Asteroid on way, not too close for comfort

Hawkesbury Gazette ^ | January 30, 2013 | Nicky Phillips

[BenLurkin]

An asteroid about half the size of a football field will hurtle past Earth on February 15, NASA scientists report.

While there is no chance the flying rock will collide with our planet, it will break the record for the closest fly-by of an asteroid its size.

"Since regular sky surveys began in the 1990s we've never seen an object this big get so close to Earth," said Don Yeomans, a planetary scientist with NASA's Near Earth Object Program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The 50-metre wide asteroid, known as 2012 DA14, will come within 28,000 kilometres of Earth's surface, closer than the belt of geosynchronous satellites that record weather data and telecommunications.

[BenLurkin]

[blam]

It's Always Something (IAS)

[Puppage]

Prepper Ping!

[BenLurkin]

Looks too close for comfort to me!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7YTmS6U8WM

[NCDave]

SMODAL= Sweet Meteor Of Death At Last! .....And it`s going to miss us?? :(

[pgkdan]

What’s the over/under on the number of satellites this thing will take out?

[JRandomFreeper]

The only prepping you can do for an asteroid strike is to get right with Jesus. I've got those preps covered. ;)

/johnny

[COBOL2Java]

[Puppage]

The only prepping you can do for an asteroid strike is to get right with Jesus. I've got those preps covered. ;)

Amen, Johnny!

[ZX12R]

I hope it breaks up and hits the capital of every country surrounding Israel.

[mmichaels1970]

I propose a more proactive approach.

[COBOL2Java]

"[But it] will definitely not hit Earth," said Dr Yeoman.

That's what they want you to believe!

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

0. Nada. The goose egg. It’s not even passing through an area populated by many satellites. Also, space is really, really BIG so satellites are widely separated.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

“A similar-sized asteroid that collided with Earth about 50,000 years ago created the 1.6-kilometre wide Meteor Crater in Arizona.”

Short video. It was about equivalent to a 20 megaton blast.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoGvlYCkD6Q

[BenLurkin]

Depends on how big the asteroid is. This one would “only” devatate an area 50 miles across. Folks 100 miles away might want to have a 3 month supply of food and water on hand.

[JRandomFreeper]

Folks 100 miles away might want to have a 3 month supply of food and water on hand.

And learn sign language. I expect the ka-boom would be pretty loud. ;)

/johnny

[blam]

"Depends on how big the asteroid is. This one would “only” devatate an area 50 miles across. Folks 100 miles away might want to have a 3 month supply of food and water on hand."

(ahem) Bring your gold and I'll trade you some food for it.

[onedoug]

[PeaceBeWithYou]

We need to get busy mining this asteroid. It is just a matter of time untill it smashes us.

JPL Small-Body Database.