Asteroid "near miss"?

[AnthonyB]

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21442863

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/ ... TRAJECTORY

The russians have already had a "hit" was that predicted? The above link shows the big one that (apparently) will miss by 17k miles

I wont e holding my breah though. What if it colides with a satelite and takes it off course

[Timo]

Apparently the meteorite that downed in Russia was from a completely different object and location than the asteroid that's going to fly close tonight.

What are the chances of that? When it's usually so rare to hear anything of similar note occurring for years, individually, and then you get two large, independent, news-worthy objects from different locations and sources closely interacting with Earth on the same day, within hours of one another.

The fact that the Russian meteorite weighed approximately 10 tonnes and was travelling at 33,000mph, and nobody had any warning in advance, is, I feel, partly worrying. It was extremely lucky that it hit such a remote location (although over 1000 people are injured merely due to the shockwave hitting urban areas and blowing out windows tens of miles away). Imagine if it hit the centre of Moscow, London, New York, Tokyo, Paris, Beijing, Delhi, or similar. Carnage on an unprecedented scale in human history, probably akin to Hiroshima or similar.

[AnthonyB]

Apparently the meteorite that downed in Russia was from a completely different object and location than the asteroid that's going to fly close tonight.

What are the chances of that? When it's usually so rare to hear anything of similar note occurring for years, individually, and then you get two independent objects from different locations and sources closely interacting with Earth on the same day, within hours of one another.

:

My thouhts tbh. Just heard a scientist on sky news say they were totally unrelated, and callled it "sods law"

Oh come on! A month apart perhps, but a few hours?

Im no conspiracies theory nut or anything, but I feel "coincidence" is a poor excuse, especially as they didnt predict the Russian one

[Timo]

Maybe the Mayans were right?

[AnthonyB]

Maybe the Mayans were right?

could be



Quote from the nasa link above

""""Q. How many asteroids are out there similar in size to asteroid DA14? A: Scientists believe there are approximately 500,000 near-Earth asteroids the size of 2012 DA14. Of those, less than one percent have been discovered."""""

1 percent!

Of course, well only find out about a BIG one.......after weve been hit of course

[AnthonyB]

Maybe the Mayans were right?

could be



Quote from the nasa link above

Q. How many asteroids are out there similar in size to asteroid DA14? A: Scientists believe there are approximately 500,000 near-Earth asteroids the size of 2012 DA14. Of those, less than one percent have been discovered.

1 percent!

Of course, well only find out about a BIG one.......after weve been it of course

[Giner]

In the blip of time that I've been on this planet - closing in on 70 years - no doubt bazillions of these things have been within a whisker of us, on the intergalactic distance scale of things. So it seems, from those terms of reference, that the odds of us getting hit would appear to be, let's say, infinitesimal (can I express smaller than that?).

I guess it's the fear/thrill of the unknown. Sort of a perverse lottery win, if you will. And if there is something massive coming in on a direct hit, what the hell can we do about it anyway?

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, so to speak.