A space expert revealed that it is possible for humans to survive the destruction of Earth caused by a major asteroid strike. However, he noted that this can only be done through early planning.

Sixty-six million years ago, a massive asteroid collided with Earth and caused a huge explosion. It then triggered a series of events that caused severe climate change all over the planet.

The violent explosion, combined with the harsh nuclear winter that lasted for many years, led to the mass extinction of 70% of all life on Earth.

Although NASA has not yet detected an asteroid as big as the one that hit 66 million years ago, scientists believe that Earth’s chances of colliding with a massive space boulder are still very high. If it gets hit by an asteroid that’s a couple of miles wide, Earth will go through the same extinction-level events that happened millions of years ago.

For science fiction author and futurist Neal Stephenson, it is possible for humans to escape total annihilation and the complete destruction of Earth. In his book “Seveneves,” Stephenson introduced the idea of building a massive space ark. It is basically like an orbiting space station that’s capable of supporting generations of people.

During an appearance on the YouTube channel PBS Space Time, Stephenson noted that the space ark can be used to escape the destruction caused by a powerful asteroid strike. However, the author noted this plan will only work if carried out with enough lead time and with a huge workforce.

“Well I think if everyone in the world got involved behind it we can do a heck of a lot in a couple of years,” he said in the video. “In the book that I wrote, in ‘Seveneves,’ two years is the span of time that people have in which to do something.”

He added, “It’s not quite enough to really do a terrific job of it, but it’s enough to put a survivable ark into space.”

As Stephenson explained, going off-planet is the best way to escape a planet-killer asteroid.

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Pictured; an artistic illustration of an asteroid flying by Earth. NASA
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