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Subscribe to RSSScientists will be keeping an eye on asteroid 2012 DA14 - seen here in an eerie animation from Analytical Graphics Inc. - when it comes within 17,200 miles of Earth on Feb. 15. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.
When the asteroid known as 2012 DA14 zooms within 17,200 miles of our planet on Friday, it'll mark the closest approach by a massive space rock in more than a century (although the meteor that flared through the skies over Russia's Chelyabinsk region early Friday injured hundreds of people, it is only a fragment of the size of these monsters). Fortunately, the 150-foot-wide object will pose absolutely no risk to Earth — but over the course of millennia, other asteroids have literally rocked our world.
As safe as Friday's encounter will be, it's a reminder that Earth has been vulnerable to cosmic impacts in the past, and will continue to be in the future. That's why NASA and other agencies are spending millions of dollars to detect more of the estimated 1 million near-Earth objects that could be as threatening as 2012 DA14.
"We are looking at all kinds of partnership possibilities, across universities, space institutions and with the Air Force," said Lindley Johnson, program executive for the Near-Earth Object Observations Program at NASA Headquarters. This week, Johnson and other experts are gathering at a U.N.-sponsored conference in Vienna to discuss the creation of an international asteroid warning network.
Vienna is actually one of the places where 2012 DA14 can be seen in the night sky on Friday — not with the naked eye, but with binoculars or a small telescope. The best viewing opportunities will be available in Asia, Australia and Europe. (Follow the instructions at the bottom of this article to find out if it'll be visible from your location.)
The closest approach comes at 2:44 p.m. ET, when the asteroid will be zooming past at a speed of almost 17,500 mph, directly above the eastern Indian Ocean. It'll come 5,000 miles within the ring of communications satellites in geosynchronous Earth orbit, but those satellites are so widely distributed that experts say the chance of a collision is extremely remote.
NASA / JPL-Caltech
A NASA chart shows how asteroid 2012 DA14 will be deflected by Earth's gravitational field. Experts say the space rock will be put into a safer orbit after this week's encounter.
If 2012 DA14 were on a collision course, the shock of its rapid fall through Earth's atmosphere would cause it to explode, unleashing the power of a 2.4-megaton atomic bomb. In the worst-case scenario, that'd be enough energy to destroy an entire city. A similar cosmic blast in 1908 laid waste to 820 square miles of Siberian forest in the Tunguska region.
It's possible that other such blasts have occurred over the course of Earth's history without being recorded. Based on a statistical analysis, NASA estimates that asteroids the size of 2012 DA14 strike Earth every 1,200 years or so. The only reason we know about this encounter is because the capabilities for tracking near-Earth objects have improved so much in recent years.
A Spanish observation team discovered 2012 DA14 just last year during a more distant flyby. "We probably would not have found DA14 10 years ago," said Don Yeomans, the head of NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. Now that they know it's there, astronomers will be monitoring the asteroid with optical and radio telescopes, including the Arecibo Observatory's 1,000-foot-wide dish in Puerto Rico and NASA's Goldstone radio antenna in California.
Radar observations could provide insights into the space rock's shape and spin, while an analysis of the optical data could reveal what 2012 DA14 is made of. Think of Friday's encounter as a practice run for identifying and tracking the unknown asteroids that actually could threaten us in the years to come — and an incentive to figure out ways to deflect them in case we have to.
To get a better sense of how 2012 DA14 rates, here are a dozen more hits and misses involving near-Earth objects:
65 million B.C.: The most infamous asteroid is the 6-mile-wide rock that smashed into Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula 65 million years ago, sparking the global catastrophe that did in the dinosaurs. Experts say the explosion released as much energy as 100 trillion tons of TNT.
35 million B.C.: Geologists say a roughly kilometer-wide (0.6-mile-wide) asteroid or comet struck America's Eastern Seaboard millions of years ago, contributing to the formation of Chesapeake Bay and creating a biological crisis. Studies have shown that microbes deep underground in the blast zone are still adjusting to the ancient shock.
