Asteroid on Collision Course With Earth - Merry Christmas!

[Vicsun]

There's a 500 meter rock flying towards what appears to be the GMT+3 time-zone. The news broke out on the 24th when NASA issued a statement saying a Near-Earth Asteroid is predicted to pass near the Earth with an uncertain flyby distance. 'Impact cannot yet be ruled out. The odds of impact, presently around 1 in 300'. As more observations were taken, the chance of us getting hit rose to 1 in 60, or the highest ever recorded. Computations made on the 25th made the likelihood of collision 1/45. Yay.

The date given is the 13th of April 2029. Which also happens to be Friday (edit: the thirteenth!). The energy released, should we get hit, would be equivalent to 2,100 Megatons of TNT. You can compare this to the 0.011 Megatons of TNT released when Little Boy was dropped over Hiroshima. Or to the 50 Megatons of Tsar Bomba - the largest nuclear weapon we've managed to build. Luckily 2,100 Megatons isn't enough to severely alter our climate; the destruction would be localized in a radius of several hundred kilometers in the event the asteroid hits a landmass. In the more likely case of hitting an ocean, the effects would be more profound due to tsunamis.

Merry Christmas!

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

Guess we'd better cryogenically freeze Bruce Willis soon then, or else he'll be too old to save the world when the time comes...

[Xandax]

Again?

Seems we dodge 'roids all the time these days

[Chanak]

Thank you, Vic. By 2029, I will be 60 years old. *gasp* I will welcome it.

[Tower_Master]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr Spanky Guess we'd better cryogenically freeze Bruce Willis soon then, or else he'll be too old to save the world when the time comes...

LMAO!!!

Honestly, do these people have nothing better to do? As Xan said, we seem to be dodging catastrophies left and right!!! WE MUST DUCT TAPE OUR APART...ments...wait...d'oh.

[Ideal Maxima]

awww... i wish we could be hit with an asteroid... well, i would want it to land on an open field of course, somewhere where noone would get hurt

[Ekental]

superstition aside... I doubt its going to happen

[Aegis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ideal Maxima awww... i wish we could be hit with an asteroid... well, i would want it to land on an open field of course, somewhere where noone would get hurt

So... You want a comet/asteroid the size of a football field to come barreling in towards Earth, with an after affect that could very well cause massive damage, to both people and the planet, to hit us... In an open field?

I think I'm going to have to say no on this one.

[jopperm2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aegis So... You want a comet/asteroid the size of a football field to come barreling in towards Earth, with an after affect that could very well cause massive damage, to both people and the planet, to hit us... In an open field? I think I'm going to have to say no on this one.

Yeah, no kidding, let's do somthing useful with it loike get rid of DC.

[Ekental]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aegis So... You want a comet/asteroid the size of a football field to come barreling in towards Earth, with an after affect that could very well cause massive damage, to both people and the planet, to hit us... In an open field? I think I'm going to have to say no on this one.

Id rather have it hit there if its gonna hit than say in the ocean

[Vicsun]

Aww! So much bashing of astronomers in this thread! The monitoring of near earth 'roids is routine and personally I'd say a 1 in 41 (statistics updated - we now know the asteroid is smaller but the cloud of possible paths has shrunk once again, and we're still in it) chance of getting hit is pretty high. It's not like they're crying 'wolf' either, the laws of gravity are relatively simple and extremely well understood; the accuracy of the measurements is easy to determine. I trust that the folks at NASA are doing their jobs and presenting us with the facts.
Not that I'm preaching doom. A cold, probably inhuman, part of me says finding out that it's coming straight at us might actually be beneficial. Think how technology advanced during the space race. And the moon landing was, after all, no more than a case of a political... *ahem* penis measuring contest. (excuse the low-brow expression) I'm letting the word filter handle this one... If it doesn't get censored I'll assume it's okay by the board rules
A challenge such as a relatively small asteroid on collision course could well bring much greater cooperation between countries; cooperation of a level presently unheard of. Maybe it's because I'm cynical, but I don't think anything other than an external threat is able to unite the whole Earth.

[jopperm2]

I tend to agree with Vicsun, given 25 years to deal with it, I think the space organizatons will be very active in trying to find an Armageddon-esque solution to the problem. Plus, since I live within visual range of the space center in Florida, that means lots of fringe benefits for me as NASA get's more and more funding.

[Aegis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jopperm2 I tend to agree with Vicsun, given 25 years to deal with it, I think the space organizatons will be very active in trying to find an Armageddon-esque solution to the problem. Plus, since I live within visual range of the space center in Florida, that means lots of fringe benefits for me as NASA get's more and more funding.

I suggest two space shuttles, and one massive, heavy duty, industrial strength rubber band. Fly the two shuttles into space, flanking the comet. Position in a way where the comet's path takes it right through the rubber band. It becomes tought enough, and flings back out into space, and off to destroy some other hapless planet

[jopperm2]

Sounds good to me.. Operation: Galactic Wrist-Rocket.. Er.. shuttle?

[Vicsun]

UPDATE: 1-in-37 we're smashed to smithereens!

Keep tuned, folks!