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Post by StuartG on Sept 7, 2010 22:46:01 GMT 1
"Asteroid 2010 RX30 is estimated to be approximately 32 to 65 feet in size and will pass within approximately 154,000 miles of Earth at 5:51 a.m. EDT Wednesday. The second object, 2010 RF12, estimated to be 20 to 46 feet in size, will pass within approximately 49,000 miles at 5:12 p.m. EDT. " www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/sep/HQ_M10-128_Asteroids_Pass_By.htmlWell alright, I wanted some good copy, but they could be wrong.... |
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Post by abacus9900 on Sept 7, 2010 23:08:38 GMT 1
"Asteroid 2010 RX30 is estimated to be approximately 32 to 65 feet in size and will pass within approximately 154,000 miles of Earth at 5:51 a.m. EDT Wednesday. The second object, 2010 RF12, estimated to be 20 to 46 feet in size, will pass within approximately 49,000 miles at 5:12 p.m. EDT. " www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/sep/HQ_M10-128_Asteroids_Pass_By.htmlWell alright, I wanted some good copy, but they could be wrong.... I shouldn't worry Stuart, they will be monitoring these objects with the best technology available. I don't think anyone alive today will have to worry about a major strike and by the time one is due science will have advanced enough to deal with it, well, theoretically anyway. |
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Post by StuartG on Sept 8, 2010 8:25:25 GMT 1
If You hear a big bump later on today
"they will be monitoring these objects with the best technology available" will seem a bit ironic...
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Post by abacus9900 on Sept 8, 2010 17:05:18 GMT 1
If You hear a big bump later on today "they will be monitoring these objects with the best technology available" will seem a bit ironic... Well, even if a huge asteroid is coming our way and we can't do much about it, at least we'll know well beforehand and get out of the way! |
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Post by kiteman on Sept 9, 2010 20:14:04 GMT 1
I shouldn't worry Stuart, they will be monitoring these objects with the best technology available. I don't think anyone alive today will have to worry about a major strike and by the time one is due science will have advanced enough to deal with it, well, theoretically anyway. The majority of cis-lunar asteroids are found just after they pass by...  |
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Post by StuartG on Sept 9, 2010 22:25:35 GMT 1
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Post by StuartG on Sept 10, 2010 1:14:17 GMT 1
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Post by abacus9900 on Sept 10, 2010 10:05:06 GMT 1
With very large asteroids it's important to spot them as soon as possible because that way you have more time to deflect them.
I was watching a doc yesterday about this very subject. They discussed several ways that could, in theory, be used to deflect an asteroid from hitting the earth.
One way was to simply launch an unmanned spaceship to collide with the asteroid, although this would be a bit hit and miss since it would be difficult to predict the outcome. Another way would be to launch a probe to deliver a nuclear device to detonate near the asteroid to realign its trajectory. This would not break up the asteroid if the explosion was designed to spread over all the surface of the object.
Another way would be to use special mirrors to focus the sun's runs onto the asteroid and heat it up which would produce gas jets due to the heating which would act to propel the asteroid away from its current path. Powerful lasers could be used or even placing a space craft the size of a golf buggy near to the asteroid in order to create an attractive gravitational effect which, again, would, alter its fatal trajectory.
Of course, the worst thing you could do would be to break the asteroid up because that would just create several huge bits which would impact on a number of locations.
If you can detect a large asteroid in time you would only have to alter its velocity a little bit to avoid collision since by the time the thing reached the predicted location the earth would have moved on and not be there anymore!
If I remember correctly, the next 'near miss' will occur in around 2030 but there shouldn't be much chance of a collision, however, there does appear to be a small chance that if the asteroid passes through a tiny 'window' it could return some years later (not quite sure about this).
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Post by StuartG on Sept 10, 2010 14:22:11 GMT 1
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Post by steveh on Sept 10, 2010 15:20:12 GMT 1
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Post by abacus9900 on Sept 10, 2010 16:50:26 GMT 1
oh, right steveh, thanks. Thanks for the link too, I shall have a look.  |
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Post by abacus9900 on Sept 11, 2010 10:58:56 GMT 1
"NASA initially estimated the energy that Apophis would have released if it struck Earth as the equivalent of 1480 megatons of TNT. A later, more refined NASA estimate was 880 megatons, then revised to 510 megatons. The impacts which created the Barringer Crater or the Tunguska event are estimated to be in the 3–10 megaton range. The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa was the equivalent of roughly 200 megatons. In comparison, the Chicxulub impact, believed by many to be a significant factor in the extinction of the dinosaurs, has been estimated to have released about as much energy as 100,000,000 megatons." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99942_Apophis |
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