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from the where-is-an-Illudium-Q-36-Explosive-Space-Modulator-when-you-need-it? dept.
NASA has already begun preparations for the arrival of asteroid 99942 Apophis - dubbed the 'God of Chaos' asteroid - which will skim past the earth in 10 years. The asteroid measures 340 meters across and will pass within just 19,000 miles of Earth's surface. Apophis is one of the largest asteroids to pass so close to the Earth's surface and a collision with the planet has the potential to be devastating for all life on Earth.
[...] The asteroid is set to get closer to the earth than communication and weather satellites in orbit. Most satellites in Earth's orbit are geostationary orbit 36,000 km away (22,236 miles) from the planet.
Apophis is travelling at almost 25,000 mph meaning a slight detour from its trajectory could be catastrophic.
Apophis' size and proximity to Earth have resulted in it being categorised as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA) and NASA is keen to learn as much from the asteroid as possible to help prevent further asteroid issues in the future.
NASA scientist are aware that as the asteroid flies by the planet in 2029, its orbit trajectory may also change thus raising fears that in the future the massive rock could collide with the planet.
[...] According to some researchers, the immense size of the rock is not a cause for concern as there is a 1 to 100,000 chance of the asteroid striking the earth.
[...] Astronomer Davide Farnocchia added: "We already know that the close encounter with Earth will change Apophis' orbit.
"But our models also show the close approach could change the way this asteroid spins and it is possible that there will be some surfaces changes, like small avalanches."
See also
- https://www.mirror.co.uk/science/nasa-preparing-god-chaos-asteroid-18961642
- https://metro.co.uk/2019/08/19/nasa-preparing-arrival-god-chaos-asteroid-apophis-10595647/
- https://www.businessinsider.in/elon-musk-says-we-have-no-defence-against-asteroid-god-of-chaos/articleshow/70748251.cms
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 20 2019, @08:09PM (3 children)
Time to board it and try to steal at least few Death Gliders, or something...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 20 2019, @08:23PM
Or at least tag it?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 20 2019, @08:27PM (1 child)
i agree!
however .. if .. for some reason or other we cannot (could not) decypher the runes, errr ... heroglyphes, this news kindda sounds like:
damn the words that start with fuc$$$ and did a asteroid ever get closer and closer and CLOSER without hitting us?
sure, sure 300+ is nothing to sneeze at, but not really a problem uless ur rcih and need to care about the correct impact, sir.
in any other case, we are to poor to care and if the crappy wifi doesnt fall out we'll be more golden then you sir mansion.
-
so, srsly, two object body dynamics says it will hit, unless the mooo00nnnn will deflect it, yes?
time to buy "20 years lasting batteries" then?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 20 2019, @09:45PM
We need somebody from the cut-throat world of archaeology to decipher the runes.
...
I nominate Jean-Luc Picard.
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 20 2019, @08:22PM (1 child)
That's god's turd to punish you sinners.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 20 2019, @10:10PM
Join us, we have
cootiescookies!(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 20 2019, @08:24PM (15 children)
Just make it happen!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 20 2019, @08:35PM (14 children)
Not a cause for concern would be a 0 chance of the asteroid striking the earth, anything above 0, no matter how small, IS a cause of concern.
(Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Wednesday August 21 2019, @12:36AM (4 children)
Bah. Nonsense. Quantum fluctuations occur all the time, and sometimes real particle pairs can come into existence. There is a non-zero chance that your great-great-grandfather (or at least a facsimile of him) could emerge from the quantum foam right now in a rage and kill you. Its probability is so unlikely that it will never happen before the heat-death of the universe even if you lived that long, but it is a probability above zero. Yet it is NOT a reasonable "cause of concern."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 21 2019, @12:59AM
Not meeting/knowing any of my great-great grandfathers, that might be an interesting experience. ;-)
BTW, I agree with the premise of your comment fully, the smart ass in me could not pass this one up. :-)
rts008
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 21 2019, @01:23AM (2 children)
Uh... that's not really how probabilities work. It could happen tomorrow, it could never happen. Nobody knows and nobody should assert that they know.
(Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Wednesday August 21 2019, @11:37AM (1 child)
True. What I should have said is "never (for very large but not infinite values of 'never')." And yes, I think that's how most humans use the term, as we do not contemplate the real kind of "never."
I mean, yes, it's possible that tomorrow you could be struck by lightning at the exact moment that you win a lottery despite not having bought a ticket for it, at the exact moment you have an orgasm produced by interacting with 17 Playboy bunnies who randomly showed up at your house. Maybe that could happen tomorrow... Maybe it will never happen.