NASA
Barringer Impact Crater in Arizona — also known as Meteor Crater — is captured in this image taken in 1995 by space shuttle astronauts.
50,000 B.C.: A 150-foot-wide iron-nickel meteorite hits Arizona, creating the 0.75-mile-wide Meteor Crater. Asteroid 2012 DA14 is thought to be the same size as this meteorite, but made of less dense stuff that would break up before it hits the ground.
1490: Chinese accounts tell of a meteor shower during which "stones fell like rain" on the Qingyang (Ch'ing-Yang) district of Shaanxi Province (now Gansu Province), killing as many as 10,000 people. Experts are doubtful about the reported death toll, but they don't doubt that a dramatic event occurred, perhaps involving the breakup of an asteroid.
1908: The Tunguska event in Siberia, which flattened millions of trees, is thought to have been caused by an asteroid similar to 2012 DA14 in size and composition. Tunguska has become a watchword for asteroid activists. "The greatest danger from an asteroid strike is from the ones we haven't yet found," former NASA astronaut Ed Lu, chairman and CEO of the B612 Foundation, told NBC News. "Of the asteroids larger than the one that struck Tunguska in 1908, we know less than 1 percent."
1937: Asteroid Hermes is observed to miss Earth by a distance of just 460,000 miles. Decades later, scientists found out that Hermes occasionally comes even closer to Earth, and in fact consists of two space rocks flying in tandem. Each of the objects is thought to be about 1,300 feet (400 meters) wide.
1972: The Great Daylight Fireball is witnessed blazing over the Rocky Mountains from the U.S. Southwest to Canada. Scientists say it was an Earth-grazing meteoroid that passed within 35 miles (57 kilometers) of Earth’s surface.
Footage shows the Great Daylight Fireball of 1972.
1997: Astronomers report that a mile-wide asteroid known as 1997 XF11 had a chance of hitting Earth in 2028. The report touched off a media tempest, but further observations reduced the chance of collision to zero. The news came amid a spate of asteroid disaster flicks, including "Deep Impact" and "Armageddon" as well as the TV miniseries "Asteroid."
2004: An 885-foot-wide asteroid known as 2004 MN4, later named Apophis, is initially given a 1-in-40 chance of hitting Earth in 2029. That collision risk was ruled out relatively quickly, but it took years longer to analyze the risk posed by a later encounter in 2036. Just last month, astronomers announced that Apophis will pose no threat to Earth in the foreseeable future.
2008: Asteroid 2008 TC3 explodes during atmospheric entry above Sudan’s Nubian Desert. The event marked the first time that a near-Earth object’s impact was successfully predicted, several hours in advance. 2008 TC3 was 2 to 5 meters wide, and broke up into fragments that were later recovered from the desert.
2011: Asteroid 2011 CQ1 makes the closest-ever flyby of Earth for a cataloged asteroid, passing within 3,400 miles of Earth’s surface. The asteroid was discovered just 16 hours before its super-close encounter, but because it's only a meter wide, it would have burned up in the atmosphere if it had been on a direct course.
2011: An asteroid the size of an aircraft carrier, 2005 YU55, sails past Earth at a distance of 198,000 miles, which is closer than the orbit of the moon. Earthlings marked the asteroid's passage with a barrage of picture-taking.
More about the asteroid encounter:
- Would-be miners say asteroid is worth $195 billion
- Hooray! Earth will kick asteroid into a safer orbit
- Flash interactive: Close encounters of the asteroid kind
Astronomers say asteroid 2012 DA14 won't be visible to the naked eye, but it is possible to watch it pass by through binoculars or a small telescope — if you know where and when to look. The Heavens-Above website can help you get a fix on the fast-moving rock. First, go to the website's location database and find the nearest city. Click on the link for that city. Then, click on over to the 2012 DA14 sky chart and look for the asteroid's track, with notations that indicate observation times. If you don't see the asteroid's track, you won't be able to see the asteroid. In some cases, the track is shown during daylight hours — which would generally rule out visual observations.
Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.
Leave a Comment:
These are kind of exciting. I'm still rooting for the Earth to survive, though.
Remember Bert the Turtle. Duck and cover! LOL!
