Even the Tiniest Frog Can Become an Astronaut by Jumping From the Surface of a Mile-Size Asteroid

The <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/osiris-rex/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">OSIRIS-REx</a> mission collected <a href="https://blogs.nasa.gov/osiris-rex/2023/10/20/nasas-osiris-rex-achieves-sample-mass-milestone/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">70.3 grams</a> of rocks and dust from the asteroid Bennu and delivered it back to Earth on September 24, 2023. Given its diameter of half a kilometer, the escape speed from the surface gravity of Bennu is 18 centimeters per second. This means that even the <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/three-newly-discovered-frog-species-are-among-worlds-smallest-180971819/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">smallest frogs</a>, shorter than a thumbnail, can easily escape from the surface of this asteroid to space through a single jump. This backdrop constitutes the easiest way of becoming an astronaut! The muscle power responsible for the world record in high-jump, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_jump" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">2.45 meters</a> on Earth, would enable a qualified athlete to escape from the surface gravity of a rock that is about 10 kilometers in diameter. This scale matches roughly the length of Manhattan island or the <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/definition/chicxulub/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Chicxulub impactor</a> which killed non-avian dinosaurs when it collided with Earth 66 million years ago. <a href="https://avi-loeb.medium.com/even-the-tiniest-frog-can-become-an-astronaut-by-jumping-out-of-the-surface-of-a-mile-size-asteroid-2dc86c929c37">Read More</a>