But, dude, it's NEVER gonna happen. That's what normal people would say. And I'm pretty sure the chance of that happening is somewhere around 10^10^100 more likely than my scenario happening tomorrow. So if the lightning strike is "never gonna happen," my scenario is REALLY not gonna happen.
But you're right. I should have phrased it better.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 21 2019, @01:46PM
Q?
(Score: 2) by KritonK on Wednesday August 21 2019, @07:38AM (8 children)
0 would still be a cause for concern, as a probability of 0 is not the same as the certainty that something won't happen.
Take a pin and randomly stick it on a piece of paper. The probability of sticking the pin on that particular point was 0, but you just did so.
(Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Wednesday August 21 2019, @11:40AM (7 children)
Huh? The probability in your scenario wasn't zero.
(Score: 2) by KritonK on Wednesday August 21 2019, @01:47PM (6 children)
There are infinite points on the piece of paper, so the probability of picking a specific one at random is, 1/∞, i.e., 0.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 21 2019, @07:22PM (3 children)
No, there are not.
(Score: 2) by KritonK on Thursday August 22 2019, @11:00AM (2 children)
Yes, there are. [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 22 2019, @05:02PM (1 child)
You are wrong. And here are not.
An imaginary virtual mathematic "paper" is just a model of reality and not the contrary. At least with our current understanding of fundamental physics.
(Score: 2) by KritonK on Friday August 23 2019, @01:37PM
I'm talking about fundamental statistics, using fundamental Euclidian geometry as an example. Feel free to demolish my analogy, but the fact remains that the probability of something happening being zero, and the certainty that something will not happen are not necessarily the same thing.
Perhaps I should have used a car analogy, with an infinite number of cars stalled in the NJ turnpike, and something random happening to one of them.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by AthanasiusKircher on Thursday August 22 2019, @06:48PM (1 child)
Your PIN has finite size. Therefore any "point" it sticks into will be finite, not infinitesimal, in size. Your piece of paper cannot have an infinite number of "points" of that magnitude.
You can't mix a physical object with finite size (a "pin") with a calculation about infinitesimals and claim the probability calculation is valid.
(Score: 2) by KritonK on Friday August 23 2019, @01:22PM
Analogies can go so far. I could refine it by saying that the pin has only one Euclidian point at its center, and so on, but the point is that, out of an infinite number of outcomes, the probability of a finite amount of outcomes happening is zero, even though these outcomes can still happen.
The asteroid having a probability of hitting us equal to 0 is not the same as the certainty that it won't hit us.
(Score: 2) by ikanreed on Tuesday August 20 2019, @08:26PM (5 children)
Passing close to an orbiting body completely fucks up existing orbits, and doesn't increase risk of collision on future passes. If it passes "behind" earth, it's likely to be flung way the fuck out to extremely distant orbits, and not come back to the same orbital distance for decades, much less magically intersecting earth's orbit at a specific time and place.
I guess you gotta get the clickbait fear mongering in somewhere.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday August 20 2019, @09:00PM (2 children)
In particular, this rock is anticipated to stay in the neighborhood even after this close approach.
Orbital mechanics are pretty reliable, but when things are this close you can paint one side dark and the other light, and if the spin keeps one side or the other facing the sun more of the time, in 10 years that can make the difference between a hit and a miss.
The reason they put 1/100,000 odds on projections like this is because they know there are things they don't know - the known unknowns put that uncertainty there. Unknown unknowns probably affect the true odds quite a bit more, particularly over a 10 year timespan.
With a name like Apophis there's no need to click the article, just right click the name and do your own Google search, the first result is the Wikipedia article about the space rock, not the Greek name for the Egyptian god, or the Stargate reference, or the Fractal imaging software - I was kind of surprised it lacked a disambiguation.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by qzm on Wednesday August 21 2019, @12:02AM (1 child)
The reason they put 1/100,000 odds on projections like this is more likely that it helps them get funding.
Also, no, painting one side is highly unlikely to make a difference - a huge low density object could vary if its albedo changed a lot, however this is a compact high density object..
(Not to mention that it is unlikely anyone zips out there with a tin of paint..)
They may not have characterized the orbit well enough once upon a time, however the 100,000 number is just too nice and round to be an actual figure..
It feels much like a 'well, we need to make this scary somehow, otherwise how will we get enough hype to up out funding?'
Not to mention.. the Express.. possibly the WORST news source you could look for.
