Posted on 08/22/2014 2:31:59 PM PDT by nickcarraway
However, scientists claim there is no cause for concern because the hundreds of years of warning could allow for a method to divert it
Researchers studying a huge asteroid that is hurtling towards earth say there is a possibility of it striking our planet on March 16, 2880!
They say the rock rotates so quickly that it should break apart, but it remained intact on its Earth-bound trajectory, according to a report in Dailymail.co.uk
Though studies have revealed that Asteroid 1950DA is held together by cohesive forces called van der Waals, scientists still have no clue on how to stop it.
The rock is about 3,280ft (1,000 metres) in diameter and rotates once every two hours and six minutes.
At this rate, the rock should break apart and eventually disintegrate, but it is not showing any signs of doing so.
Although the probability of an impact is only 0.3 per cent, this represents a risk 50 per cent greater than an impact from all other asteroids.
However, scientists claim there is no cause for concern because the hundreds of years of warning could allow for a method to divert it, such as dusting the surface of the asteroid with chalk or charcoal, or white glass beads. This would change its reflectivity and allow sunlight to do the work of pushing the asteroid out of the way.
Nasa is currently tracking all 1,400 potentially hazardous asteroids so far identified and predicting their future close approaches and impact probabilities.
It’s gonna ruin everyone’s plans for St. Patrick’s Day in 2880.
Not to worry. I have it from all the really smart people that Global Warming is going to kill us all way before that. ( /s )
Darks, aren’t you going to have the problem of truckers delivering to the wrong address fixed by then?
This is just some more raw materials that we won’t have to lob into orbit.
How did you get in so soon?
/johnny
Oh, thank goodness.
This IS HUGH and SERIES!!!
I will most probably be deceased by then.
Whew talk about a bad day...
Yes, you’ll still be dead.
/johnny
I am looking forward to running down the curtain and joining the choir invisible, since I have been told i have a very nice voice. And you will not even have to nail me to the perch.
"Shall we gather at the River?"
/johnny
Just in my short n00bie time here (since 2009) I have losy a dozen dear FRiends.
They have been closer to me than my own family.
losy=LOST. (sigh)
You mean, I can stop sending truckers into orbit?!
I doubt it. How else will they learn?
RIGHT!
If we can be sure of Wifi, we’re set!
>> With roughly a 12% chance per decade. Dunno whether it will wreck civilization, but frankly I’d rather not be around to see it. <<
We’ve become so completely and dangerously dependent upon inter-connected electrical networks (esp. the power grid and the Internet) that unless “hardening” of the power grid is accomplished well in advance, another Carrington Event would simply bring modern civilization to a halt.
Without large and reliable sources of electrical power, most of us in the developed economies would starve to death within a month or two. Food transportation would be impossible, as the electricity-driven pumps for gasoline and diesel ceased to function, Even people with large stocks of food and ammunition would perish sooner or later, as roving mobs looted and killed in search of food.
Therefore, the only people likely to survive would be tribesmen and peasants in remote areas who grow most of their own food. And it could take hundreds if not thousands of years for these people to develop anything approaching our current levels of technology and “civilization.”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.