So, is there still a chance it does hit a satellite and gets deflected toward earth?
Humanities biggest threat is itself.
Ouch!
I hope when they calculated it's trajectory they remembered to carry the 1. I also hope they didn't mix units again.
Also remember that cosmologically this is a bullseye. It's just that the earth is a very tine dot at the center of the bullseye. Very nice shooting universe. :)
Can someone logically explain to me why the phrase "near miss" doesn't mean "hit?"
The largest Solar system event that has occurred in our lifetime was in 1994 when the Shoemaker-Levy comet that broke into 3 pieces and hit Jupiter leaving behind 3 "Earth-sized" craters in that planet.
I hope humans are still around when another star is due to pass by at less than 1 light year from our sun in 1.4 million years - that would be so cool to see.
Kinda puts it all into perspective. The government tells us we can't use Freon, our SUV's are choking the earth, and we can no longer buy 100 watt light bulbs because the temperature of earth increased some miniscule amount over the last 50 years but yet there are rocks the size of Rhode Island zinging around our planet like flies around a summer barbecue ready for one to bullseye into Nebraska wiping out U.S. civilization as we know it.................
But THAT is no big deal. And since when do we trust the government when they say there is a "zero" percent chance one of this listed asteroids will hit earth? Yea, because the government ALWAYS tells us the truth and ALWAYS knows what is going on (sic)....................
One of these probably has our name on it already but they don't want to create fear for something that will happen 20 years from now, 5 years from now, or even next month that we can't change anyway. So screw us and they are already preparing the bunker to "save" our freakin' politicians. Like THEY are worth sparing..........
Oh BTW, don't worry about asteroids wiping us out but we saved the Delta Smelt................
TheKhanKubla: The star is due to pass in 1.4 million year? I'm putting THAT in my iPhone calendar:)!! Don't want to miss THAT one!!
Markutk: You are right. Isn't it really a "near hit"?
Yep, we can "track" these World terminators effectively however, just what is planned to "deflect" of "decimate" a very large chunk of "rock"/"frozen ice" if one has been identified as being a real threat ?
Hmmmm.....nuke (nah....just break it up into millions of more threats), push/pull tractor, laser beam ?
Maybe we could get all the Congressmen/women to talk at the same time towards the "rock". That would probably be enough hot air to "deflect" the rascal.
TheKahn... Comet Shoemaker-Levy actually broke up into at least a half-dozen or more pieces on a close encounter with Jupiter and its massive gravitational field. That stretched the comet out into what was called a string of pearls. On its next orbital pass each piece slammed into Jupiter's southern hemisphere over a 3 or 4 day period, each creating a shock wave and dark colored spot larger than earth's diameter. The cohesive and gravitational forces of the comet were not very strong allowing it to flattened and dismembered by Jupiter. Therefore a question that should be raised is what is the possibility of 2012 DA14 being busted up by Earths gravitation on its close encounter. That question hasn't been given much press over the past several weeks.
A miss is a miss unless it is a MRS. A miss by a few thousand miles is still a miss, only nearer than a miss that is a few thousand miles plus an inch.
Not even remotely. If it hit a satellite, and that's a very big if, you probably couldn't even measure the change in orbit. It would be like a bullet hitting a gnat. That rock is very massive and moving very fast.
Fairchild,
I've already worked 50 hours this week and that comment just blew my mind. Is it the lack of sleep, coupled with slowed brain functionality or was that a coherent, well thought out post? I need sleep. Am I even making sense? WHO AM I? My mind is disheveled. Send help.
That satellite would look like a bug on your windshield.
maybe they meant hemmoroid not asteroid.
One problem we are just moving out of a Solar Storm, could eigther move out further or closer, and if closer, sorry the jury is still out on this event, and cant really tell what it will do till it gets here
should have read the article...now he suffers from ...Roid Rage...
The article says that it will miss us by 17,200 miles which seems like a long way off but we have to remember that the Earth itself scoots along incredibly fast. If that rock would pass by just 15 minutes sooner it would hit us. Saying it missed us by 15 minutes puts it into better perspective than saying 17,200 miles.
