Hidden somewhere in the darkness of space is a gigantic asteroid heading toward a collision with our planet. If we don’t spot it and thwart its arrival, it will pierce through Earth’s atmosphere at 60,000 kilometers per hour and sink into the ground, vaporizing everything it touches.
With millions of asteroids Crossing the inner solar system, the threat is inevitable: sooner or later, an impact will occur. But that doesn’t mean Earth should be an easy target. A global community is absorbed in planetary defense, carefully planning how to repel these alien intruders when they appear – or at least minimize the carnage.
Among other things, this work included scanning the skies for threats and testing missions to knock asteroids off course. But it also includes a surprising amount of role-playing games, in which teams play out asteroid impact scenarios. “In the real world, we haven’t really gotten to that point where we actually have to design and build missions, which is why we need these exercises,” says the NASA official. Paul Chodaswho runs many role-playing games. “They make you think about details you wouldn’t otherwise think about.”
Over the next few paragraphs, you’ll be in the hot seat in a choose-your-own-adventure version of one of these role-playing games. You will decide how to react when the asteroid hits us. Whether you choose to ram a spaceship into it, use sunlight-absorbing paint to alter its trajectory, or simply smash it to smithereens, you’ll find we have more options…
