Expert Claims US is Exploring Use of Asteroids as Offensive Weaponry
An expert from Russia has raised concerns about the possibility of the US using an asteroid as a weapon to attack Russia. Anatoly Zaitsev, a member of the Tsiolkovsky Cosmonautics Academy and CEO of the Planetary Protection Center, expressed his views on International Asteroid Day. Zaitsev suggested that the US and other nations might be disguising their development and testing of asteroid weapons as planetary protection systems. He shared these thoughts in an interview with news agency TASS.
He claimed that kinetic, laser and even asteroid weapons were being tested to protect the planet from dangerous celestial bodies.
He added: “For example, these weapons may become part of the space force established by the United States, which aims to establish its dominance in outer space.”
He also mentioned two ways to develop asteroids as a weapon
The first method is to detect an asteroid and use it, but the expert rejected this possibility, because of the thousands of asteroids approaching the Earth, only about 0.1% are detected in time each year.
Another method involves changing and modifying the trajectory of the asteroid so that it collides with Russia!
In particular, NASA has successfully completed the task of modifying an asteroid’s path with its Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART). In October 2022, it changed the trajectory of the target asteroid Dimorphos.
The US space agency NASA says that such missions were made to test and develop methods and ways to control the trajectories of these celestial bodies as a protection mechanism for the Earth.
Zaitsev also added that Russia seeks to rely on itself and build protection methods on its own without approaching anyone. This will not only strengthen Russia’s defense potential, but also protect the Earth from all threats posed by wandering asteroids.
Is it possible to weaponize an asteroid?
Meanwhile, EurAsian Times took insights from a former scientist at ISRO, India’s premier space agency. On weaponizing asteroids, the scientist dismissed the idea of weaponizing asteroids as “pure science fiction.”
The scientist also said that countries like China and Russia have their own methods and tactics to change the trajectory of asteroids.
According to the EurAsian Times, this is possible to achieve by using a “mass thruster”, which is an electromagnetic accelerator that uses linear motors to propel objects through space without rockets.