Just so it doesn't hit the moon. Could mess up an otherwise nice day.
You have to take both terms independently. "Near" is an adjective describing the object itself rather than the miss. The asteroid is near, and it is a miss. Think of it as opposed to a distant miss, and it makes a bit more sense.
Its astonishing that this big rock slipped through our satellite orbit and the Earth"
Sounds fishy we really have no Idea whats heading our way, How do we even know if the Earths orbit with the sun is perfect, cycle after cycle, chances are we could be headed for New solar events..
Im impressed with technology and think its money well spent finding them, but would they tell us at a little bit notice ?
I find it funny that space rocks are coming at us at the same time icebergs are melting.
And to think people used to say as late as the late 19th. century, "Rocks don't fall from the sky." Even though they saw rocks falling from the sky from time to time, they thought they must have come from somewhere else on earth such as a volcanic eruption. That was before they realized that rocks could come from outer space.
This
American Life
Is Your Brains On Drugs
is my BOOM stick!
Boomity,boomity,boomity.
is 40.
should not have happened.
TIMMY!
Why couldn't it hit Earth? It's small enough to not destroy everything. Let's see what happens.
Take a quick trip to Arizona to see the results of a "small hit".
Same size as the one coming.
Time to panic Teatards! Better run out and buy more guns!
Actually owen, I am having a cup of tea. My gun is loaded and under my jacket. Sorry, I will not have to buy another gun!!
Liberals please come up with some funding to send Bruce Willis up there and blow the thing in half
Maybe they can divert it to D.C., it would cure a lot of problems.
Owen: If something like this does occur, and it could happen, I bet you'd welcome the use of several of my firearms..... So while you think about your assinine comment, I'll join JIM_IN_PA for a cup of tea while we clean our weapons....
yes dhp is right, there is nothing better to fend off an asteroid than an ak47.
Oh BTW, on average, 649 people die each year while cleaning their guns, of those 2% are drinking tea at the time.
owencoffin,
They need to remove your gun (penis) and high capacity magazines (testicles) so that you cannot procreate anymore offspring like yourself and deprogrammer.
This Is My Rifle This Is My Gun
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kU0XCVey_U
Uranus
DHP, I agree guns would be needed to protect against ciminals in a small natural disaster where most human lived but depending on where the asterioid hit, if it did, most likely we would all be gone.
Maybe if we are lucky it will take out HBO's satellite. There's nothing good on anyway...
John Adams was good though.
John Adams, and many other HBO shows are great! Better than the garbage being shown on local channels
Hey, I'm waiting for the 3rd Game of Thrones! Don't say that. The Bloody Wedding better be the last episode Mr. GoT's producers.
Impact then huge Planet wide EMP/EMR; Worldwide Blackout (no electricity) for a few months to years, then we have generations of people that do not know how to function.
No,
it not that big if it hit your city it would be bad for you but most likely it would
hit in the sea. But go ahead and go into your bunker. I have to say you would
not be missedJ. A sea strike could do more damage depending how
close it go to the surface of the sea before it exploded.
david, although i agree but i will feel horrible for those who has babies
Its astonishing that this big rock slipped through our satellite orbit and the Earth"
Sounds fishy we really have no Idea whats heading our way, How do we even know if the Earths orbit with the sun is perfect, cycle after cycle, chances are we could be headed for New solar events..
Im impressed with technology and think its money well spent finding them, but would they tell us at a little bit notice ?
I find it funny that space rocks are coming at us at the same time icebergs are melting.
2012 DA14 first became known to humanity on Feb. 23, 2012. It soon became invisible again and was only recovered (by sensors) on Jan. 9, 2013.
If we had calculated the orbit of 2012 DA14 when it was first discovered such that it was expected to impact the Earth, we would have less than a year to prepare. That, of course, would be complicated by its being out of range for most of its (mostly invisible) elliptical orbit.
It is likely that the best we could do is try to precisely determine its impact point and remove all valuable things (and people) in advance.
