Hefty Asteroid to Sweep Near Earth. (Almost a half mile wide. Can be Seen w/Binoculars)

Sky and Telescope ^ | Roger W. Sinnott

[RightWhale]

It will probably still be too light to see this from Fairbanks, but we'll check it out.

[Momaw Nadon]

Astronomers first detected this object, designated 2002 NY40, on July 14th with the 1-meter LINEAR telescope in New Mexico. Thus it was picked up a full month before brushing by Earth, unlike asteroid 2002 MN, whose pass well inside the Moon's orbit was not realized until several days after the fact.

As a conservative, I generally oppose spending on government programs.

But in this case, I believe these close calls with asteroids warrant the U.S. government to find out where these asteroids are and research how to deflect them.

A few million dollars spent on asteroid detection and defense will pale in comparison to the trillions of dollars in damage that would result from the impact of an asteroid of this magnitude.

Or better yet, maybe Steven Speilberg can spend the money he made from Deep Impact to fund such programs.

Opinions?

[Conan the Librarian]

Probably won't see it do to excessive street lighting in the city.

[PatrickHenry]

Already posted under a different title HERE.

[Salgak]

Nope, THAT thread is about 2002 NT7: this is a different, and smaller, rock. . .

[Republican Wildcat]

Incorrect.

[etcetera]

If there's a potential of it hitting the Earth in the future, maybe we should nuke it after it passes us, changing its orbit so it goes into the Sun.

[RightWhale]

A few million dollars spent on asteroid detection and defense will pale in comparison to the trillions of dollars in damage that would result from the impact of an asteroid of

Won't be a few $1 million. More like $100 billion to $1 trillion.

[PatrickHenry]

Oh m'God! They're coming at us from everywhere! It's the end of the world!

[Paid4This]

The US governement from it's beginning has funded scientific research with taxpayers monies. I have no problem with it. The odds are long, but if we hit this jackpot that's probably the end of civilization for possibly thousands of years, and very possibly the end of sapient life on earth. We need to fund these programs. I have never quibbled with NASA's budget, even at times I have thought they had less than inspired leadership and objectives.

[Paid4This]

The first step is mapping the courses of every orbiting object in our solar system out for about 10000 years. That wouldn't cost trillions, probably wouldn't even cost 50 million. It's money well spent, they can take it out of some welfare program. One of the only things our government is supposed to do is protect it's citizenry, this qualifies.

Also, another reason the old space program was so costly is that Democrats and democrat-kin like Johnson and Nixon funded it. One of the only accomplishments of the Clinton administration was NASA's inception of more numerous, cheap and more powerful space exploration platforms. Maybe a little too cheap, given the failure of the Mars missions. But overall it's a sound idea.

[Joe Hadenuf]

Nope, this is a newly discovered asteroid, completely unknown, until earlier this month.

[RightWhale]

The mapping is well underway, especially in America and England. The next step, should a collider be identified, will not be cheap. That's where the rest of the $1 trillion will go.

[rockfish59]

Where's the one with all the gold on it?
We should lasso it and bring it on in.

[Doe Eyes]

Or better yet, maybe Steven Speilberg can spend the money he made from Deep Impact to fund such programs. Opinions?

Yes, Liberals must fund this. Its their fault.

[OBAFGKM]

"changing its orbit so it goes into the Sun."

Unfortunately, it takes more energy to get to the sun than to about anyplace else in the solar system. About all we can do is predict an asteroid impact and then nudge it so that it just misses.

[Joe Hadenuf]

You know, that's an interesting idea. Maybe we ought to see if we can even hit one as it passes. This could give us data that could help in the distant future, with one that is on a collision course.

It would be interesting to see if a hit would even change the course of somthing almost a half mile wide. I imagine it would. What a target though, 330,000 miles from earth. That would be like hitting a fly at 500 yards with 22 rifle.

Of course, if one were on a collision trajectory, we could wait until it was a lot closer. Then again, if we broke it up, it could rain down 500 boulders the size of houses, instead of one big one.

[NormsRevenge]

If folks really understood how vulnerable we are on this lil rock amidst all the other rocks floating around ... Well, They'd probably be very upset!

Hey it was good enough for the dinosaurs, it ought take out the liebrals too .. Cockroaches will survive as well as lobbyists ..

[montag813]

If this asteroid hits it will be a great opportunity to short the stock market.