Emily Brody-Bizar
Staff Writer

In the movie Armageddon, an asteroid heading towards Earth threatens humanity’s very existence.  Fortunately for humanity, NASA hires Bruce Willis and his expert team of blue-collar oil drillers to deflect the asteroid.  The team, after receiving a crash course in how to be an astronaut, is sent into space.  Their job is to drill a hole in the big-bad asteroid that is heading towards Earth, plant a bomb in said hole, and detonate the bomb, thus destroying the asteroid.  As Bruce Willis and co. battle the elements of space, the asteroid creeps closer and closer to Earth.  The fate of the world was in the hands of these oil drillers and while the movie was not incredibly accurate, it was a box office success.        In 2004, scientists discovered an 885 foot asteroid named Apophis and estimated that its chances of hitting Earth by 2029 were as high as 1 in 37.  Following this initial discovery, fear that we would experience our very own Armageddon erupted.  However, since 2004, the odds of the asteroid colliding with Earth in 2029 have since been lowered to 1 in 250,000.  There is also the possibility of a subsequent collision in 2036,which now has a 4 in 1,000,000 chance of occurring.
The odds of a collision are low, but apparently some still believe there is a clear and present danger.  Russia, in an attempt to top Bruce Willis, is considering sending a spacecraft to an asteroid to knock it off its path and prevent a collision.
Asteroid deflection techniques are something that Scientists have discussed for years.  Suggested strategies have ranged from sending a probe to change the direction of an asteroid to sending a spacecraft to collide with an asteroid and move the asteroid off of its path to using nuclear weapons to hit it.
Calculations done by Russian scientists have shown that it is possible to create a spacecraft, such as the one used in the movie Armageddon, which would help stop the collision without destroying the asteroid or detonating nuclear charges.  Russia’s Federal Space Agency chief Anatoly Perminov has said that the Russian Space Agency would invite the European Space Agency and NASA to participate in the project.  Scientists insist that the asteroid, which is the size of two and a half football fields, could create a desert the size of France if Apophis does in fact hit Earth.  But don’t worry, Russia is on it.