Life on Earth is, by no means, immortal. Perhaps, we should soon consider sending Earth organisms to whatever potentially hospitable bodies in our solar system there are. Clearly, we cannot know when some cosmic agent of catastrophe will instantly render that impossible. But then, to any unknown life already there, Earthlings would be agents of catastrophe.
If this asteroid hit the earth, I assume it would likely hit the ocean, causing a tsunami somewhere. Most people probably wouldn't be affected or notice if it wasn't on the news.
If it were to hit, you're right, the ocean would be the prime candidate. But even an impact-caused tsunami could have a quite significant negative impact. Here's an example:
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/27827830/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/did-asteroid-cause-ancient-ny-tsunami/
What if it hit the middle of the ocean far from land?
it would create a giant tsunami that would probably kill more people than if it hit a single city because it would spread out in all directions and hit numerous costal cities.
If it hit New York City, or any city, it would cause a huge amount of damage...even though I don't think this is big enough to cause much damage if it landed in the ocean or a desert.
Doing the calculations (used to teach Nuclear (Weapons) Physics, before I switched US Military Officer Career Field), never mind already calculated, about a 3KT to 10KT Nuclear Warhead.
Similar effects as link (manmade effect of a asteroid impact minus the other smaller impacts out to about 20 miles from pieces breaking off as asteroid enters Earth's Atmosphere (think MIRVs)):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCme_K6MYLY
Hello Alan!
I always wondered if you guys peeked in and read some of the comments. Not a bad article either.
We're on the only "potentially hospitable body" in our solar system. Any other location will require extensive technology and a constant stream of supplies, or terraforming technologies that currently exist only in the realm of science fiction. And there's a much greater chance of something happening to the colonists and wiping them out, which sort of defeats the purpose of trying to spread in order to hedge against a miniscule and totally unknowable possibility of life on Earth suddenly being wiped out.
Or we'd just be another species to compete with. You know, like in all functioning biospheres. We'd probably be better at it, though.
Whew! Heard it is missing us by 15 minutes.
"If 2012 DA14 were on a collision course, the shock of its rapid fall through Earth's atmosphere would cause it to explode, unleashing the power of a 2.4-megaton atomic bomb and destroying an entire city."
Really? Which city would it destroy? You might want to reword that, @b0yle.
Note to the Asteroid God's & Pilots:
Best target on Earth is... NRA headquarters-- when there's a full house.
2nd best is the RNC's/'baggernut's/birther's-- HQ when there's a full house.
LOL
3rd best target Oprah Winfrey's house.
Ist best...your place....
C_D_J55: Thank you for your wish of mass killings of those you disagree with. Care to educate us as to what political philosophy you tend toward?
Yeah, Not Con... The "Country 1st, Un-wrong" side.
Why and what political philosophy might you be entrenched in?
And, to you and your pseudo-racist friends, who can't spell Obama's name correctly, yet continually drag him into your pathetic BS!
whens CPAC?
Damn it, it's exactly one month away on March 14th.
Not that I want to wish anyone harm but the wingnuts are always praying for rapture anyway, this would be a quick way for them to meet their makers and would rid the world of a whole lot of evil all at once.
That's President Obama CD. If you are going to be resident professor, then do it correctly. By the way, there was no reference to the president in the thread you commented in; yet you bring him into it by pointing out racism. Troll defined.
Wrong...Whitehouse by far best target area
Yes C_D_J55, wishing mass killings on those you disagree is only allowed if you are a Conservative preacher, Glenn Beck or Ted Nugent (who by the way got called a patriot for doing so).
Quite evident from stated evidence and proof, not your no facts opinions deprogrammer :
"President Obama, this is your Army. We are ready to march. Let's take these son of bitches out and give America back to an America where we belong," US Labor Union Leader Jimmy Hoffa Junior during President Obama's Reelection Campaign.
President Obama addressed the crowd shortly after US Labor Union Leader Jimmy Hoffa Junior. US Labor Union Leader Jimmy Hoffa Junior not arrested for "Terroristic Threatening of US Citizens", "Conspiracy To Commit the Murder of US Citizens", "Homegrown Domestic Terrorism Against US Citizens", etc..
