Asteroid half the size of a football stadium will pass by us inside the Moons orbit

[2Manboobs]

While, admittedly, it would make for fantastic TV viewing... We're probably better off not colliding with it, in the long run.



Near-Miss Asteroid Highlights Earth's Risk Of A Nuke-Sized Collision

“Earth is a moving target, traveling around the sun at 65,000 miles per hour. [Asteroid 2012 DA14] is missing us by only about 14 minutes."--former astronaut Ed

The asteroid 2012 DA14, which will come within about 17,000 miles of Earth (The moon is 238,000 miles from Earth) on February 15, is about half the size of a football stadium, and in a collision would generate an explosive energy equivalent to 2,500 kilotons of TNT. In comparison, the atomic bomb over Hiroshima that instantly killed more than 70,000 people released “merely” the equivalent of 17 kilotons of TNT. Seventeen-thousand miles seems like plenty of room, but in cosmic terms, it's an awfully close shave. “Remember, the Earth is a moving target, traveling around the sun at 65,000 miles per hour,” former astronaut Ed Lu said in a public appearance at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research earlier this month. “So [the asteroid] is missing us by only about 14 minutes.”

To be clear, the asteroid is not going to collide with Earth. But if it did, it'd have a devastating impact -- one that highlights Earth's vulnerability to a tough-to-detect mainstay of the cosmos: mid-sized asteroids capable of delivering nuclear-sized blasts. Comparable in size to the asteroid that destroyed 1,000 square miles of trees and reindeer in Tunguska, Siberia in 1908, 2012 DA14 would be very bad news in a direct collision with a populated area. Imagine a giant explosion in the sky, followed by a blast wave that would level buildings, knock the Golden Gate Bridge into the sea, and subject an area between San Francisco and San Jose to total destruction. A Spanish dental surgeon and amateur astronomer named Jaime Nomen first spotted 2012 DA14 last year –- hence the “2012” in its name –- so you might think that would give officials ample time to come up with an asteroid-deflection plan. But no. “With one year’s notice, there’s absolutely nothing we can do,” Lu said. “There’s no launch opportunity –- the asteroid is orbiting back around the sun. Had it been coming back to hit us, the only option would have been to evacuate. That’s not a good option.”


http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-02/14-minutes-disaster

[Daveindiego]

I'm already setting up my beach chair to check it out.

[2Manboobs]

I'm already setting up my beach chair to check it out.

That be bad-ass if it could really be seen with the naked eye

[Chaos]

While, admittedly, it would make for fantastic TV viewing... We're probably better off not colliding with it, in the long run.



Near-Miss Asteroid Highlights Earth's Risk Of A Nuke-Sized Collision

“Earth is a moving target, traveling around the sun at 65,000 miles per hour. [Asteroid 2012 DA14] is missing us by only about 14 minutes."--former astronaut Ed

The asteroid 2012 DA14, which will come within about 17,000 miles of Earth (The moon is 238,000 miles from Earth) on February 15, is about half the size of a football stadium, and in a collision would generate an explosive energy equivalent to 2,500 kilotons of TNT. In comparison, the atomic bomb over Hiroshima that instantly killed more than 70,000 people released “merely” the equivalent of 17 kilotons of TNT. Seventeen-thousand miles seems like plenty of room, but in cosmic terms, it's an awfully close shave. “Remember, the Earth is a moving target, traveling around the sun at 65,000 miles per hour,” former astronaut Ed Lu said in a public appearance at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research earlier this month. “So [the asteroid] is missing us by only about 14 minutes.”

To be clear, the asteroid is not going to collide with Earth. But if it did, it'd have a devastating impact -- one that highlights Earth's vulnerability to a tough-to-detect mainstay of the cosmos: mid-sized asteroids capable of delivering nuclear-sized blasts. Comparable in size to the asteroid that destroyed 1,000 square miles of trees and reindeer in Tunguska, Siberia in 1908, 2012 DA14 would be very bad news in a direct collision with a populated area. Imagine a giant explosion in the sky, followed by a blast wave that would level buildings, knock the Golden Gate Bridge into the sea, and subject an area between San Francisco and San Jose to total destruction. A Spanish dental surgeon and amateur astronomer named Jaime Nomen first spotted 2012 DA14 last year –- hence the “2012” in its name –- so you might think that would give officials ample time to come up with an asteroid-deflection plan. But no. “With one year’s notice, there’s absolutely nothing we can do,” Lu said. “There’s no launch opportunity –- the asteroid is orbiting back around the sun. Had it been coming back to hit us, the only option would have been to evacuate. That’s not a good option.”


http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-02/14-minutes-disaster

Projections and number crunching suggests because of earths gravity, it wii boomerang back and slam into us in 7 years.

[Daveindiego]

That be bad-ass if it could really be seen with the naked eye

NASA should set it on fire to make it easier to see.

[redshirt]

[Gitfiddle]

Mobilize Ben Affleck and Bruce Willis.

[VeeB]

I don't really care for them using the area between San Jose and San Francisco as an example

[Obi Drunkenobe]

I'm already setting up my beach chair to check it out.

[2Manboobs]

Mobilize Ben Affleck and Bruce Willis.

Ben Affleck's too busy being a Barney....

[2Manboobs]

NASA should set it on fire to make it easier to see.

If the Space Shuttle still worked, they could send up a giant can of hair spray & a big lighter

[The Cunt]

[Jim J Jiblets]

The water would cushion the fall.

[2Manboobs]

Science says that things of that size historically explode about 3-6 miles up in the atmosphere, much like it did in the Tunguska Event in 1908....

[DarkFriday]

[HaroldJackson]

NASA should set it on fire to make it easier to see.

I was going to say paint it bright orange or glow-in-the-dark depending on when it will pass.

[FlaFlaFlunkie]

Projections and number crunching suggests because of earths gravity, it wii boomerang back and slam into us in 7 years.

Cool. So I can say "fuck it" to this whole retirement-plan-thing?

[Lemmy]

California California California California California California........

[FlaFlaFlunkie]

California California California California California California........

C'mon dude. Wouldn't North Korea be the sweetest poetry?

[stripes]

a dentist with a telescope discovered it last year is the scary part...so all the experts bs about remote possiblities for future collisions can just suck it, they know nuttin.