NEAR MISS

[Ladylethal 12]

Very unlikely they missed that, they keep tabs on everything on our system, for sure.

Edited March 4, 2009 by Luis&Laura

[Ban Hammer 13,635]

Very unlikely they missed that, they keep tabs on everything on our system, for sure.

nah, the government can't tax that.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

yeah the expert they had on FOX News

Ok, now wait a minute....

[Jasman0717 9]

I blame Obama

Damn right

[NickD 203]

"Phew! Asteroid's passing was a cosmic near-miss 7 hours ago

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — An asteroid about the size of one that blasted Siberia a century ago just buzzed by Earth.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory reported that the asteroid zoomed past Monday morning.

The asteroid named 2009 DD45 was about 48,800 miles from Earth. That is just twice the height of some telecommunications satellites and about a fifth of the distance to the Moon.

The space ball measured between 69 feet and 154 feet in diameter. The Planetary Society said that made it the same size as an asteroid that exploded over Siberia in 1908 and leveled more than 800 square miles of forest.

Most people probably didn't notice the cosmic close call. The asteroid was only spotted two days ago and at its closest point passed over the Pacific Ocean near Tahiti."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/articl...-dmD8QD96N7ASO0

"An asteroid as wide as a football pitch hurtled less than 50,000 miles above the Earth yesterday.

The giant 40-metre wide rock - named 2009 DD45 - was easily visible to the naked eye as it thundered across the sky over the south Pacific, only twice as high up as orbiting satellites.

Scientists said it could have unleashed a blast as powerful 'as 1,000 Hiroshimas' if it had struck the planet as it passed at 1.44pm GMT, French agency AFP reported.

An image of an S-type asteroid taken by NASA. Even a medium-sized asteroid could cause a major catastrophe if it struck a populated area of Earth

It was also an asteroid's closest brush with Earth since 1973, astronomer Peter Brown of Canada's University of Western Ontario said.

He added: 'It was roughly the same size as the Tunguska Impactor asteroid, which exploded in the atmosphere above Siberia in 1908 flattening thousands of square miles of forest.

More...

'The last large rock to come that close or closer was in 1973, and the next time will be in 2029 when asteroid Apophis makes its close approach.'

2009 DD45 was discovered on February 27, and was now being tracked by the Harvard-Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's Jet Propulsion Labs, he said.

Meanwhile, Canada is preparing to launch a satellite in 2010 that will look for dangerous rocks close to Earth, known as Near Earth Objects."

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt...26newwindow%3D1

[GaryC 7]

There is also something else to consider. Since it just missed us it may have been thrown into an orbit that will bring it back later. I would be interested to hear about its new orbit and the chances of a strike later on. Maybe Dec 21 2012? You never know.

Surprise Asteroid Makes Near-Miss of Earth

Monday, March 02, 2009

Wait! Did you hear that whooshing sound?

A small asteroid buzzed by Earth Monday, though only real astronomy geeks in the Pacific would have noticed.

The rock, estimated to be no more than 200 feet wide, zoomed past our planet at an altitude of 40,000 miles at 1:44 p.m. universal time — or 8:44 EST.

Dubbed 2009 DD45, it was discovered only on Friday by Australian astronomers.

Forty thousand miles may sound like a lot, but it's only about one-seventh of the way to the moon, and less than twice as far out as many telecommunications satellites.

Had 2009 DD45 hit the Earth, it would have exploded on or near the surface with the force of a large nuclear blast — not very reassuring when you consider humanity had only about three days' notice.

According to the Australian news Web site Crikey, the asteroid is likely to be drawn in by Earth's gravity, meaning it may return for many more near misses in the future.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,503164,00.html

[Jasman0717 9]

Now that my truck is paid off it would be my luck for it to land on the Dodge

[Ban Hammer 13,635]

Now that my truck is paid off it would be my luck for it to land on the Dodge

[Jasman0717 9]

Now that my truck is paid off it would be my luck for it to land on the Dodge

I am sure Claudeth would love that, then we would have to buy a smaller car that she would feel comfortable driving. I can just imagine where she would go....Main Place Mall...note to self...gotta hide the credit cards

[Ladylethal 12]

Before that happens the LHC will be turned on again and it will be the end of the world. (I don't believe that but it'd be cool if something unexpected happened)

[Niels Bohr 72]

Dammit. Looks like I can't have massive orgies before the Earth gets hit.