Another Close Call! (1 Viewer)

Julie K · Jun 20, 2002

Well, we had another close call and only found out 3 days after close approach. This one would have been Tunguska sized - enough to destroy a city.
Read about it here.

Jason Wilcox · Jun 20, 2002

wow....too bad we really couldn't anything if we knew it was gonna hit us

Jack Briggs · Jun 20, 2002

New ammo for those who get sick and tired of people who mindlessly badmouth spending money on space travel, manned and unmanned.

It's time for humanity to leave, as Konstantine Tsiokolvsky would have put it, the "cradle." Our eggs are in but one basket presently, and that is not acceptable.

Thanks for the link, Ms. K.

Carlo_M · Jun 20, 2002

Dude, I'm no space / astronomy expert, but...
isn't 75000 miles pretty f@#kin' close?

I for one have never complained about NASA funding or space exploration / observation, and I'm not about to start.

Paul Jenkins · Jun 20, 2002

yes, very close.
realize that many, many things fall to earth each day, most burn up in the atmosphere or fall harmlessly away from any population. but it does occur.
it isn't a question of if we will be hit by a large object, but when. when may be 1000 years from now, or tomorrow. take heart that nothing we can do at this time, given our technology today, can prevent it.
so, sit back and enjoy life, it if ends, you won't know it anyway

brentl · Jun 21, 2002

I'm still waiting for a big one.

Didn't one almost hit us last year that had like a 120 year orbit??

Brent

Dennis Reno · Jun 21, 2002

isn't 75000 miles pretty f@#kin' close?

Not according to some nimrods on the radio this morning. After the news they were discussing all the "fuss" related to this incident and one asked what was the big deal, "its not like it was that close!"

Incredible how uninformed people can be. I'm only using the term 'uninformed' because I don't want to get booted from the HTF!

IMO nothing significant will take place until one of these "small" objects creates a "minor disturbance". Too many people don't seem to be able to grasp the consequences of anything less than a dino-killer. Do you think its another case of NIMBY???

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Carlo_M · Jun 21, 2002

Heaven forbid a catastrophe, but if we do have a minor impact, may it be on that radio station's headquarters while those "nimrods" are on-air.

Just kidding of course, I don't wish harm on any fellow human, no matter how nimrod-ish they may be.

Ben Motley · Jun 21, 2002

Dude, I'm no space / astronomy expert, but...

isn't 75000 miles pretty f@#kin' close?

Extremely, comparitively so. Just watch the first episode of Carl Sagan's Cosmos. It's mind boggling. There's another episode early on, I forget exactly which one, that deals with comets and the odds of them and other space matter hitting us. Again, it is just mind boggling. 75,000 miles? Man, that's nothin'.

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Brian Perry · Jun 21, 2002

What amazes me is that something so relatively small (50-120 yards wide) would not hit due to the Earth's gravity.

Julie K · Jun 21, 2002

75,000 miles is inside the Moon's orbit. That is extremely close.

Most of the effort in tracking objects that could pose a threat to the planet goes into finding the civilization-destroyers or dino-killers. This is for the simple reason that the smaller objects, like this one, are so faint that they are almost impossible to find until they are right on top of us (or just passed us.) However, if you are in the city that one of these small objects hits, it doesn't really matter that it's not a world-buster. You'll still be dead. Some of the worst dangers of these small city-busters are, IMO, itchy nuclear trigger fingers in whatever country got whacked.

It's a big, bad universe out there and if we really care about the continuation of H. sapiens we have to get to other planets. Another dino-killer will hit some day (if we don't see and deflect it first), the climate will change regardless of what we do (and those changes have been every bit as devastating to life on this planet as the dino-killer sized asteroids have been - in some cases even worse.) If we want any chance at all we simply must expand into the rest of the solar system and beyond.

Ron-P · Jun 21, 2002

New ammo for those who get sick and tired of people who mindlessly badmouth spending money on space travel, manned and unmanned.

The only bummer, mankind is self destructive. There is no way we are getting off this rock, we will destroy ourselves first. Man has used every weapon of destruction in warfare that has been developed except nukes, it's only a matter of time. Less time than we have to colonize another planet.
Peace Out~

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CharlesD · Jun 21, 2002

IN a way I actually want an object the size of the one that just missed us to hit the Earth as soon as possible. Obviously I don't hope for it to hit a populated area, but such an impact (preferably captured on film) might just wake up the "uninformed" amongst us who stand in the way of increased space exploration.

Brian Perry · Jun 21, 2002

As Julie mentioned, most of the efforts are directed towards much larger rocks. A surprising number of smaller rocks come close, but the risk to mankind is similar to a large earthquake. After all, there's not a lot we can do about those, either.

Mark Murtha · Jun 21, 2002

In rare form, I'm posting twice today.

I have to agree with Ron on his point.
And I have a question - How will an impact of this size cause people to want to move off this planet? Wouldn't that mean we'd have two targets that are filled with people instead of one? We didn't even notice this asteroid until it passed us by.
I'm just attempting to point out another possible viewpoint. I think it would be cool to visit another planet, but I don't see it happening anytime soon. And an impact of this scale might not have the affects mentioned above. Rather, it might scare people and turn them off exploration and turn them to planet earth defense.
Just my $0.02.
Mark

CharlesD · Jun 21, 2002

two possible targets means that if one gets obliterated by one of the millions of much larger rocks out there, people can still live on the other "target".

Ron-P · Jun 21, 2002

people can still live on the other "target".

Peace Out~

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Julie K · Jun 21, 2002

Man has used every weapon of destruction in warfare that has been developed except nukes

Actually, we've already had a nuclear war. It was called World War II.

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Jack Briggs · Jun 21, 2002

How will an impact of this size cause people to want to move off this planet?

Because of the simple reason it demonstrates Earth is a whopping big target in the cosmic pinball machine known as the Solar System. If an NEO is but a kilometer in diameter and impacts the planet anywhere, that's it for civilization as we know it. Fini. Irrevocable and irreversible.

In keeping with humankind's natural urge to explore, we reap immediate benefits in spreading the species throughout the Solar System. It's called "survival." Further, from different vantage points--the Moon, space stations orbiting in the LaGrange Points, Mars, an outpost(s) in the Asteroid Belt, etc.--the species would be better positioned to detect species-destroying NEOs more easily and earlier.

Why the resistance to exploring, occupying, and colonizing space? Why? It's the next logical step in human evolution--and our one insurance policy against certain extinction.

Remember, the Sun itself will be around for only so long. To oppose space exploration is to oppose human nature.

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StephenK · Jun 21, 2002

75,000 miles is inside the Moon's orbit. That is extremely close.

Not only inside the orbit, but only about 1/3rd of the way to the moon, (between 225k to 250k out).

Julie, maybe I'll change my reply to your other thread, maybe we will go out with a bang.

As a pessimist, cynic and all around "down with people" kind of guy, I have to agree with Ron & Mark. I don't think we'll last long enough... You have to remember, the only planet remotely "colonizable" is Mars. And to do that, there has to be water that we can access. Also, to save the species, we can't just have a small scientific outpost living in a dome on Mars, we gotta have numbers. That probably means terraforming which takes millenia. The odds that another big rock hits us before then goes up.

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