Collisions from Space

Craters are formed when meteorites hit the surface of a planet or moon. The size of the crater is directly related to the mass and speed of the meteorite at impact.

KT Boundary The crater at the tip of the Yucatan peninsular dates back to 65 million years ago. This impact is believed to have had a large part to play in the extinction of the dinosaurs. Rocks layers of this age have iridium in them which is only usually found in meteorites. Above the KT boundary there is a huge change in the fossils discovered.

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Suggest some possible actions which could be taken to reduce the threat of near Earth Objects (NEO). NEO’s can be monitored and searched for by using space probes or ground based telescopes. Their orbits can be deduced and hence their threat to us assessed. If a NEO is on a collision course we may be able to deflect it using an explosion but this is unlikely. It may be able to be deflected by using rockets or attaching solar sails. It is highly likely that we would have years or even decades notice of a large NEO’s (10km) impact. Small NEO’s in the order of a few meters or 10’s meters would probably hit us with no warning as they are too small to detect in time.