Posted on 04/18/2005 7:21:31 AM PDT by aculeus
That seals it, no need to change social security, the earth will be destroyed anyway!
April 13, 2029?
Damn, that'll be my 42nd birthday!
Gravity is obviously too dangerous. It should be banned.
We must elect Hillary Clinton as President.... she will save us.
The headline reminds me of SUV headlines. Maybe we can lure the asteroid away from us bu providing an incentive. If we only knew what asteroids liked best. Female asteroid?
>How does the asteroid lose enough kinetic energy to be captured by Earth's gravitational field?
The asteroid is currently in *solar* orbit. A near encounter with Earth would slightly deflect the asteroids orbit, by gravitationally tugging it to one side. It would still be in a solar orbit, just a slightly different one. However, the change in orbit cannot be accurately calculated until we know *exactly* how close it will pass by the Earth/Moon system (the moon will *also* tug slightly on the asteroid).
And with timescales of 30+ years, you also really need to factor in Jupiters gravitational effect as well.
Orbital mechanics is based on some pretty simple equations... when you only have two bodies. But in this circumstance, there are at least 5 that need to be accounted for. Extremely complex, requiring lots of computer power and *very* precise observations.
Yeah, OK, but it will be a "lossless" encounter, won't it? Maybe not.
Are they concerned that it will exchange momentum with the earth in a way that slows it down (as opposed to speeding it up as happens when we use Jupiter's gravitational field to shoot satellites out to Neptune, etc.)?
(steely)
Thats what the dinosaurs said.
Aha! They just want an excuse to use tax dollars to "tag it for safety", oh, and by the way, study the composition.
Why hasn't Jupiter gobbled this one up yet?
Billions of years, HAH!
Agreed. A many-body problem has no analytic solution - it requires zillions of calcs to find a best solution.
But by 2029, your wristwatch will be able to do those calcs.
This asteroid would be a local disaster if it hit, not a global one; the articles on it generally note this but it's interesting that people really don't seem to notice.
It's only 1000 ft across? Ummmm, maybe I'm missing something here but if it's coming so close, why are they going to tag it with a radio transmitter and not just blow the thing apart, thereby nullifying any risk at all?
> But by 2029, your wristwatch will be able to do those calcs.
Wristwatch? No, those will no longer exist. The brain-chip will simply display a heads-up display directly onto your retina (giving you the time in all time zones, along with your exact location), do your taxes, calculate orbital trajectories two millenia out, and project the fourteen most-likely-successful pick-up lines to the four-breasted genetically modified hottie in the corner.
Of course, if there's a "President Hillary" between now and then, that chip will *broadcast* your position, will modify your behavior, make you feel happy whenever Madame President appears (which will be every ten minutes) and will be mandatory.
We're not doomed. We need to catch it. Who ever catches it will be rich I tell you. RICH!
> Why hasn't Jupiter gobbled this one up yet?
Because the asteroids orbit goes nowhere near Jupiter.
Well it could change earth orbit and put us closer to the sun and cause globel warming.
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