Its chances of imact are now effectively zero, as it has been well characterised.
https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/sentry/details.html#?des=99942 [nasa.gov]
Sorry to let actual facts get in the way of a super-hyped tabloid story that no one seems to bother checking up on.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 21 2019, @12:16AM
That is the chances it will impact you. When you add up the 7 billion people on earth it is bound to hit someone.
(Score: 2) by Nuke on Wednesday August 21 2019, @09:07AM (1 child)
Indeed. As Earth is not going to be sitting still until next time the asteroid comes round, it does not matter if the asteroid's (or our) orbit is changed a bit. It might increase the chance of a strike in the future or it might decrease it - someone (not me) will do the sums and let us know.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 21 2019, @07:25PM
It turns out global warming will speed the revolution of the Earth up just a fraction of a second... but long enough to move us out of the way of this asteroid.
(Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 20 2019, @08:37PM (1 child)
Gotta start training crouching fast under the table.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 21 2019, @01:18AM
Start w/ stretching and adding suppleness. When you get real loose, stand with feet wide apart, bend over at the waist until YOU CAN KISS YOUR OWN ASS GOODBYE...because no one else will do it for you. Expect an Earth shattering Kaboom, make peace w/ your maker if your still delusional/inclined. End Game.
Ghahh! Duck and Cover drills, "It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine." It's no wonder we turned to drugs in the 60's and 70's so voraciously.
rts008
(Score: 2) by black6host on Tuesday August 20 2019, @08:38PM (12 children)
The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot is 1 in 292,201,338. 1 in 100,000 for an asteroid collision are not odds I care for.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 20 2019, @08:53PM (3 children)
Computing the statistical Expected value considering just the humanity (7Bn) as a whole, 1 in 100,000 is almost a sure bet!
Even sometimes someone wins the Powerball jackpot with a 2,922.01338 worse expected value!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 20 2019, @10:02PM (2 children)
Yes, the chance it doesn't hit anyone on earth is (1 - 1/100k)^7Bn 4.940656e-324
I just got zero for any population larger than 74.5 million. We are fucked.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 20 2019, @11:31PM
Let's hope the press fooder of 1 in 100,000 chance was just a figure of speech and then the actual odds are obviously much lower.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 21 2019, @09:06AM
That would be correct if the 7Bn where randonm independent event, but aren't.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday August 20 2019, @09:04PM (7 children)
Ah, but we're all in this game together, it's not like 7.5 billion of us are each playing individually...
Of course, we're all in this game together - kind makes nuking Mars sound a little less loony.
When people bitch about the cost of developing a NEO steering capability, ask them how much they would spend to save 75,000 human lives? Makes a 3 billion dollar mission sound cheap, in those terms.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Tuesday August 20 2019, @11:24PM (3 children)
Nuking Mars is loony, because Mars can't hold onto a released atmosphere. Domes are reasonable, and even domed valleys are doable. Doming the planet, which is what it would take to hold onto the atmosphere, isn't reasonable with any foreseeable technology.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 20 2019, @11:37PM
Dome it with and atmosphere using the relativistic electrons entering the nucleus of 299-Mc to hold it near the planet.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday August 21 2019, @12:08AM
I don't like the nuke Mars plan, but it should take a pretty long time for Mars to lose its atmosphere. Long enough to come up with solutions.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday August 21 2019, @01:34AM
Like certain loose cannon politicians, what's not loony is getting people talking about it like it's really going to happen and "correcting your wrongheaded stupid crazy unworkable" ideas.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Tuesday August 20 2019, @11:32PM (2 children)
Depends on how brown those human lives are. Africa? Fuck em. India? Fuck em. Hell, migrants at the US southern border? Fuck em.
Some middling US city? Billions will be spent figuring out how to avoid such a catastrophe.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday August 21 2019, @01:48AM
70% chance that the NEO is going down in an ocean - that's a lot of Tsunami heading for high value real-estate.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by Nuke on Wednesday August 21 2019, @09:12AM
I vote India, it would look better afterwards. But the human poo fall-out will be raining down on the rest of us for years afterwards.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 20 2019, @08:46PM (2 children)
Or is the earth suppose to get the avalanche ? 300m accross seems to small to have an avalanche.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 20 2019, @09:13PM (1 child)
Seeing as a sneeze can cause an avalanche, it's hard to say what level of concern should be attributed to their statement...
(Score: 2) by bart9h on Tuesday September 03 2019, @12:40PM
a sneeze can *trigger* an avalanche, not cause it
(Score: 2) by Alfred on Tuesday August 20 2019, @09:19PM (19 children)
My options are then:
Start stockpiling MREs
make friends with the preppers
build a bunker
learn to shoot
learn to build a fire
play more "Don't Starve" ???
