House-sized asteroid will pass by Earth on Thursday

Post Reply
User avatar
Nutso
2 Star Admiral
2 Star Admiral
Posts: 9614
Joined: Tue Apr 22, 2008 9:58 pm

House-sized asteroid will pass by Earth on Thursday

Post by Nutso »

Nasa says there will be ‘no danger’ when the asteroid 2012 TC4 shaves past Earth at just above the altitude at which most satellites operate on Thursday

https://www.theguardian.com/science/201 ... e-altitude
A house-size asteroid will give Earth a near-miss on Thursday, giving experts a rare chance to rehearse for a real-life strike threat as it passes inside the moon’s orbit.

Dubbed 2012 TC4, the space rock will shave past at an altitude of less than 44,000km (27,300 miles) – just above the 36,000km plane at which hundreds of geosynchronous satellites orbit the Earth.

That represents about an eighth of the distance between the Earth and the moon.

Nasa’s Mike Kelley, who leads the exercise to spot, track and intimately probe the transient visitor, insisted there was “no danger. Not even for satellites”.

“We’ve now been observing TC4 for two months, so we have very accurate position information on it, which in turn allows very precise calculations of its orbit,” which will not cross that of Earth nor its satellites, he told AFP.
"Bible, Wrath of Khan, what's the difference?"
Stan - South Park
User avatar
Graham Kennedy
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 11561
Joined: Mon Jul 09, 2007 2:28 pm
Location: Banbury, UK
Contact:

Re: House-sized asteroid will pass by Earth on Thursday

Post by Graham Kennedy »

House sized would be what, around ten thousand tons if it's an iron asteroid?

So an impact energy of something like... 5 or six megatons, maximum. You wouldn't like that to come down in a city, but it would likely hit the ocean somewhere and do nothing much.
Give a man a fire, and you keep him warm for a day. SET a man on fire, and you will keep him warm for the rest of his life...
User avatar
Captain Seafort
4 Star Admiral
4 Star Admiral
Posts: 15548
Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2007 1:44 pm
Location: Blighty

Re: House-sized asteroid will pass by Earth on Thursday

Post by Captain Seafort »

I wouldn't like to be anywhere nearby either - anything of decent size hitting the sea at that speed is going to make a bit of splash.

Also, moved to SPT.
Only two things are infinite - the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the universe: Albert Einstein.
User avatar
Bryan Moore
Captain
Captain
Posts: 2729
Joined: Sat Jul 14, 2007 4:39 am
Location: Perpetual Summer Camp
Contact:

Re: House-sized asteroid will pass by Earth on Thursday

Post by Bryan Moore »

I feel a Kelly Clarkson joke coming.
Don't you hear my call, though you're many years away, don't you hear me calling you?
Post Reply