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| -Short Attention Span Theater- | |
| 100-ft diameter asteroid to pass near Earth today | |
| 2004-03-18 | |
| From the "Space rocks--Why do they hate us?" Dept. Edited for brevity. A 100-foot diameter asteroid will pass within 26,500 miles of Earth on Thursday evening, the closest-ever brush on record by a space rock, NASA astronomers said. The asteroid’s close flyby, first spied late Monday, poses no risk, NASA astronomers stressed. "It’s a guaranteed miss," astronomer Paul Chodas, of the near-Earth object office at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said Wednesday. The asteroid, 2004 FH, was expected to make its closest approach at 5:08 p.m. EST, streaking over the southern Atlantic Ocean. It should be visible through binoculars to stargazers across the southern hemisphere, as well as throughout Asia and Europe, said astronomer Steve Chesley, also of JPL. Professional astronomers around the globe scrambled Wednesday to prepare for the flyby, which could provide an unprecedented chance to get a close look at the asteroid, he added. The asteroid will pass within the moon’s orbit. Similarly sized asteroids are believed to come as close to Earth on average once every two years, but have always escaped detection. "The important thing is not that it’s happening, but that we detected it," Chesley said. With only three days notice and no means to counter it if it were destined to hit us... Well, at least we’d have had time to kiss our a**es good-bye.
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| Posted by:Dar |
| #13 That calls for one final party |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2004-3-18 10:40:28 PM |
| #12 What color's the sky on Planet Mucky? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2004-3-18 9:16:05 PM |
| #11 Yeah, what the hell is wrong with companies sponsoring space exploration? Its better than the taxpayer getting stuck with the bill. You got to admit if they were to find oil on Mars we would get there a hell of a lot faster. |
| Posted by: Andrew Ian Dodge 2004-3-18 6:51:16 PM |
| #10 Better than wasting money on a stadium name. Remember one of the very early internet myths that Coke was going to somehow make the moon like like their bottecap for 48 hrs? If they'd financed Apollo 20 & 21 I would have approved of a little advertorial. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-3-18 3:15:49 PM |
| #9 LOL Ed! Excellent names too. I wonder if they would have financed the trip if allowed to name the suckers..... As a taxpayer I say go the hell for it. Better putting money on a stadium. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-3-18 3:12:46 PM |
| #8 PS. Do you know the FULL names of the Mars rovers? Spirit of Texaco and Exxon Opportunity. |
| Posted by: ed 2004-3-18 2:26:22 PM |
| #7 Mucky, You've discovered the secret of chaineys space program. Asteroids are lousy with hydrocarbons. Why do you think we are going to Mars. The rovers are equipped with DRILLS. Beware of chainey's hitmen .. err Halliburton consultants. |
| Posted by: ed 2004-3-18 2:24:05 PM |
| #6 Not to worry. This piece is just the "marker" piece. It's the next one that we need to watch. It's the Bad Boy - a ball of frozen methane ice holding a bunch of rocks together. As the methane ice melts, the rocks come free. THOSE will be the punishment the "pretenders" in Iran will receive. /channeling Oslammer ben Loosing. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2004-3-18 2:21:57 PM |
| #5 chainey to Wolfowitz: Is the asteroid control ray ready yet? why. he thinking maybe there oil on it? |
| Posted by: muck4doo 2004-3-18 2:17:03 PM |
| #4 Put Bruce Willis on "Ready 5" |
| Posted by: Yosemite Sam 2004-3-18 12:36:23 PM |
| #3 chainey to Wolfowitz: Is the asteroid control ray ready yet? |
| Posted by: ed 2004-3-18 12:07:09 PM |
| #2 Dar, if it is going to hit the earth, my bet is it hits Iran. |
| Posted by: Lil Dhimmi 2004-3-18 11:55:08 AM |
| #1 Didn't we have a few of these where the "experts" thought we might get hit, but we didn't? And now they're sure this one will miss... |
| Posted by: OldeForce 2004-3-18 11:51:40 AM |