(Score: 2) by edIII on Tuesday August 20 2019, @09:46PM (16 children)
It's only 340 meters across. This is something we absolutely could knock out with a few specialized nukes.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by HiThere on Tuesday August 20 2019, @11:30PM (14 children)
You're making assumptions about its composition that may well not be true. And shattering it wouldn't decrease the energy of impact. But how much does it weigh? If it's mainly methane and ice, then nukes would solve the problem. If it's mainly rock, they wouldn't. If it's pebbles embedded in ices, they'd solve the problem.
OTOH, since it's orbiting the sun in an Earth-crossing orbit, it's probably quite low on volatiles. Now a nuke exploded near it at the far end of its orbit might well make a big difference. Preferably give it a bit of velocity out of the planetary disk.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 20 2019, @11:40PM (7 children)
If it's ice, a nuclear *bomb* might not solve the problem but a nuclear reactor could. What kind of reactor would it take to vaporize it in 5 years--allowing 5 years for us to plan and launch the mission right now, and 5 years for the thing to work, for a total of 10 years.
Ice or not, I suspect blowing these things up is easier than melting them. Since they don't have much gravity, we just have to impart enough energy to the chunks so that all the pieces are relatively small, and separated by an Earth diameter when they arrive. That way, maybe one Chelyabinsk hits the earth instead of a Tunguska+.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday August 21 2019, @12:06AM (6 children)
Even if 99% of the chunks hit Earth, they would have more surface area and experience more friction in the atmosphere.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 21 2019, @12:19AM (1 child)
Then they would disintegrate into radioactive dust?
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday August 21 2019, @12:24AM
Whatever would happen, it would be a better outcome than a direct hit.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 21 2019, @01:55AM (3 children)
That doesn't lessen the destruction that much. If it hits the ground you get tidal waves and secondary ejecta impacts, but the ground blast is localized and the actual air blast* is lost in the impact explosion.
If you broke it up so much that all the energy was dissipated in the atmosphere you would get a radiant heat burst that would set entire continents on fire, and an air blast that would circle the planet flattening everything.
*air blast - the damage caused by an object coming down through the atmosphere at ridiculous speeds.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday August 21 2019, @04:28AM (2 children)
That's only 24 Tsar Bombas, and not released all in one instant, starting from the extreme upper atmosphere, and possibly spread out if there are chunks. Doesn't sound so bad unless you are unlucky.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 21 2019, @07:26AM
It might be the same energy as 24 tsar bombas but the destruction would be a lot worse. Nukes waste a lot of destructive potential in overkilling a small area at ground zero. A significant portion is also radiated upwards.
The supposition was that it was broken up enough to not make it to ground. That would mean a downward directed blast over a huge area.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelyabinsk_meteor [wikipedia.org] - estimated at 10 thousand tons.
99942 Apophis is estimated at 61 million tons. If you break it up that's 6,100 simultaneous Chelyabinsk blasts.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 21 2019, @04:42PM
Another way of looking at it.
It masses 61,000,000 tons. A cubic km of sea-level air masses about 1,000,000 tons.
Assume conservation of momentum and an impact speed of 10km/s .
For the sake of easy math lets call wind at 220 mph destructive. That's about 100m/s
By the time Apophis has transferred all that momentum to the air 6,100 cubic kilometers of atmosphere are traveling at 100 m/s.
It will also have been heated by the kinetic energy difference between 6.1x10E7 tons at 10km/s and 6.1x10E9 tons at 0.1 km/s which will make it worse.
(Score: 2) by edIII on Wednesday August 21 2019, @03:27AM (3 children)
I just assumed that our strongest nukes, one after the other, would vaporize a target that *small*. I understand that it speed alone contributes greatly to the energy of impact, but what does that have to do with vaporization of materials?