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2011/09/05/jimmy_hoffa_at_obama_event_on_gop_lets_take_these_son_of_bitches_out.html
"Chancellor Hitler, we are your Army. We are ready to march. All Loyal German's Must take back Germany from the Jews". Chancellor Hitler's Brown Shirts, Sturmabteilung, Armed Paramilitary; and his Political Labor Union, National Socialist German Workers' Party, Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei aka NAZI.
Chancellor Hitler Ordering the elimination of other Political Parties (and did by Armed Force of his armed private Army, 1933), US Democrats demanding the elimination of the Republican Party.
President Obama's attempt to use the United Nations to Force US Gun Control (take away 2nd Amendment Rights):
Democrats Oppose Obama-U.N. Gun Control Treaty
http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2011/07/26/democrats-oppose-obama-un-gun-control-treaty
President Obama's Pastor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnlRrxXv-v8
Jive Talkin Obama
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7oWK5ewpH8
Typical Obama voters
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpAOwJvTOio
Let's see were is obabambam supposed to be on friday! Damn it missed him ... I mean Us
Don't worrry about the one that has your name on it - worry about the one marked "to whom it may concern" - regardless of what the governments try to do to make life tame and predictable, no dangers, the universe is still a big random chance full of unknown dangers. Best way to survive is to be paranoid and ready for whatever.
I've been following this sort of thing since I was a kid, and yes that's a very long time ago. The statement that this was the closest near miss we've had since 1900 or so. Bogus! We currently only look at about 10 percent of the night sky with all our high tech telescopes and most meteors are found by amatuers not the institutes. 100 plus years ago...please. They had much less than ten percent of the night sky being obeserved. So...long story short. We really have no idea how many close calls we've had simply because we haven't been looking, then or now.
That's true, there may have been other close calls. NASA estimates that, on average, an asteroid this big comes this close every 40 years or so. I'm just talking about known approaches, which I admit is a little self-limiting.
close calls or not It freaks me out although i would love to see one pass buy without hitting us
Quick get the Preparation H
As many people that have there heads up their azzes, no need for that stuff!
This undoubtebly wil give rise for Obwana to come up with a federal program to regulate Assteroids
Obama where are you? Give the asteroid a bailout before it's too late!
Even stuff like this brings out the racist arseholes! Thanks for the contributions dicheads....
Obama and the Democrats need to pass legislation making Asteroid collisions with Earth illegal, then these collisions will never ever ever occur in the future - right???!!!
( Huh, what do you mean a law passed in the House and Senate wouldn't have any effect on an Asteroid hitting earth?? But if we make it illegal, it can't happen?!? So gun laws have no effect on violent crime either????!!! OMG!!!)
Why is it that everytime someone mentions Obamas name idiots like you try to make it racist, While it may be politically motivated there is noting in that comment that makes it racist, We dislike Biden just as much.
Why...why...why you racist pig you!! (sarcasm font!)
@ Lost - LOL you'll notice he didn't mention a thing about the guy above wishing it landed on the NRA or RNC headquarters. No, that's just fine, you are only mean if you disparage democrats.
theexecutioner
Quite evident from stated evidence and proof, not your no facts opinions theexecutioner :
"President Obama, this is your Army. We are ready to march. Let's take these son of bitches out and give America back to an America where we belong," US Labor Union Leader Jimmy Hoffa Junior during President Obama's Reelection Campaign.
President Obama addressed the crowd shortly after US Labor Union Leader Jimmy Hoffa Junior. US Labor Union Leader Jimmy Hoffa Junior not arrested for "Terroristic Threatening of US Citizens", "Conspiracy To Commit the Murder of US Citizens", "Homegrown Domestic Terrorism Against US Citizens", etc..
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2011/09/05/jimmy_hoffa_at_obama_event_on_gop_lets_take_these_son_of_bitches_out.html
"Chancellor Hitler, we are your Army. We are ready to march. All Loyal German's Must take back Germany from the Jews". Chancellor Hitler's Brown Shirts, Sturmabteilung, Armed Paramilitary; and his Political Labor Union, National Socialist German Workers' Party, Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei aka NAZI.
