(Mirror Daily, United States) – After being affected a few times by rogue space objects, now Russia is targeting asteroids that are scheduled to pass near our planet. The 99942 Apophis is estimated to reach our planet in 2029, 2036 and in 2068. Neither of the calculated encounters has an impact risk, but Russia is not taking any chances.

Russia is targeting asteroids with the missile system built in the Cold War. The country’s plan is to build an entire missile network that would be able to destroy an asteroid in the blink of an eye. According to TASS, the system that there are planning to implement will be efficient against asteroids, comets, and meteors in between 65 and a maximum wide of 165 feet.

The biggest space object that could be destroyed at the snap of a finger is actually pretty small compared to what’s roaming around out there, in space. But it doesn’t take a large asteroid to do a lot of damage.

Russia is targeting asteroids because it has been through previous unpleasant experiences caused by the rogue frozen space rocks. The disaster at Chelyabinsk, for example, was caused by a meteor with a width of only 65 feet.

The meteor explosion that took place in 2013 in the northeast of Russia caused a shock wave that injured more than 1,500 individuals and severely damaged around 7,200 structures in six cities.

And the aftermath of the meteor impact was actually very light seeing as the meteor exploded in the atmosphere. If it had the chance to reach the Earth’s surface, then the damage would have been far more extensive.

The scariest part in the Chelyabinsk story is not the aftermath of the meteor impact, but the fact that the object was never detected by satellites. Its presence was acknowledged only in the moment in which it became visible in the Russian sky.

After a closer look at what happened at Chelyabinsk, the reason why Russia is targeting asteroids becomes very clear.

The missile system that they want to transform into an Earth defense station is actually the ICBM. During the cold war, both Russia and the United States were ready to defend themselves against each other. That is when the “Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles” were built. The weapons are still locked and ready to be deployed at the slight of the hand.

So there is no need to call Bruce Willis or SG-1 when a meteor, comet or asteroid is detected. Just send a notice to the Russian government and they will go nuclear on the threat.

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