Posted on 03/04/2012 8:02:46 PM PST by Free ThinkerNY
To avert a possible catastrophe – this time set for February 2013 – scientists suggest confronting asteroid 2012 DA14 with either paint or big guns. The stickler is that time has long run out to build a spaceship to carry out the operation.
NASA's data shows the 60-meter asteroid, spotted by Spanish stargazers in February, will whistle by Earth in 11 months. Its trajectory will bring it within a hair’s breadth of our planet, raising fears of a possible collision.
The asteroid, known as DA14, will pass by our planet in February 2013 at a distance of under 27,000 km (16,700 miles). This is closer than the geosynchronous orbit of some satellites.
There is a possibility the asteroid will collide with Earth, but further calculation is required to estimate the potential threat and work out how to avert possible disaster, NASA expert Dr. David Dunham told students at Moscow’s University of Electronics and Mathematics (MIEM).
“The Earth’s gravitational field will alter the asteroid’s path significantly. Further scrupulous calculation is required to estimate the threat of collision,” said Dr. Dunham, as transcribed by Russia’s Izvestia. “The asteroid may break into dozens of small pieces, or several large lumps may split from it and burn up in the atmosphere. The type of the asteroid and its mineral structure can be determined by spectral analysis. This will help predict its behavior in the atmosphere and what should be done to prevent the potential threat,” said Dr. Dunham.
In the event of a collision, scientists have calculated that the energy released would equate to the destructive power of a thermo-nuclear bomb.
In response to the threat, scientists have come up with some ingenious methods to avert a potential disaster.
(Excerpt) Read more at rt.com ...
I’ve got a Wagner Powerroller—but I want it back.
Mayans were off just a tad.
How do you paint an asteroid?Sometimes asteroids and comets spin on a axis. Do you have to stabilize it first? How do you determine how much paint is needed for it to be effective?
I just bought a gallon of tumbled stone from kelly moore. it’s too light for our liking, so they can have it.
I’ll do it if no one else will, but I’m gonna want mileage.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nts-CNBanb4&feature=related
Maybe the projected impact date is off a tad. Suppose it speeds up dramatically as it gets closer to earth’s gravitational field and hits just before Christmas.
And did they name this thing 2012 because that’s the year they discovered it? Or are they holding something from us?
Obama’s fault!
Obama’s fault!
Paint it, then repaint it, then,...
Obama’s in the clear either way. If he’s re-elected and the asteroid collides with the earth, it’s Bush’s fault. If a Republican wins the election and the asteroid collides with the earth, it’s the new President’s fault.
The 2012 prefix is a result of naming convention for asteroids. Similarly, DT4 indicates the half month of discovery and sequence within the half month.
DA4, typo.
Where’s Bruce Willis?
That’s the one.
About 15 years ago I had a chance to get a degree in Astronaut House Painting, but I thought it looked like a useless degree.
Space rock ping.
How big of a hole will a 45 meter wide asteroid make (or better yet: how many kiotons of TNT will it equate to?)
why not attach a robotic device with 6+ canisters of propellent (inert gas that would be released to provide thrust) and have the thing steer the rock into the sun?
it’s space... it wouldn’t take much to nudge it into a solar collision... especially something that is only 60m in size
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