Meteorite in Russia: No warning given

[Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 276
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It just goes to show how vulnerable earth is.
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  • skipjack79skipjack79 Posts: 3,250
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    We are aware of the biggies, and are keeping track of them to the extent we can predict their rough trajectories decades in advance. However the tiny ones such as the Russian impact we can't predict as of yet.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 276
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    skipjack79 wrote: »
    We are aware of the biggies, and are keeping track of them to the extent we can predict their rough trajectories decades in advance. However the tiny ones such as the Russian impact we can't predict as of yet.

    Imagine the damage if hundreds of small ones fell. It could be catastrophic. I am scaring myself now :D
  • teresagreenteresagreen Posts: 16,444
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    Scary isn't it?
  • skipjack79skipjack79 Posts: 3,250
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    Scary isn't it?

    Just remember that you're more likely to be hit by lightening on your birthday, and then again on your next birthday, and possibly the birthday after that, than being hit by a meteorite. Most get burned up in the atmosphere. The really dangerous ones that could wipe out life are out there, but hopefully by the time we realise an extinction level impact is unavoidable, we'll have some kind of plan :)

    If no survival plan was in place, then my personal plan would be to settle some scores before the big day :D
  • smokeybaconsmokeybacon Posts: 5,113
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    skipjack79 wrote: »
    Just remember that you're more likely to be hit by lightening on your birthday, and then again on your next birthday, and possibly the birthday after that, than being hit by a meteorite. Most get burned up in the atmosphere. The really dangerous ones that could wipe out life are out there, but hopefully by the time we realise an extinction level impact is unavoidable, we'll have some kind of plan :)

    If no survival plan was in place, then my personal plan would be to settle some scores before the big day :D

    Looks like a survival plan is quite a way off yet so you might get your wish :D





    http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/environment/natural-disasters/three-unanswered-questions-about-the-russian-meteor-15104678
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,607
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    skipjack79 wrote: »
    Just remember that you're more likely to be hit by lightening on your birthday, and then again on your next birthday, and possibly the birthday after that, than being hit by a meteorite. Most get burned up in the atmosphere. The really dangerous ones that could wipe out life are out there, but hopefully by the time we realise an extinction level impact is unavoidable, we'll have some kind of plan :)

    If no survival plan was in place, then my personal plan would be to settle some scores before the big day :D


    :D I love this post :D
  • TelevisionUserTelevisionUser Posts: 41,404
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    Here's one I prepared earlier plus a link or two:
    http://www.spaceguarduk.com/
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaceguard
    http://impact.arc.nasa.gov/downloads/spacesurvey.pdf
    There are plenty of legitimate, virus-free videos out there (see http://www.google.co.uk/webhp?complete=0#q=russia+today+meteorite&hl=en&tbo=d&complete=0&site=webhp&source=lnms&tbm=vid&sa=X&ei=HWYeUfWHG-fT4QS554CoDQ&ved=0CAsQ_AUoAA&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&bvm=bv.42553238,d.d2k&fp=6f86575a9148203a&biw=1024&bih=579). What this incident does mean is that funding should be maintained for all those projects that map asteroids' orbits and that look for asteroids that might conceivable pose a future danger to Earth.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,324
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  • gemma-the-huskygemma-the-husky Posts: 18,116
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    a tiny rock about the size of a car, i should think.

    how can you track those.

    maybe a fragment broke off the big one that passed today.
  • paulsh1paulsh1 Posts: 2,245
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    Maybe we take some Hollywood movies as gospel,and expect Bruce Willis or the one from Spiderman to save us.
  • lemoncurdlemoncurd Posts: 57,778
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    skipjack79 wrote: »
    Just remember that you're more likely to be hit by lightening on your birthday, and then again on your next birthday, and possibly the birthday after that, than being hit by a meteorite. Most get burned up in the atmosphere. The really dangerous ones that could wipe out life are out there, but hopefully by the time we realise an extinction level impact is unavoidable, we'll have some kind of plan :)

    If no survival plan was in place, then my personal plan would be to settle some scores before the big day :D

    Realistically, if any large meteor is heading earthwards, there's not much planning could be done other than try and evacuate as much as possible around the predicted impact zone.
    As history teaches us, there's no point trying to defeat nature. It'll happen whatever.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 276
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    lemoncurd wrote: »
    Realistically, if any large meteor is heading earthwards, there's not much planning could be done other than try and evacuate as much as possible around the predicted impact zone.
    As history teaches us, there's no point trying to defeat nature. It'll happen whatever.

    And if it fell into sea imagine the tidal wave.
  • Susan_A1951Susan_A1951 Posts: 1,081
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    I watched the live NASA thread at 7pm tonight for half an hour - and what a farce it was! Mostly a media woman thanking people in different observatories for their input. No real live updates - and had the feeling that no one there had any idea of what was happening.

    Seems that asteroid alerts are largely in the hands of amateur astronomers. Makes you wonder what the annual NASA budget is.
  • lemoncurdlemoncurd Posts: 57,778
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    Makes you wonder what the annual NASA budget is.

    Very little these days.
    Thought I think the JPL/Caltech does get it's fair share of research grants from the US Govt.
  • phylo_roadkingphylo_roadking Posts: 21,339
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    Neither of them have the responsibility for monitoring near-Earth objects, that's in the purview of U.S Space Command http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Space_Command
  • cmq2cmq2 Posts: 2,502
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    There is a protocol for reporting asteroids to NASA through the Minor Planets Centre. This Horizon episode was on TV again just before Xmas showing the detection of a 2008 asteroid airburst in Sudan and the famous one from 1908 in Siberia: http://youtu.be/Ake18DGolg0?t=46m10s
  • gold2040gold2040 Posts: 3,049
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    lemoncurd wrote: »
    Very little these days.
    Thought I think the JPL/Caltech does get it's fair share of research grants from the US Govt.
    Some 17 billion dollars

    http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/622643main_FY%2013%20Budget%20Presentation.pdf
  • KJ44KJ44 Posts: 38,093
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    gold2040 wrote: »

    == $54 per person per annum

    US defense budget 2013 $716 billion.
  • jenziejenzie Posts: 20,821
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    we're a pebble in an ocean .....
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 5,692
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    They probably thought it would burn up in the atmosphere and end up the size of a chihuahua's head.
  • potatolegspotatolegs Posts: 5,099
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    I think an asteroid becomes a meteor when a bit breaks off which becomes a meteorite if it hits our atmosphere?
    So, what's a comet?
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 276
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    potatolegs wrote: »
    I think an asteroid becomes a meteor when a bit breaks off which becomes a meteorite if it hits our atmosphere?
    So, what's a comet?

    A Comet used to be a shop where I live :)
  • KarlSomethingKarlSomething Posts: 3,529
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    skipjack79 wrote: »
    We are aware of the biggies, and are keeping track of them to the extent we can predict their rough trajectories decades in advance. However the tiny ones such as the Russian impact we can't predict as of yet.

    We were only aware of the several times larger 2012 DA14 since 2012. If that one was going to hit us, we wouldn't have been able to do anything about it.

    We still need to ramp up our ability to find these things.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 32,379
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    a tiny rock about the size of a car, i should think.

    how can you track those.

    maybe a fragment broke off the big one that passed today.

    It wasn't, it was travelling in a different direction.

    It was to small to be detected, thousands of meteors hit our atmosphere every year and burn up. Very few land.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 276
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    woodbush wrote: »
    It wasn't, it was travelling in a different direction.

    It was to small to be detected, thousands of meteors hit our atmosphere every year and burn up. Very few land.

    It's the ones that land that concern me.
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