Posted on 12/27/2019 8:25:51 AM PST by Red Badger
More space rocks seem to be approaching Earth’s territory, and a new report reveals another one may bring in disasters. NASA has spotted an asteroid traveling at 63,000 miles per hour, and there is a possibility that it can impact the Earth.
Express reports that the space agency recently tracked down an asteroid named 101955 Bennu but formally known as 1999 RQ36, hurtling towards Earth at a rapid speed of 63,000 miles per hour. NASA has not only labeled this a Potentially Hazardous Object or PHO, but they have also classified RQ36 with the second-highest rating on the Palermo Technical Impact Hazard Scale. Some experts have already warned the space agency to take action should the asteroid enter the atmosphere as it can bring on calamities and disasters once it hits.
As to when it can strike Earth, experts predict that RQ36 may strike the planet in the last quarter of the 22nd century, which is still decades away. Experts predict that it may happen around the years 2175 or 2196.
This asteroid measures about 1,640 feet in diameter, which is equal to the size of the Empire State Building in New York. RQ36 also orbits around the sun once every two years, and once every six years, it makes a close approach with Earth. The closest it has usually gotten is within 0.002 astronomical units, or 185,000 miles, which is nearer than most asteroids that have been classified as Near-Earth Objects have gotten. RQ36 also weighs 68 million tons and is traveling at a speed of 63,000 miles per hour.
Meanwhile, Express also reports the potential disasters that will happen when another kind of asteroid manages to strike the Earth. The astronomers at NASA revealed that over the course of a few hundred thousand years, asteroids that would measure beyond a kilometer could potentially kill millions when it strikes, or cause bigger disasters. They went on to say that the debris would come from the impact would trigger acid rains while blocking sunlight and even firestorms as a result of the remnants of the space rock falling on the surface of the planet.
101955 Bennu
Good catch! My brain is still reeling from the Christmas-eve family & friends crowd...
I’ll bite, why?
One thing we can do, and relatively cheaply, is search, identify and monitor potentially problematic asteroids. Where to draw the line on how hard to search is a cost-benefit question. Their orbits become less predictable over time. Periodically rechecking their positions and orbits will be needed to maintain acceptible advance warning.
Another thing we can and should do is identify one or a few asteroids in very safe orbits (ie. ones we can't perturb into trouble) and test various schemes for changing their orbits. Someday we will find a live one and I don't want to depend on a 'crash course' of last minute government solutions.
lol
I was gonna say same with women but that could lead to trouble.
Yes but how close THIS time (they CAN predict that kind of thing pretty well, and because they dont mention it it sounds like HYPE)
Further ? Non-news item
Even if within 185000 miles (this time) that is just being inside the Moon’s orbit - a huge volume - which has odds (hitting a ~9000mile wide earth) of millions to one.
If it was ANYTHING close they would mention it (and start acting in a comical cartoony Panicing way)
Those that live through it may have unobstructed views of the oceans.
Two hundred foot waves, fire and brimstone could even clean out a dump like SF.
Fear the Taurids
Ask your pHD buddy why all craters show that asteroids hit head-on at 90° impact, never at an angle. ;)
NASA loves to make predictions waaaay into the future, that never happens.
I listened with interest to some of the talk about space force, including that by the President. Did any of it include mention of dealing with extraterrestrial dangers like asteroid and comet strikes?
Not that I am aware of. What I have read speaks to countering hostile nation threats to space operations from the ground, air, and space and for use of space for offensive operations.
The establishment of a unified command with cognizance over the AOA means that there will already be someone to assign the anti-NEO type missions to when the time comes.
Where are those craters? Do you have close up pictures?
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