Posted on 12/12/2012 12:00:22 PM PST by LibWhacker
Spotted just two days ago, it came zipping toward us inside the moon's orbit
A newfound asteroid gave Earth a close shave early today, zipping between our planet and the moon just two days after astronomers first spotted it.
The near-Earth asteroid 2012 XE54, which was discovered Sunday, came within 140,000 miles (230,000 kilometers) of our planet at about 5 a.m. EST Tuesday, researchers said. For comparison, the moon orbits Earth at an average distance of 240,000 miles or so (386,000 km).
Astronomers estimate that 2012 XE54 is about 120 feet (36 meters) wide — big enough to cause substantial damage if it slams into Earth someday. An object of similar size flattened 800 square miles (2,000 square km) of forest when it exploded above Siberia's Podkamennaya Tunguska River in 1908.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Looks like the Mayans were a little off.
The planetary alignment scheduled for 12-21-12 is acting like a cosmic rail gun...we’ll probably be seeing more of these in the next week or so.
## Looks like the Mayans were a little off. ##
Maybe, maybe not. This may just be the small splinter preceding “the big one”.
Any chance of steering one of these to a landing just north of the Potomac north of Arlington Va?
Maybe the X37B is a spacecraft that will land on an approaching asteroid and using a thermonuclear warhead, break the asteroid in two, whereby it misses the earth.
Only problem I see with this is a lack of redundancy. I would have sent up two X37B’s.
You mean the planetary alignment that doesn't exist, and even if it did, would have no effect on anything just like all past alignments?
MSNBC? Why plug them?
The only problem I see is your targeting, half for medina, half for meccah
I hope so. I've had enough. Hit that 'reset' button already.
Was just having a similar thought. Kudos...
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***...zipping between our planet and the moon just two days after astronomers first spotted it.***
This was only discovered two days ago?
I thought space activity was monitored constantly via telescopes, space stations, satilites, etc.. Seems like this should have been anticipated long ago.
On the other hand, maybe it was and we were kept in the dark so as to prevent panic and/or suicides.
According to A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson, if an asteroid were to come straight at us and destroy us, you’d probably have only about one second of warning before it happened. You wouldn’t get a day, or an hour. You would have one second, enough time to go “What the?” and then it’s all over.
Please note that I have not personally fact-checked this and I do not in any way endorse this information. Just putting it out there for conversational purposes.
LOL
“This was only discovered two days ago?
I thought space activity was monitored constantly via telescopes, space stations, satilites, etc.. Seems like this should have been anticipated long ago.
On the other hand, maybe it was and we were kept in the dark so as to prevent panic and/or suicides.”
NASA is busy proving AGW, and doing muslim outreach.
This is off of their radar. (Very bad pun, intended).
This happens once in awhile - seems like just a couple years ago the same thing happened where one passed between us and the moon and they saw it AFTER it went by.
Like grandma said “When its your time to go, its your time to go.”
0bama still concerns me more.
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