[kolakoala]

It just goes to show how vulnerable earth is.

[skipjack79]

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.

[kolakoala]

Originally Posted by skipjack79

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

[teresagreen]

Scary isn't it?

[skipjack79]

Originally Posted by teresagreen

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

[smokeybacon]

Originally Posted by skipjack79

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

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





http://www.popularmechanics.com/scie...eteor-15104678

[Bibidybobidyboo]

Originally Posted by skipjack79

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

I love this post

[TelevisionUser]

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

Originally Posted by TelevisionUser

There are plenty of legitimate, virus-free videos out there (see http://www.google.co.uk/webhp?comple...w=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.

[THEONEFROMHERE]

And one in Cuba http://rt.com/news/line/2013-02-15/#id45233

[gemma-the-husky]

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.

[paulsh1]

Maybe we take some Hollywood movies as gospel,and expect Bruce Willis or the one from Spiderman to save us.

[lemoncurd]

Originally Posted by skipjack79

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

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.

[kolakoala]

Originally Posted by lemoncurd

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_A1951]

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.

[lemoncurd]

Originally Posted by Susan_A1951

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_roadking]

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

[cmq2]

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

[gold2040]

Originally Posted by lemoncurd

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_F...esentation.pdf

[KJ44]

Originally Posted by gold2040

Some 17 billion dollars

http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/622643main_F...esentation.pdf

== $54 per person per annum

US defense budget 2013 $716 billion.

[jenzie]

we're a pebble in an ocean .....

[GeoBa92]

They probably thought it would burn up in the atmosphere and end up the size of a chihuahua's head.

[potatolegs]

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?

[kolakoala]

Originally Posted by potatolegs

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

[KarlSomething]

Originally Posted by skipjack79

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.

[woodbush]

Originally Posted by gemma-the-husky

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.