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Heavenly body gives Bush a close call
The Guardian ^
| Thursday February 26, 2004
| David Adam
Posted on 02/26/2004 2:42:23 PM PST by presidio9
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To: 3catsanadog
In today's Bush bashing climate, had this asteroid hit earth, sooner or later, the bashers would have been pointing fingers that he had known, and he should have warned Americans to go to the tornado cellers. And Howard Dean would have found those reports "very interesting."
21
posted on
02/26/2004 3:05:13 PM PST
by
presidio9
(FREE MARTHA)
To: presidio9
Man, there have been a LOT of these recently. I think we are in a shooting gallery.
22
posted on
02/26/2004 3:05:39 PM PST
by
Grig
To: presidio9
That could land on my lawn anytime it felt good and ready to! ;)
23
posted on
02/26/2004 3:06:04 PM PST
by
.cnI redruM
(At the end of the day, information has finite value and may only come at a significant price.)
To: Steve_Seattle
>>500 meters across
If I'm not mistaken, an asteroid anywhere near that size would have a devastating impact, much larger than any atomic weapon and possibly enough to kill millions and disrupt the earth's atmosphere for months or even years.<<
And doesn't it bother you that we would have had only a couple of days notice? In all the movies we have MONTHS to get our affairs in order.
24
posted on
02/26/2004 3:09:52 PM PST
by
RobRoy
To: bonfire
What's the plan for an asteroid hit? "Heads up, folks."
25
posted on
02/26/2004 3:10:31 PM PST
by
Ole Okie
To: presidio9
January 14 could have been a bad day for George Bush. As the president was preparing to announce America's return to the moon in a speech at the headquarters of Nasa, he was almost asked to deliver a very different message: that the Earth could suffer a devastating asteroid strike within 24 hours. 'Bad day for Bush?' How would it be worse for him than for any of us? Was the asteroid possibly heading for him in particular? Is this just a very very slanted story, or do news writers just not realize the stupid things they say?
New York Times headline: "World to end tomorrow, Women and Minorities Hardest Hit."
26
posted on
02/26/2004 3:15:13 PM PST
by
atomicpossum
(Only Hillary Will Lick Bush in '04!)
To: presidio9
The object - named 2004 AS1 - turned out to be around 500 metres across, and passed the Earth at a safe range of about 12m km: some 32 times the distance between the Earth and the moon.
GREAT SCOTT! That thing only missed us by about 7,644,800 miles! It's interesting that an amateur astronomer was able to give the "all-clear." The global warming nonsense has recently been losing steam. Is this the new "crisis" that the left and the UN will demand billions of dollars to study, evaluate, and lie about? They're kooks.
27
posted on
02/26/2004 3:17:38 PM PST
by
Jaysun
(COVER THY PALE LEGS AND SHUT UP.)
To: .cnI redruM
Since this is a thread about remarkable
assteroids, I thought that photo might be appropriate. Inrique seems to think so too:
28
posted on
02/26/2004 3:17:43 PM PST
by
presidio9
(FREE MARTHA)
To: Steve_Seattle
If I'm not mistaken, an asteroid anywhere near that size would have a devastating impact, much larger than any atomic weapon and possibly enough to kill millions and disrupt the earth's atmosphere for months or even years.Since 500m is about 1/4 mile for those who prefer the English units, you're right. That would be bad, but not necessarily catastrophic. Depends on where it hits: the ocean could probably accept that without major catastrophe. That's not to say we wouldn't notice.
The famous Barringer "Meteor Crater" in Arizona, which is about 1.6 km in diameter, was reportedly (on one Web site) formed by a meteor about 25m in diameter.
Found a reference that says the crater diameter is roughly 10x the impactor diameter. If the estimate about Barringer Crater is right, then the crater should be 250m in diameter -- and it's actually 1600m in diameter, which is a factor of 64. So let's use those as the lower and upper bounds.
For a 500m impactor, the lower bound for the crater diameter is: 5000m (5km, 3miles).
The upper bound for the diameter is 32 km, 19.2 miles. I'm sure there's a scaling factor, but I would think it's reasonable to say that a 500m-diameter object would make a crater several miles in diameter. That's gotta hurt a bit.
To: presidio9
"A preliminary analysis of the discovery data for this object yielded a possible impact with the Earth in less than two days' time," Just enough time to panic, vomit, cry, and kiss your ass goodbye...
To: bonfire
It kinda makes you wonder just what would Pres. Bush HAVE told us?? What's the plan for an asteroid hit?On less than 24 hours' notice? Not much more than "Duck!". The best we could have done was wait until an accurate trajectory was calculated and then, if it happened to be headed for a populated area, tell them to run like hell. Or, if it was to land in the ocean, to evacuate coastal cities to whatever extent possible.
Which probably wouldn't be much. Basically you'd just have mass panic and gridlock.
And, of course, a 500-meter asteroid would be a hell of a lot worse than a 30-meter one.
31
posted on
02/26/2004 3:28:14 PM PST
by
Timesink
(Smacky is power.)
To: presidio9
Why does this paper assume that if an asteroid hits, it will hit the US? Because America, in its view, is uniquely evil?
The surface of the earth is about 200 million square miles, of which 57 million or so are continents. The land area of the US is about 3.5 million square miles. Chances are an asteroid will land in an ocean, or hit some other country. (Something hit Siberia in 1908, maybe an asteroid.)
Of course, that won't stop it from being Bush's fault.
To: presidio9
That's Anna and she sure needs a brush off! Does this warrant a "ping list?"
To: presidio9
"The object - named 2004 AS1 - turned out to be around 500 metres across, and passed the Earth at a safe range of about 12m km"You know, I thought I felt the wind kick up a little stronger than usual that day...
34
posted on
02/26/2004 3:54:39 PM PST
by
Hatteras
To: presidio9
HA !
very good :o)
35
posted on
02/26/2004 4:24:57 PM PST
by
traumer
(Even paranoids have enemies)
To: Timesink
>>It kinda makes you wonder just what would Pres. Bush HAVE told us?? What's the plan for an asteroid hit?
On less than 24 hours' notice? Not much more than "Duck!".
"Duck" works.
Several other things also come to mind:
"Repent! The end is near!"
and
"Kiss your ass goodbye."
As an aside, this line from the Toho Japanese monster movies never seemed to do much good:
"Remain calm. Leave the town in an orderly fashion. Don't panic!"
36
posted on
02/26/2004 4:44:22 PM PST
by
weegee
(Election 2004: Re-elect President Bush... Don't feed the trolls.)
To: Jaysun
More people voted for President Bush than voted for Clinton/Gore in 1992 or 1996 but somehow he doesn't have a "mandate" since Al Gore Junior got 0.52% more of the vote (in absence of a national recount).
The statisticians are feeling neglected. Hyperbole rules the day.
37
posted on
02/26/2004 4:47:24 PM PST
by
weegee
(Election 2004: Re-elect President Bush... Don't feed the trolls.)
To: presidio9
Seems to me that all that space travel and nuclear technology might come in handy, IF we prepare now.
Why should we let ourselves be wiped out by a brainless chunk of rock?
38
posted on
02/26/2004 4:48:27 PM PST
by
LibKill
(My sigil: Two crossed, dead, Frenchmen emblazoned on a mound of dead Frenchmen.)
To: AreaMan
What did Halliburton know and why is Dick Cheney so silent on the subject?!?
Sorry, I thought this was the Howard Stern Thread.
If I said you had a heavenly body, would you hold it against me???
40
posted on
02/26/2004 4:53:31 PM PST
by
weegee
(Election 2004: Re-elect President Bush... Don't feed the trolls.)
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