Chancellor Hitler Ordering the elimination of other Political Parties (and did by Armed Force of his armed private Army, 1933), US Democrats demanding the elimination of the Republican Party.
President Obama's attempt to use the United Nations to Force US Gun Control (take away 2nd Amendment Rights):
Democrats Oppose Obama-U.N. Gun Control Treaty
http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2011/07/26/democrats-oppose-obama-un-gun-control-treaty
President Obama's Pastor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnlRrxXv-v8
Jive Talkin Obama
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7oWK5ewpH8
Typical Obama voters (give them a few cheap cellphones and they will let you control Trillions USDs).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpAOwJvTOio
They need to remove your gun (penis) and high capacity magazines (testicles) so that you cannot procreate anymore offspring like yourself and deprogrammer.
This Is My Rifle This Is My Gun
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kU0XCVey_U
And what Political Party opposed the 13th Amendment, and sided with the Confederated States of America, theexecutioner, sure say "Racist" all you want....H....Y....P....O.....C....R....I......T..............
Uranus
Best way to prepare is to get right with our maker and live today like its our last>
Agreed doc, He is in control of everything but He is sending us warning messages. Time to listen!!
Do you really believe this?
Warning messages about what? Hard to listen when your language is "giant space rocks buzzing the planet". I'm pretty sure the Almighty could speak English if He wanted to.
If this meter were to hit the earth, I wonder where in the eastern hemisphere would the impact occur?
After I actually read the article, I can deduce that the theoretical impact point if earth was a bit earlier is the Indian Ocean somewhere. The asteroid upon hiting the astmosphere blows up creating a blast similar to an atomic bomb. Because of its location few would even know the earth was struck by this smalllish meteor.
Kentucky?
And the accompanying EMP/EMR burst bouncing off the ionosphere wiping out all electronics Worldwide.
Don't worry most of the microprocessor technology is no longer manufactured in the US, the other Countries that do manufacturer microprocessors and electrical components (resistors, capacitors, nor gates, eproms, diodes, etc.) will have the US in a vise grip by the testicles.
Kind of like when we (Teams and I) E-Bombed Iraq from the 20th Century all the way back to the Stone Ages, during 2002 Operation Hotel California. Zero batteries, alternators, computers, communications, radios, transmitters, receivers, gps, satellite phones, television, generators, internet, electric water pumps, hydro electric, electric air conditioning, refrigeration, electric lights, light bulbs, manufacturing, etc., anything that was not in a Faraday Cage 100% grounded was burned (including most of the Team Members digital watches, just an oversight (mistake) resulting in difficulty in coordinating attacks against the Iraqis Military).
Will Saddam Fall Victim to the Elusive E-bomb?
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=125336&page=1
There is no EMP/EMR burst from an asteroid strike, you loon. We compare asteroid impacts to nuclear weapons because they're the only explosive weapons with great enough destructive force to give any real impression of the power of the impact.
But seriously, you're talking about catastrophic asteroid impacts and even theorizing that there will be WORLDWIDE electronics failures, and the point you're pushing is "we don't make microprocessors in the US"? That will be among the least of our problems in the scenario you've proposed.
Mildly interesting note...if the object that caused the Tunguska event had arrived 30 minutes later it would have impacted in the middle of Europe instead of an uninhabited Siberia. Would've been an interesting day.
Maybe a tiny one made of iron and nickel could hit the federal reserve someday.
The Federal Reserve is spread out all over the US at most Major US Cities. You can kill off the main one, one of the others just take over.
As put on air by the CNN anchor, this asteroid is another example of the Liberal left democrats proof of global warming.... And the liberals call the conservative's fools - OMG! What a group of dufus'!!!!!
(Better explain for the liberal idiots that may read this; Sorry, but no, if there is global warming on earth, that's IF THERE IS GLOBAL WARMING!, it wouldn't have any affect on asteroids in space....)
another arsehole's 2 cents worth..... really, 2 cents
I saw that clip when the reporter asked if global warming caused this close call with the asteroid. Definately one of those face palm moments.
