China has started recruiting for a planetary defense force due to the threat of an asteroid that could hit the Earth in 2032
Kyiv • UNN
China has started recruiting specialists for the planetary defense force due to the asteroid 2024 YR4, which has a 2.2% chance of colliding with Earth in 2032. SASTIND is looking for young graduates to develop monitoring and early warning systems.
China has announced a recruitment drive for its planetary defense force after risk assessments showed that asteroid 2024 YR4 could hit Earth in 2032.
This was reported by The Guardian, UNN.
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According to media reports, the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense of China (SASTIND) this week posted online a job advertisement seeking young and motivated graduates specializing in aerospace engineering, international cooperation and asteroid detection.
The recruitment campaign comes amid growing attention to an asteroid that has a low but increasing probability of impacting Earth within seven years. Asteroid 2024 YR4 is at the top of the European and American space agencies' risk lists, and last week analysts raised their estimate of the probability of its impact with Earth from 1.3% to 2.2%.
The UN's Consultative Group on Space Mission Planning, which includes countries with space programs, including China, meets regularly to discuss responses. In announcements posted on WeChat earlier, 16 vacancies at SASTIND were listed, including three for the new “planetary defense force.
They invited applications from recent graduates under the age of 35 who have professional and technical qualifications and a “firm political stance” and support the Chinese Communist Party and an ideology consistent with its leader, Xi Jinping.
The job descriptions accompanying the announcements suggest that efforts will be focused on international collaboration and on developing systems for new and experimental technologies.
The planetary defense force job postings are described as “research on monitoring and early warning of near-Earth asteroids,” and require graduates with a master's degree or higher, with specializations in astrophysics, earth and space exploration technology, and aerospace science and engineering. China's aerospace sector is developing, and it is unclear whether the recruitment was related to the asteroid.
Andrew Jones, a SpaceNews correspondent specializing in the Chinese sector, said the timing of the recruitment appears to have coincided with the opening of 2024 YR4, and the jobs are likely “in addition to the efforts China is already making to develop its planetary defense capabilities.
This includes monitoring and warning systems both on the ground and possibly in space, as well as preparations to test measures such as kinetic impactors to alter the orbits of threatening asteroids
China is also preparing its own asteroid redirect test on a smaller asteroid called 2015 XF261, which is due to take place in 2027. However, Harrison Agrusa, a planetary scientist at the Côte d'Azur Observatory, said there are concerns about the small size of the asteroid targeted by China.
Given what we learned from Dart, a similar strike mission on a much smaller target is likely to completely destroy it. This may not be the best mitigation strategy, as you could potentially create an even bigger problem by turning a single projectile (with a known trajectory) into multiple fragments (with unknown trajectories)
Harrison said that there is no need to get overly excited about 2024 YR4, noting that several countries and aerospace organizations are working together on this project.
We know that we have the capability to eliminate such an asteroid, as demonstrated by the Dart mission. So there is no need to be afraid of this asteroid, it just needs to be studied and understood
