thanks to these precise data. In addition, this test helped to prevent potential risks in case of a bigger approach to the Earth of a NEO object.
Indeed, it has been possible to verify the real operation of the International Asteroid Warning Network.
Here is the outcomes that lists the ephemerides of Asteroid 2012 TC4 about these last and the next few days are the following:
DATE MAGNITUDE RIGHT ASCENSION
2ND November 2017 25.13 10h 18min. 27s.
9 November 2017 25.33 10h 18min. 36s.
15th November 2017 25.45 10h 26min. 04s.
[source: theskylive.com]