So, with the movie Deep Impact being on tonight, and the recent explosion in the sky above Indonesia, I was reminded to browse over to
Nasa's Near Earth Close Approach website to see what the latest news was on the subject.

I was very interested to see this object, which although small, came within a distance only 1/20th the distance to the moon from the earth just yesterday.

Name: Date closest AU miss LD miss app size mag Velocity
(2009 VA) 2009-Nov-06 0.0001 0.05 5.1 m - 11 m 28.6 10.30km/s

0.05LD = only 19,200km. Thats incredibly close. The size is about the same as the one that exploded over indonesia on October 8. That one exploded in the atmosphere with the force of approx 50 kilotons so nothing to be sniffed at.

I just find it amazing that our little blue life raft is in the cross hairs of something, somewhere, and so little resources are given up by Governments around the world to do anything about it.

Because even with political will, we just don't have the tech at the moment to deal with a serious killer space rock, Bruce Willis or no Bruce Willis.

So hrmmmm

Massive tsunamai a few years ago generated by an offshore seismic event followed a few years later by an airburst event rated kilotons greater than those used to end WW2 ....

In a similar region?
Anyone?

I'd like to give Tea Leoni a deep impact

Because even with political will, we just don't have the tech at the moment to deal with a serious killer space rock, Bruce Willis or no Bruce Willis.

I think you are underestimating the Deep Impact that Bruce can have:



There was a Planetary Defense Conference in April this year! What an awesome thing to have. There are some results of it up on NASA's impact site; here's a snippet:

Several speakers assumed that the current estimates of the impact rate are greater than previously thought, adding urgency to this threat. Judging by some of the presentations at this meeting, these assessments were based on faulty or misinterpreted data. As Al Harris (Space Science Institute) showed (discussed above), at least 90% of the risk associated with impact by an unknown asteroid has been eliminated by the Spaceguard Survey, and in addition the NEO population data summarized by Harris indicate fewer sub-km asteroids by at least a factor of 2, relative to previous power-law estimates. It is curious to see claims by policy analysts that the impact threat is increasing while the scientific community comes to the opposite conclusion.

Unfortunately there's nothing in there that I can see in a quick read that offers any plans to deal with the problem; it's more of a risk analysis thing by the looks. There's another meeting in 2011.

Reading further, most of the stuff is about detection and early warning - I guess actually stopping them is the next step. The FAQ just says:

The first step in any program of planetary defense is to find the NEOs; we can't protect against something we don't know exists. We also need a long warning time, at least a decade, to send spacecraft to intercept the object and deflect it. Many defensive schemes have been studied in a preliminary way, but none in detail. In the absence of active defense, warning of the time and place of an impact would at least allow us to store food and supplies and to evacuate regions near ground zero where damage would be the greatest.

I think ignorance is bliss in this case. Don't we currently only monitor 3% of the potential hazards?

Bruce Willis was in Armageddon, silly.

Even if they can see it, they can't do much about it. I'd say if the big one hit, I'd just wish it'd be quick and painless for me....screwed having to survived post extinction level event impact now that'd suck.

Niburu is coming.

^ lolz

I just find it amazing that our little blue life raft is in the cross hairs of something, somewhere, and so little resources are given up by Governments around the world to do anything about it.

Such a capability would be a bit of a double edged sword. As Sagan put it, the power to propel a large object away from the Earth could also be used to knock an object towards it, thereby giving a true 'doomsday device'.

Is this where faceman tells us about how planet X is hidden behind the sun and is on its way to crash into earth?

Is this where faceman tells us about how planet X is hidden behind the sun and is on its way to crash into earth?

Yeah, and how the illuminati and the Jews all know it's there but they keep it secret because they're waiting for the NWO to build their space ship which will take them all to safety with our money and civil liberties.

the jewminati?

shhhh you'll get nuked for mentioning them.

2012 isn't for a few years.



No problem.

God I hope more of your posts get nuked with the reason 'conspiracy bullshit'

Is this where faceman tells us about how planet X is hidden behind the sun and is on its way to crash into earth?

What? It isn't?