Why not hitch a ride on some of these asteroids to analyze our solar system. Seems like a cheap way to get somewhere to take pictures.
Great idea.
About 30 Remote Piloted Spacecrafts (same number of GPS Satellites), RPSs, in one primary missile*, matches speed, deploys RPSs, then RPSs and the primary missile anchor themselves to the asteroid atdifferent locations for a 360 degree view. Solar Photo Voltaic Panels unfold, with back up of a nuclear power cell, continuous video feeds back to Earth, as the asteroid gets further away, solar powered transmission relays are ejected by the RPSs at predetermined intervals. Just like those people that buy surplus weather balloons, helium, a video camera (or cellphone), radio transmitter, metal box, antenna, and a radio receiver (tracker), this too can be built cheap with "Off the Shelf" components:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz1ipDYpAgQ
*Not a conventional "missile". Before anyone says anything, I was trained and experienced in the US Military Officer Missile Career Field, including NASA, as well as Nuclear (Weapons) Physics, Biological (Epidemiology), Chemical (Fort Redacted, Site Redacted, Iran Iraq Wars, Afghanistan), NAIRA/CAIRA; before I switched US Military Officer Career Field. The missile is carrying another payload.
Yes, great idea; then reality, President Obama allowing President Bush's NASA Budget Cuts. And President Obama's previous Proposal (Demand) to US Congress for further "Across the Board Budget Cuts" to pay for his previously not budget for demanded spending of $2.1 Trillion.
lol. um, the earth is 75% water. the 25% of it which is not isn't one great big city. chances are pretty low that would happen.
most likely, it would blow up over the ocean and inconvience a few fish.
You're right, I used a little too much shorthand there. I've revised that sentence to provide a bit more of a caveat. The asteroid would have to blow up in just the wrong place. However, an ocean strike by a large enough asteroid would do more than just inconvenience a few fish. It really would depend on exactly where it hits, as you rightly point out. Here's an example of an ocean strike that had a large effect:
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/39868808/ns/technology_and_science-science/
Thanks. Although, I still think Tungusta was a either a UFO malfunction or Tesla messing around with his Death Ray. lol.
Although many scientists do not agree that it can even happen naturally, if Cumbre Vieja
(west half of La Palma, Canary Islands) were to slide into the Atlantic Ocean, the resulting tsunami would go further up the Hudson than ever before and most likely wipe out New York City along with most of the coastal cities of the Americas from Maine to the Caribbean with the whole State of Florida being put underwater. Unfortunately one well-placed nuke would most likely do it.
I still think people should move away from the south and east coasts of the US to higher ground just due to the amount of Hurricanes that occur in those areas. Make those areas vast parks which would buffer the land from any natural occurring phenomenon.
Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News,
"One possible reason why Indian tribes only moved into the area relatively recently is that the people who were once there were all wiped out," Abbott said. "If you look at the predicted wave heights, there would have been few places to hide."
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/39868808/ns/technology_and_science-science/
Maybe that is why the "Indians" after digging around (unearthing skeletons) sold Manhattan for a "Few Trinkets". Still think it is really a Darwin Award winner, to build skyscrapers on top of underground shopping malls, subway tunnels, parking lots, etc. with those build below water level.
This is about rocks in space. Talking about other areas of empty space with rocks is just playing with loose marbles. P.S. Jon that is a brilliant idea if it were feasible.
The dinosaurs were not concerned about "rocks in space" either, and look what that lack of vision did for them.
Good thing humans are intelligent enough to think about such things and make certain that we are not made extinct.....unlike the rock headed humans who think like dinosaurs while they chew their cud and think...Oh it will just go away if I turn in this direction.
Slowly he turned, step by step, until suddenly he explained he was talking about drifting away from the subject. The term marbles is a metaphor for jumbled thoughts. There are creatures on earth that have existed for over 400,000,000 million years. They don't worry about rocks.
Makes me think of that book Eviction Earth where an asteroid takes out the moon.
I hope we have the trampoline in the right spot
Hope the trampoline is in the right place