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Asteroid Poses Tiny Danger, but It May Be Lured Away
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/22/science/space/22aste.html ^
| November 22, 2005
| HENRY FOUNTAIN
Posted on 11/23/2005 11:41:04 AM PST by BenLurkin
From a human perspective, Earth-crossing asteroids can have good timing or bad timing. Good timing is when the asteroid and the Earth don't meet. Bad timing is when they do.
Astronomers say that a 1,000-foot diameter asteroid discovered last year may have bad timing. There is a slight possibility that the rock, 99942 Apophis, will hit Earth in 2036 after coming within about 20,000 miles in 2029. A collision could cause regional devastation on a scale far worse than last year's tsunami.
"The most likely thing is that it is not going to be a threat," said Rusty Schweikart, the former Apollo astronaut and chairman of the B612 Foundation, which is concerned about protecting Earth from asteroids. "There's 5,499 chances out of 5,500 that it's going to miss us."
The trouble with Apophis, Mr. Schweikart said, is that that one chance cannot yet be ruled out. Better optical and radar observations are needed to determine the asteroid's orbit, but the best measurements cannot be made until 2013.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: asteroids; nearearth; space
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1
posted on
11/23/2005 11:41:04 AM PST
by
BenLurkin
To: BenLurkin
Want some candy, little asteroid?
2
posted on
11/23/2005 11:43:05 AM PST
by
samtheman
To: BenLurkin
"There's 5,499 chances out of 5,500 that it's going to miss us."
Wouldn't it have been simpler to say, "One chance in 5,500"?
3
posted on
11/23/2005 11:43:59 AM PST
by
LIConFem
(A fronte praecipitium, a tergo lupi.)
To: samtheman
4
posted on
11/23/2005 11:44:45 AM PST
by
BenLurkin
(O beautiful for patriot dream - that sees beyond the years)
To: KevinDavis
5
posted on
11/23/2005 11:45:25 AM PST
by
BenLurkin
(O beautiful for patriot dream - that sees beyond the years)
To: BenLurkin
6
posted on
11/23/2005 11:45:32 AM PST
by
samtheman
To: LIConFem
>>>Wouldn't it have been simpler to say, "One chance in 5,500"?>>>
They just like saying large numbers. Makes them feel smart.
7
posted on
11/23/2005 11:46:39 AM PST
by
sandbar
To: LIConFem
>> "There's 5,499 chances out of 5,500 that it's going to miss us."
> Wouldn't it have been simpler to say, "One chance in 5,500"?
Rusty has apparently encountered government school graduates
who buy Lotto tickets and think 1:5500 is good odds. The way
he put it, only the totally innumerate victims of public
schools can conclude we're all going to die.
8
posted on
11/23/2005 11:47:42 AM PST
by
Boundless
To: sandbar
Yeah, they're a bunch of fart smellers, them scientists!
;o)
9
posted on
11/23/2005 11:48:07 AM PST
by
LIConFem
(A fronte praecipitium, a tergo lupi.)
To: RightWhale; Brett66; xrp; gdc314; sionnsar; anymouse; RadioAstronomer; NonZeroSum; jimkress; ...
10
posted on
11/23/2005 11:48:08 AM PST
by
KevinDavis
(http://www.cafepress.com/spacefuture)
To: BenLurkin
Radioactive fragments? Oh, yeah, that dust would be OH so dangerous. Ghads. Why can't the NY Times at least import the only good thing about France - the lack of innane fear of nuclear energy.
11
posted on
11/23/2005 11:48:11 AM PST
by
kingu
(I'm a liberal's worst nightmare - a conservative that votes.)
To: BenLurkin
Install the rockets, control it's path, and use it as a hammer where needed.
12
posted on
11/23/2005 11:48:38 AM PST
by
ASA Vet
(Those who know don't talk, those who talk don't know.)
To: BenLurkin
Who are we to interfere with the asteroid's free speech rights? If it cannot afford a lawyer, the courts should appoint one.
13
posted on
11/23/2005 11:51:08 AM PST
by
P.O.E.
(Liberalism is the opiate of the elite classes.)
To: BenLurkin
So we just send Tommy Lee Jones, Bruce Willis and some others go out there and blast this thing to smithereens!
Or, we can dig up Slim Pickens and have him ride it back into earth?
To: BenLurkin
I've never seen it mentioned in these articles but this asteroid HAD to have been named by fans of Stargate SG-1, correct? (Apophis once tried to destroy earth on the show by diverting an Asteroid towards it.)
To: BenLurkin
Gravitational pull of a small vehicle is minuscule, and to keep it suspended over the asteroid for a long time would waste all the fuel. [Besides, the jet exhaust will impact on the asteroid and will start pushing it in the opposite direction with much greater efficiency].
16
posted on
11/23/2005 11:57:14 AM PST
by
GSlob
To: BenLurkin
Perhaps nuclear propulsion? Man, what's wrong with you? What if something went wrong? You want to poison us all with an "unnatural" death before we all die the "natural" way by being smashed?
17
posted on
11/23/2005 11:57:16 AM PST
by
LRS
To: BenLurkin
Apophis? There's a Stargate SG-1 joke in here somewhere.
18
posted on
11/23/2005 12:00:28 PM PST
by
contemplator
(Capitalism gets no Rock Concerts)
To: BenLurkin
With our luck, the Japanese will land on an asteroid and direct it to earth.
19
posted on
11/23/2005 12:01:00 PM PST
by
A CA Guy
(God Bless America, God bless and keep safe our fighting men and women.)
To: BenLurkin
From a human perspective, Earth-crossing asteroids can have good timing or bad timing. Good timing is when the asteroid and the Earth don't meet. Bad timing is when they do.
Someone got paid actual money to write this garbage?
20
posted on
11/23/2005 12:01:33 PM PST
by
TalonDJ
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