![]() Mysteries about the Tunguska incident remain, but scientists have said the impact was most likely caused by a space rock measuring 164 to 262 feet across.Įven much smaller space rocks can cause widespread damage. Last week, NASA scientists published four studies confirming that the agencys Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission had successfully altered the trajectory of a small asteroid. The incident, which came to be known as the "Tunguska explosion," flattened trees over 500,000 acres of uninhabited forest, according to NASA. The largest asteroid impact in recorded history took place 114 years ago, when a space rock exploded over a remote part of Siberia in 1908. ![]() By Elizabeth Howell last updated 22 November 2021 There are live briefings, virtual launch. The incident annihilated the dinosaurs and killed almost three-quarters of all the plant and animal species that were living on Earth at the time. NASAs DART mission to smack an asteroid launches this week. The best-known example of a cataclysmic impact occurred around 66 million years ago, when the Chicxulub asteroid, thought to have been 6 to 10 miles wide, slammed into Earth and triggered a sudden mass extinction. Although the prospect of "killer asteroids" may sound far-fetched, the threat is all too real, said Bruce Betts, the chief scientist at the Planetary Society, a nonprofit organization that conducts research, advocacy and outreach to promote space exploration. ![]()
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