Huge asteroid hurtling towards Earth will fly past our planet so close it will go UNDER many man-mad

[Lochloosa]

satellites.

A 150-foot asteroid orbiting Earth called 2012 DA14 will pass so close to Earth it will fly UNDER man-made satellites orbiting our planet.
Nasa's Impact Risk report said that the odds of the space rock actually hitting our planet are very low indeed - but on February 15 next year it will pass just 17,000 miles from Earth, closer than 'geostationary' satellites.

If an asteroid of that size hit our planet, it would cause an explosion similar


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2110396/Asteroid-2012-DA14-NOT-hit-Earth-year-says-astronomer.html#ixzz1oIW6H5Lf

[JI7]

1. does anyone else sometimes wish it would hit us ?

[zappaman]

2. Seriously, that actually made me laugh out loud!

and the answer is yes.

[TheWraith]

3. Nobody in their right mind does.

That's the logic by which somebody snaps and murders their little children before killing themselves.

[roguevalley]

14. yes actually. RV, watching more snow fall on her six feet already

[WhoIsNumberNone]

17. Maybe if it lands in Kansas, when the Koch brothers are home?

[FarLeftFist]

33. I would just like to see what our civilization would do when faced with the task of knowing it will.

It would be interesting to see the problem solving and solutions that would take place.

[lob1]

4. If the asteroid happened to hit a Republican debate,

it would actually be interrupting a disaster.

[Zalatix]

32. If it hit Limbaugh it might not do any damage.

If it hits his head it'll shatter.

If it hits his belly it'll bounce back out of the atmosphere.

[1monster]

5. Naw. Ain't gonna happen. Did you forget? The Earth's gonna be

destroyed on December 21, this year!

Or, I'm holding off on Christmas shopping until December 22 this year.

[Lochloosa]

7. Forgot all about that one...damn...and all that money I just spent on a new telescope

[dixiegrrrrl]

23. Dec. 21...there is a date picked out?

Great..I can max all my credit cards on the 15th then.

[lunatica]

25. Must save that money for the after apocalypse sales!!

Getting yanked into heaven naked will require buying a new wardrobe, for example.

[bluerum]

6. The sky. It's falling.

Ohs nos.

[chknltl]

20. Everyone stand back, I'm an expert!

Ok, when and where did this Falling Sky Event occur? Did you get the names of any witnesses? Photos? Were there any sky bits left unobliterated after the event? Did you collect any samples? For the sake of public safety, please refrain from discussing the details of this event with the public as that is a job best left to us professionals. Thanks.

[thelordofhell]

8. Quick......Somebody get Bruce Willis

[leftyohiolib]

11. damn i love robot chicken. go seth n matt

[Old and In the Way]

9. I wonder what the margin of error is on these calculations?

And if there's a chance that some other space object could change it's trajectory between now and then? Having a back-up plan to interdict these kinds of objects ought to be a priority for the entire world.

[pinboy3niner]

13. +/- 18,000 miles

(Just kidding--see pokerfan's link in #10.)

[socialist_n_TN]

31. Can't do it. That would be socialism.........

[pokerfan]

10. 2012 DA14 is almost certainly not going to hit the Earth next February

The Bad Astronomer is on top of it.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12283412

[IDemo]

12. I saw "The Great Daylight Meteor" in 1972

It skimmed the atmosphere for quite a while and re-entered space. It was said that it would have created a significant blast if it had impacted Earth.

[starroute]

18. Was that the one that skipped on the atmosphere like a stone on a pond?

I recall reading years ago about that happening and how any asteroid that approaches Earth at a low angle is likely to get deflected the same way. It would take one coming straight at us to punch through the atmosphere.

[IDemo]

28. It did technically deflect from the atmosphere

But it seems hard to describe it as a "skip" when it burned for so long before returning to space. We saw several pieces break off (a local woman called the news station and said she saw aliens bailing out of the supposed spaceship).

It was this event, along with the book "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan that had me thinking of an astronomy career, however briefly.

[jimlup]

15. I wonder if it is actually man made... like a spent Saturn V upper stage S4-B

I think after Apollo-12 NASA started crashing them into the moon so that would mean there are 3 of them: Apollo's 8, 10, and 11 all have upper stages in near Earth solar orbits (I think.)

[hobbit709]

26. Not even close to man made. orbital path shows it came from way out there.

[sofa king]

29. We found S-IVB-507 from Apollo 12...

...but none of the rest. Wikipedia claims that the Apollo 9 booster is also in solar orbit.

S-IVB-507 is now designated J002E3. It was in a semi-stable orbit around the Earth-Moon system for a while until about 2003, and may return in 2032.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J002E3

http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/j002e3.html

As ion rockets are coming along nicely, I'd like to see a new species of exploration vehicle, a "curator-bot," which can run down early, nonfunctional exploration vehicles and park them in a "museum orbit" around one of the Lagrange points.

It should be semi-autonomous and capable of being resupplied with propellant, improved instruments, and replacement hardware from time to time, which it will install itself. The museum would also of course serve as a junkyard, a store of useful materials and volatiles, and perhaps an instruction and training area. Folks at home would be able to control attendant cameras and perhaps even piece together new exploration vehicles from the junk, or revive scientific instruments that have failed or gone dormant.

Rendezvous and redirection of man-made objects in space would, of course, serve a potentially much more important purpose, which is to give us half a chance to redirect a real asteroid away from us. That's going to take a lot of practice and effort.

[jimlup]

30. Very cool - thanks!

[ZombieHorde]

16. Oh well. Better luck next time. nt

[mindwalker_i]

19. ...

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=asteroids+game&num=10&hl=en&gbv=2&biw=1305&bih=709&tbm=isch&tbnid=kHjXAEufB_MKFM:&imgrefurl=http://feneroz.com/49_Asteroids-video-game/&docid=pXguyfR2_qSAYM&imgurl=&w=550&h=296&ei=eYZVT8e5DKL8iQKGkrTIBw&zoom=1

This is gonna rock!

[L0oniX]

21. WE'RE D( )( )MED !

[SmileyRose]

22. huge asteroid

I expected another Limbaugh thread

[hobbit709]

27. 150 ft is not HUGE.

Unless you happen to be near the impact site no real biggie. this is about the same size as the one that made Barringer Crater in AZ.
the ones to really worry about are the 1 mile+ ones.