Space impactors threat

[Vapymid]

Looks like we have received our second warning this morning.

 

http://lenta.ru/articles/2013/02/15/meteorite/

 

(ignore the Russian text, just watch the videos)

 

If nature sticks to the "3 strikes - you're out" policy, the next one will likely be for real.

 

So, will our politicians finally take the threat of space impactors seriously or is it going to be ignored yet again? I wonder...

 

Regards

[BTGBullseye]

They'll ignore it if the computers at NASA say it'll miss us... Otherwise they'll nuke the shit out of it.

[Pinkie Pie]

It's not just the one in Russia. Do you realize how many times recently they've said an asteroid has 'almost' hit us? I can take one or two times, but it seems like every week there's a new one popping up trying to hit our planet. I'm increasingly worrying there'll be a huge one we won't be able to blow up outright without risking billions of people's lives due to the debris.

 

But maybe all those nukes that were made will be put to good use, after all.

[Jek Jek Roo]

God missed again, I bet he was aiming at our parliament.

[Vapymid]

They'll ignore it if the computers at NASA say it'll miss us... Otherwise they'll nuke the shit out of it.

 

I'm afraid, nukes won't anywhere near do it if the rock is big enough...

 

Regards

[BTGBullseye]

They'll ignore it if the computers at NASA say it'll miss us... Otherwise they'll nuke the shit out of it.

 

I'm afraid, nukes won't anywhere near do it if the rock is big enough...

 

Regards

If they can crack our planet in two, (and they can when detonated correctly) they can take out any asteroid/meteor that comes our way.

 

As for debris, you take out the main one, and knock it down to a small enough size (about 100m or less) and they should burn up on entry. (otherwise just keep detonating nukes till the 'roid debris is dispersed)

[Alyxx Thorne]

God missed again, I bet he was aiming at our parliament.

Damnit. He needs to work on his aim.

 

Anyway, I don't really think we're safe from asteroids. They've hit us before and they can do it again. You never know when we get another Grand Canyon.

[Vapymid]

I think the power of nuclear weapons are somewhat exaggerated. To put things in perspective (according to wikipedia):

 

2.1E17 J - yield of the Tsar Bomba, the largest nuclear weapon ever tested (50 megatons)

5.0E19 J - energy released in 1-day by an average hurricane in producing rain (that's 200 50-megaton nukes per day)

5.0E23 J - approximate energy released in the formation of the Chicxulub Crater in the Yucatán Peninsula (that's 2,000,000 50-megaton nukes in one go).

 

Clearly, to stop something possessing such energy outright needs a comparable energy release. Taking into account that a nuclear detonation in space against an asteroid body will waste most of the energy, because most of the blast will dissipate into empty space there needs to be something more clever than just banging away with explosives (as much as I would like to see a space fireworks like that!).

 

Regarding the 100m being an acceptable size for an impactor - I don't think so.

 

The Cheliabinsk meteorite last week is estimated to have had the mass of about 9 - 10 tonnes, yet it has done a lot of damage just by flying by at high altitude. How big was it? If it was solid Fe-Ni, then maybe the size of a car, if it was a stone one - maybe a bus? A 100 m rock will wipe out a major city.

 

Regards

[Vapymid]

Update: According to NASA the meteorite was 17m in diameter and had mass of 10,000 tons. Me thinking they used US tons it gives the probable density of the meteorite as about 3.4kg/dm3 and it corresponds to peridotite - one of the most common mineral in stony meteorites. So, nothing overly exciting there, except they calculate the release of energy at 500 kiloton equivalent, which is over 30 times the yield of the Hiroshima bomb!

 

Regards

[Humin]

10,000 tons? Are you sure? That sounds like a lot.

[Vapymid]

Well, that's what NASA said.

 

Regards

[Vapymid]

From the BBC:

 

"The threat of another asteroid strike like the one that hit Russia earlier this year is much higher than was previously thought, a study suggests."

 

"Much higher" apparently means from 2 to 10 times more often...

 

I do not subscribe to Nature but the extract seems to say that there is an order of magnitude higher than earlier predicted probability of impact by a small(ish) asteroid (tens of meters in diameter), however, the damage from each individual impact is likely to be lower than thought.

 

Regards

[Dr.Bill]

I hope we do get hit by asteroids.

[Doom Shepherd]

If you dislike life so much, why are you still here?

[Dr.Bill]

I don't have the strength to do it.

[BTGBullseye]

I hate this life too, but I'm not fond of ending it before it has a chance to change.

 

As for the impacts, why is it so hard to believe that asteroids are likely to hit Earth? I've been hearing all my life that stuff the size of basketballs hits us about once every second...