Will Apophis Hit Earth in 2036? NASA Rejects Russian Report

Space.com via Yahoo! News ^ | Mon Feb 7 2011 | Michelle Bryner

[arderkrag]

In 2004, NASA scientists announced that there was a chance that Apophis, an asteroid larger than two football fields, could smash into Earth in 2029. A few additional observations and some number-crunching later, astronomers noted that the chance of the planet-killer hitting Earth in 2029 was nearly zilch.

Now, reports out of Russia say that scientists there estimate Apophis will collide with Earth on April 13, 2036. These reports conflict on the probability of such a doomsday event, but the question remains: How scared should we be?

[arderkrag]

Rev. 8:10-11 - And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Sometimes I think people just make this $#!7 up.

[antiRepublicrat]

He's dead.

[Raebie]

Guess we won’t have to worry about Social Security becoming insolvent after all.

[exnavy]

If all goes well, I’ll be 81 years old that day, probably be the biggest event of my life.

[OldDeckHand]

Maybe it will hit, maybe it won't. But, one thing is certain. An E.L.E. has happened in Earth's past (perhaps several time), and it will - statistically speaking - happen sometime again in the future.

[GeorgiaDawg32]

IMO, if an asteroid is to take out the Earth, it has yet to be discovered and will almost literally come from nowhere. Scientific calculations today on known asteroids can pretty accurately determine orbit etc.

It could be discovered tomorrow, or conversely, not for 1000 years.

All we have to do is buy carbon credits from manbearpig and he’ll make it all go away.

[Hodar]

Great, I’ll be 68 and ready to retire. So, if I do manage to recover from Zero and his mis-managment of our country; this will ruin things anyway.

Right now, the best retirement I can hope for Mrs. Hodar, is that I develop a fast moving form of cancer. With my insurance, I’m worth far more dead than alive.

[Emperor Palpatine]

4/13/2036....That’ll be my 77th birthday....if I live that long.

[markman46]

LOL beat me to it and a fine job SG1 did too

[WayneS]

Maybe, but we won’t be around to see it.

After all, the world as we know it is pretty much ending on December 21, 2012, isn’t it?

;-)

[cripplecreek]

I’ll be in my mid 70s and I’ll be pretty much ready. Maybe I’ll take up drinking again the day before or something.

[Jack of all Trades]

April 13th, 2036 is Easter Sunday. That would be some Easter egg. I'll be 71, if I make it...

[OldDeckHand]

"IMO, if an asteroid is to take out the Earth, it has yet to be discovered and will almost literally come from nowhere."

Didn't they (astronomers) discover one just last summer only days before it passed in-between the Earth and the Moon?

I don't think is was an extinction-sized asteroid, but more of a city-killer, like the Russian asteroid from the turn of last century.

[stuartcr]

I’m sure that if it happens, God has a reason for it.

[GeorgiaDawg32]

I believe they did, hence my statement. Whatever is gonna take out this Earth (Asteroid-wise) ain’t yet been discovered.

[null and void]

November 3, 2008

[OldDeckHand]

"I’ll be in my mid 70s and I’ll be pretty much ready."

Please. You're never going to see 70. An Obama death-panel will see to that.

There's going to be a whole new meaning to the phrase, "retirement age". Think Soylet Green, only with much less Charlton Heston.

[Tread EZ]

Perminov said he had heard from a scientist that Apophis is getting closer and may hit the planet. "I don't remember exactly, but it seems to me it could hit the Earth by 2032," he said.

I kid you not

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/30/russia-plan-save-earth-asteroid

[cynwoody]

Possible impact points in 2036

Predicted yield: 510 megatons, about 2.5 times that of Krakatoa in 1883 and ~50 times that of Tunguska in 1908.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99942_Apophis