[BenLurkin]

[ealgeone]

time to head for the hills!

[r_barton]

Swing and a miss. We hope. ;-)

[KarlInOhio]

and will pass Earth at a distance of between 14 million km (9 million) and 17,000 km (11,000 miles)...The reason for this variation in estimates has to do with the trajectory of the asteroid, which scientists cannot entirely predict. This in turn is due to the fact that they have only been able to track it since its discovery, just three years ago.

So after 3 years they can still only narrow down the nearest pass to +/- 4.5 million miles? I really hope something was lost in the writing of the article.

[FourtySeven]

A 30 m rock wouldn’t being extinction level events anyway, but it could wipe out a city.

We will see.

[Darksheare]

Doesn’t stop bpearthwatch from meandering in his stoned out voice about reptoids, CERN spying on him, or tiny space debris somehow causing earthquakes or the immense gravity well of Mercury slingshotting miles and miles wide rocks into us magically somehow.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Is...

"No Chance" Small Asteroid Will Hit Earth On March 5th

...the same as...

"Small Chance" No Asteroid Will Hit Earth On March 5th

[Menehune56]

11K miles is less than 5% of the mean distance to the moon - good thing it’s small.

[PAR35]

"it will be passing us again in a few weeks time, specifically between March 2nd and 6th"

So while they say that it will miss if it passes on the 5th, but they are noticeably silent as to what might happen on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 6th. Since we are only safe on one of the 5 days, simple math shows that there is an 80% chance it will hit.

You have to carefully parse anything that comes from the government, and look closely at what they don't say.

[sten]

will pass Earth at a distance of between 14 million km (9 million) and 17,000 km (11,000 miles). obvious spin is obvious

who states a range like that? ranges are usually stated low to high. ie: 11k - 9m miles

[Larry Lucido]

A large asteroid, yes. But not a small one.

[hattend]

...will pass Earth at a distance of between 14 million km (9 million) and 17,000 km (11,000 miles)

Boy, that is a heck of a spread.

[dfwgator]

Oh crap, we’re doomed!

[bgill]

I had put a sawbuck on it landing on a golf course.

[katana]

I am confident they are right. But on the other hand, this is the same agency that became confused over metric vs. imperial measurements and launched Hubble with lenses that produced completely out of focus images. They fixed the problem later on by installing what amounted to glasses, corrective lenses. But whenever NASA makes an announcement it’s worth considering the fact that they’re not perfect.