Impact Calculator
Launch Impact CalculatorIn February 2013 a meteorite only around 20m in diameter unexpectedly exploded over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk damaging buildings and injuring hundreds of people. Space agencies across the world are collaborating to develop the nuclear technology required to detect, track and eliminate potentially hazardous asteroids which pose a threat to our planet.
The Impact Calculator allows users to explore and visualise the damage effects caused by different types of meteorite impact.
1. Drag the sliders to specify the diameter of your asteroid, the angle at which it will strike the Earth and its speed.
2. Choose the type of rock you want your asteroid to be made of and the type of rock it will crash into.
3. Drag the slider at the bottom to indicate how close to the crash site you will be standing and then click “Submit”.
4. Click on the map to fire your meteor then evaluate the scale of destruction at your chosen destination with the “Crater Depth” and “Data View” tabs at the bottom of the screen. The Impact Calculator will also give you an estimate of of how likely a meteor with your chosen properties is likely to hit the Earth!
