{"id":28992,"date":"2025-08-11T16:38:05","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T08:38:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/?p=28992"},"modified":"2026-01-05T14:33:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T06:33:18","slug":"tfo-planetary-defence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/tfo-planetary-defence\/","title":{"rendered":"Planetary defence: Asteroids, meteorites and the future of life on Earth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Earlier this year, an asteroid was briefly predicted to have more than a 3% chance of colliding with Earth, the highest impact risk ever recorded for an object of its size.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That chance has since dropped to below 1%. But what if next time, it doesn’t?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That question is front of mind for Associate Professor Nicholas Timms<\/a> and Professor William Rickard<\/a> \u2013 Curtin University scientists who analyse the enigmatic extraterrestrial materials that might one day set sail for Earth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nick, an expert in rock and mineral deformation and geochronology, and Will, Director of Curtin’s John de Laeter Centre, joined us for our latest podcast episode, The Future Of Planetary Defence<\/em><\/a>. Here\u2019s a snippet of their fascinating conversation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is planetary defence? <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Nick: <\/strong>There\u2019s quite a big list of potentially hazardous asteroids in space. These are near-Earth objects in our solar system that have Earth-crossing orbits, or at least come very close to Earth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Planetary defence involves identifying these potentially hazardous asteroids and near-Earth objects, understanding them, and then mitigating their risks.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once we identify a potentially hazardous asteroid, our goal is to redirect it, or nudge it out of the way, so it doesn\u2019t cause a problem for life on Earth as we know it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are some of the missions that have returned asteroid samples to Earth? <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Nick:<\/strong> A few missions have ventured to some of these near-Earth objects to collect samples and bring them back to Earth.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently, NASA coordinated the OSIRIS-REx mission to asteroid Bennu, which returned the largest sample of an asteroid ever collected by far.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Curtin team was privileged enough to be mission scientists on the OSIRIS-REx mission. We had the honour of diligently analysing some very small particles of this precious asteroid material. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n \n\n

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Photos of the landing, transfer and initial processing of the samples collected from NASA\u2019s OSIRIS-REx mission. Source: NASA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What tools do you use to analyse and characterise these rare extraterrestrial materials? <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Will: <\/strong>The teams responsible for bringing samples back to Earth \u2013 whether it be NASA or Japanese, Chinese and European space agencies \u2013 want to get the most information from the smallest amount of material while doing the least amount of damage.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To achieve that with these precious samples, you need state-of-the-art instrumentation \u2013 the kind we have at Curtin University\u2019s John de Laeter Centre.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We use a wide range of tools, including optical microscopes, electron microscopes, X-ray analysis equipment, laser equipment and mass spectrometry. We’ve designed a workflow where we can go from analysis at the macro scale, all the way down to the atomic scale.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through specialised techniques, such as atom probe tomography, we can extract the atoms of a sample, almost one by one, and reconstruct them in three dimensions. This analysis helps us understand a sample’s chemistry, microstructure and isotopic composition. That information can tell us how old the sample is, its provenance, and more about the parent body from which this material originated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How are centres chosen to be trusted with precious extraterrestrial materials?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Will:<\/strong> At the John de Laeter Centre, we don’t get these samples because we put our hands up \u2013 these samples come to us because we have a sought-after combination of world-class experts from Earth and Planetary Sciences and world-class instrumentation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That combination of know-how and tools is why we’ve built a strong reputation in the past, and why we\u2019re chosen to get involved in these missions today. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Curtin University\u2019s new Future Sciences Building<\/a> will feature an entire floor dedicated to housing analysis tools \u2013 meaning they won\u2019t just look better, they\u2019ll work better. Source: Curtin Properties, Facilities and Development<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Why is geological analysis critical in planetary defence?  <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Nick:<\/strong> We can learn a lot about the properties of an asteroid from sample analysis. It can tell us the strength of the material, how it will react to different deflection technologies and so on. Feeding these insights back into planetary defence strategies is critical.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will: <\/strong>It\u2019s important to note that while there\u2019s a lot that we know about extraterrestrial bodies, there\u2019s also a lot that we don\u2019t. For example, when NASA\u2019s ORSIS-REx mission went to collect samples from asteroid Bennu, they expected to land on a solid surface \u2013 but that wasn\u2019t the case.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The asteroid had the material properties of a bowl of popcorn \u2013 you could probably put your hand straight through it. When ORSIS-REx\u2019s touch-and-go mechanism landed on Bennu, it displaced about six tonnes of material. The spacecraft\u2019s thrusters just blew it all away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what we thought we knew was completely wrong. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In terms of planetary defence, putting a nuclear bomb in something that\u2019s almost a rubble pile is probably not going to work. That\u2019s why understanding the material properties of these asteroids helps us create a mitigation strategy.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who\u2019s responsible for deflecting dangerous asteroids on a collision path with Earth? And, what happens if deflection efforts go wrong? <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Will<\/strong>: <\/strong>In terms of who is responsible, some international bodies are investigating this topic as we speak.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we do identify a hazardous asteroid, it will require a huge effort from many countries to apply a successful defence strategy. There’ll be teams using remote sensing to try and understand its properties and then link that with existing studies on samples that have returned from similar types of objects \u2013 such as some of the work we’ve done at the John de Laeter Centre.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next, we\u2019d coordinate a mission and fly something to the asteroid. Hopefully, using an informed approach, we could create a strategy to deflect the asteroid safely.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether we’re united in principle or practice is a big question \u2013 what happens when a planetary defence mission requires a massive financial investment? It\u2019s an interesting and evolving topic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nick:<\/strong> I agree with Will that it\u2019s an international problem that will require a global solution, and cooperation all the way.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curtin PhD students just recently attended an international planetary defence conference in South Africa. At the conference, they were trying to address these same questions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They were asking, \u201cWhose responsibility is it?\u201d, \u201cWhat if we deflected an asteroid to another country?\u201d, and \u201cHow do we deal with planetary defence?\u201d. These are some of the really interesting problems that come alongside the scientific complexities of deflecting asteroids and changing their course. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For now, we need a coordinated and large-scale effort to develop more missions and test technologies to figure out the best option for planetary defence when the time comes. And I think most people agree that nuking asteroids and other near-Earth objects is not a good option at all. <\/p>\n\n\n

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While \u2018nuking\u2019 world-destroying asteroids makes for great cinema, it\u2019s not currently recommended by scientists. Source: Rotten Tomatoes<\/a> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

What\u2019s on the horizon for planetary defence? <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Nick:<\/strong> Increased space missions, specialised instrument development and machine learning are all shaping the future of planetary defence.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until now, we haven\u2019t had access to much extraterrestrial material; however, we\u2019re entering a new era of space travel and exploration. SpaceX and many other companies are accelerating their capabilities to go back to the moon and far beyond it. This means it might be possible to bring a lot more material back from these missions in the near future.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That links to a challenge that we scientists are having, which is actually how time-intensive material analysis can be. Incorporating things like machine learning and automation into painstakingly manual processes will help improve the volume of analysis we can complete.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, over my career in geosciences and planetary sciences, I\u2019ve seen fantastic advancements in our instrumentation. In the past, we developed a specific type of ion microprobe \u2013 called a SHRIMP<\/a> \u2013 to look at lunar samples. This kind of specialised instrument development is exciting for our future. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Keen to hear the whole story?<\/h2>\n\n

From details into the fast-approaching Apophis asteroid to the memorable Mother’s Day meteorite, there\u2019s much more to uncover. Listen to The Future Of Planetary Defence wherever you stream podcasts.<\/p>\n\n

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Planetary defence FAQs <\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n \n\n
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