In NASA Simulation, Humankind Dismally Failed to Save Earth From Killer Asteroid

The stakes are much higher than an evening of "Dungeons & Dragons."

If you want to make it official, NASA's most recent planetary defense tabletop exercise was its fourth. The conclusion of the mixed virtual and in-person gathering was stark.

A senior scientist at the APL who was part of the creation of the simulation told the magazine that it was designed to fall into the gap. The participants couldn't do anything to stop the impact.

Space Rock

The simulation began with the discovery of an asteroid on a trajectory toward Earth, and each subsequent meeting in the days-long exercise would follow the crash course. The participants were given information about the asteroid's size and location. Just after the asteroid's impact, the sim's final stages took place.

We are better prepared for an asteroid impact than before. Last month, NASA smashed a small spaceship into a space rock to see if it could be steered off course.

Real people are more complicated than astrophysics. In the movie Don't Look Up, misinformation made the scenario worse. It was difficult for the participants to handle the asteroid denier and fake news crowds.

An APL senior research scientist, who also helped facilitate and create the simulation, toldSciAm that misinformation is still a problem. We put it into the simulation to get feedback on how to counteract it.

NASA slams spacecraft into a asteroid to test Earth saving tech.