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from the Where-is-the-Earth-shattering-kaboom? dept.
CNET reports that two asteroids, 2017 FU102 and 2017 FT102, passed the Earth on 2 April and 3 April.
The near-Earth asteroid 2017 FU102 was discovered by the Mt. Lemmon Survey in Arizona (USA) on 29 March 2017. Today (April 2, 2017), it will have a very close, but safe encounter with the Earth (about 0.6 times the mean distance of the moon).
[...] this ~10 meters large rock will reach its minimum distance from us of 143,000 miles (230,000 km).
The other object, 2017 FT102, is smaller and its approach to the Earth was at a greater distance. It was also discovered on 29 March.
[By comparison, the Chelyabinsk meteor was estimated to be 20 meters in diameter. --Ed.]
Further information:
2017 FU102 at IAU Minor Planet Center
2017 FT102 at IAU Minor Planet Center
Related stories:
Days After its Discovery, Asteroid Buzzes Earth
Platinum Asteroid Worth Trillions Of Dollars Flies Past Earth
Watch Jumbo Asteroid Zip Past Earth
Close Asteroid Pass this Weekend
Surprise Flyby of Asteroid on January 9, 2017
NASA's Mission to (Potentially Devastating) Asteroid Bennu
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Wednesday April 05 2017, @01:54AM (1 child)
Yeah, depends on the location and also the accuracy and the amount of warning time.
And what if you implement such a system, and have several evacuations and it turns out you're wrong, or the impact is hundreds of miles away, or it explodes in the upper atmosphere causing no damage? After a few incidents like this, then people won't follow the evacuations any more ("boy who cried wolf" syndrome). The only sensible way to handle this is to redirect the asteroids before they become impactors. And over time, the program can pay for itself: some of the asteroids will likely have valuable ores that can be extracted.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday April 05 2017, @06:08AM