"Abtahi, weren't you supposed to see that asteroid coming?"
"What! And miss out on these lattes?!"
Posted on 12/08/2017 9:25:30 AM PST by Red Badger
A MASSIVE asteroid that could have destroyed New York City skimmed past Earth – and NASA had no clue.
The large space rock – dubbed 2017 VL2 – passed the planet on November 9 at an astonishing distance of just 73,000 miles, which is considered tiny in space terms.
Space boffins think that if the rock measuring between 16 and 32 metres had hit, it could’ve wiped a major city such as New York off the map.
The rock belongs to the Apollo group of asteroids and was first seen at ATLAS-MLO observatory in Hawaii a day later.
It was travelling at a speed of 8.73km/s and would have caused catastrophic damage if it had made impact.
Now the asteroid has flown past Earth, it is not set to make another flyby until 2125.
NASA recently revealed a space rock the size of a mountain could hit the planet in 2036.
When first discovered in 2014, Apophis had a record-breaking collision risk of four on the Torino scale.
Steve Chesley, a NASA scientist, along with Paul Khodas from the space agency’s jet propulsion laboratory, predicted the collision will occur on April 13, 2036.
“Apophis has been one of those celestial bodies that has captured the public’s interest since it was discovered in 2004,” said Chesley.
“Updated computational techniques and newly available data indicate the probability of an Earth encounter on April 13, 2036, for Apophis has dropped from one-in-45,000 to about four-in-a million,” he added.
Why New York City? Why not Mexico City?
Better yet.... Tehran, Iran
Why not New York City?
I would not miss it.
“Steve Chesley, a NASA scientist, along with Paul Khodas from the space agency’s jet propulsion laboratory, predicted the collision will occur on April 13, 2036. “
Now THAT’S confidence !!!!!!!!!!!!!
.
Fortunately, the European Space Agency stepped up and...didn't do jack either. When did planetary defense become the sole responsibility of the United States?
No self respecting asteroid would ever dare hit Mexico City!.................
Paging Maxwell “Missed it by that much” SmRt.
In the far more likely scenario that it hit the ocean, what (if any) negative consequences would result? The kinetic energy of a 32 meter rock zooming in a interplanetary speed must be enourmous but would it be enough to, for example, generate a small tsunami? Hydrogen bombs didn't, so I'm guessing no but who knows?
Are they talking Manhattan, or the entire Metro area of New York City, with all its boroughs? Big diff.
Missed the New York Times building by 73,000 miles, oh well, ...
Usually just Manhattan.............
NASA had no clue because it is run by clueless Leftists who wouldn’t know an asteroid from a hemorrhoid.
Asteroids: God’s way of saying “So, how’s that space program coming along?”
WELL, WHEN YOUR HEAD IS UP YOUR A$$, IT ALL LOOKS THE SAME!..................
or....God’s way of saying, “SURPRISE!”...............................
NYC needs it.
Well, seriously, if you have to go, do you really want to know ahead of time about it? Not like you could do much to avoid it.
Reporter: “Hey, what happened to North Korea? It’s totally gone!!”
Secretary of Defense Mattis: “Uhhhhhhhhhhhh. Asteroid. Last night. No one even saw it coming. Weird, huh? But at least it missed NYC.”
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