Is it really not possible to vaporize something 300 meters across with one of our ridiculously strong nukes? The Tsar Bomba wouldn't do it? I remember reading that in the immediate vicinity it would vaporize skyscrapers made with reinforced concrete and steel.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Wednesday August 21 2019, @04:04AM (2 children)
Why do you think it would vaporize? The blast is quick, and while it may fragment things, would only heat the outer surface. And rate of radiative cooling is, I think, proportional to the fourth power of the temperature.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2) by edIII on Wednesday August 21 2019, @04:32AM (1 child)
I guess the movies would make me think that. That, and 340 meters just seems small to me relative to a 100 megaton blast. I certainly don't have a handle on the physics so I believe you. I'm just also surprised.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Wednesday August 21 2019, @03:57PM
Well, I'm not certain. And pulverized meteor might well burn up in the atmosphere before hitting. But I sure wouldn't depend on it being effective without an analysis of the asteroid.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2) by Nuke on Wednesday August 21 2019, @09:16AM (1 child)
Not all of the pieces would impact, in fact very few would if you hit it far enough away. Only a few of the fragments would still be going in the same direction as before.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Wednesday August 21 2019, @04:00PM
O, yes. If you hit it far enough away it would be a reasonable approach. But "far enough away" isn't near Earth. The ideal place to hit it would be at the other end of the orbit, and the ideal direction would be perpendicular to the plane of Earth's orbit.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2) by Alfred on Wednesday August 21 2019, @02:11PM
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 20 2019, @09:48PM
Only if you think you can successfully shave a yak without getting stomped.
(Score: 2) by legont on Wednesday August 21 2019, @12:35AM
The message is, stop hoarding, take loans, and spend. Spend, and party, and spend because there is no tomorrow. The economy will go way up, hence the progress, and eventually we'll find a way to defeat the rock. As per your loan, too bad.
They are looking for Roosevelt 2.0 in the Great Depression 2.0
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by hendrikboom on Tuesday August 20 2019, @09:23PM
Milliards and milliards and milliards of billiards and billiards and billiards
-- Piet Hein
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 20 2019, @09:30PM (5 children)
This is a "city killer," not a "dinosaur killer." It would cause significant local destruction, but nothing significant on a global scale.
Assuming it hit Earth, that is. It won't.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 21 2019, @01:06AM (2 children)
Can we pick the city? Mecca?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 21 2019, @01:27AM (1 child)
No to both. If we could pick a location, it should be wherever the Cheeto in Charge is located.
Bonus points if it's at a rally of his.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 21 2019, @01:40AM
Soylentard advocates killing peaceful protesters outside Trump rally with space rock.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 21 2019, @07:33AM (1 child)
It's bigger than a city-killer. It's more like a country killer. Depends a lot on its composition and the location and angle of impact.
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Wednesday August 21 2019, @07:40AM
It also depends on the country. There are countries like Liechtenstein where there's no real difference between a city killer and a country killers. On the other end of the spectrum, an asteroid large enough to kill all of Russia would not be far from a Dinosaur killer.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 20 2019, @10:07PM (3 children)
Are you panicking yet?!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 20 2019, @11:35PM
*Me runs around with the hair on fire*
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 21 2019, @12:37AM (1 child)
No way! I'm too overwhelmed with relief from not needing to worry about global warming any longer!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 21 2019, @03:15AM
Next ice age to stop global warming is coming.
(Score: 3, Funny) by KritonK on Wednesday August 21 2019, @07:40AM (3 children)
And I wouldn't be worried, if I didn't know that the asteroid has missed the Earth 99,999 times so far.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 21 2019, @09:25AM (2 children)
- California's BIG earthquake, overdue. ✓ Check
- Yellowstone SUPERvolcano eruption, overdue. ✓ Check
- LARGE 1Km Asteroid Impact, overdue, ✓ Check
- ...
- Y2K and 2012 Apocalypses, overdue, ✓ Check
(Score: 2) by Alfred on Wednesday August 21 2019, @02:08PM (1 child)
- Year of the Linux Desktop, overdue, ✓ Check
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 22 2019, @05:05PM
Now, we are really screwed.
(Score: 2) by aim on Wednesday August 21 2019, @08:34AM (2 children)
So, how do satellite operators prepare for this close encounter? I'd assume they'll want to move their assets out of the way, which would imply a temporary disruption of service. Also, sats concerned would obviously have to use much of their maneuvering reserves, shortening their operational times.
I'd hope the data are good enough to allow for such a scenario, otherwise sats might be lost, or worse, be destroyed and their remnants playing at Kesseler syndrome (unless cleared out by Apophis itself).
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 21 2019, @11:08AM (1 child)
Space is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist, but that's just peanuts to space.
Apophis is only 350 metres across. The odds of it hitting even a single satellite are quite small.
(Score: 2) by Nuke on Wednesday August 21 2019, @06:52PM
You might be under-estimating the amount of crap in orbit by the year 2029; it could be nearly solid by then. Hopefully this rock will plough right through the middle of the Pepsi billboard.
https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=19/04/16/0145255 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 21 2019, @12:20PM
Maybe if we're lucky, this will show up during a Super Blue Blood Red Wolf Moon, or some other crap like that.
What, has the Weather Channel now started making up bullshit names [livescience.com] for celestial events now?