General Robots

We’re doomed!


(Youtube Direktasteroid)

In 20 Jahren wird ein Asteroid ziemlich nahe an der Erde vorbeifliegen. Wenn er dabei einen bestimmten Korridor passiert, wird er seinen Orbit ein wenig ändern und sieben Jahre später mit der Erde kollidieren. Die Chancen dazu stehen zwar nur 1 zu 48.000, aber vielleicht könnte trotzdem schonmal jemand vorsorglich Bruce Willis anrufen? Nur für den Fall.

Und natürlich, falls der unwahrscheinliche Fall eintritt, dann findet die Apokalypse an einem, Achtung!, Freitag den 13. statt. War ja klar. Oben nochmal die Asteroiden-Apocalypse mit Benny Hill-Soundtrack, Snip von Deepastronomy.com:

Apophis is an asteroid with an slightly offset orbit to that of Earth’s. Discovered in June 2004, astronomers have determined that it will make a very close flyby on April 13th, 2029, where it will pass to within 5 Earth diameters of us. The exact path the asteroid follows on its flyby in 2029 will determine whether it smashes into the Earth seven years later.

So, after astronomers had determined that the April 2029 encounter wasn’t going to impact the Earth, they ran some simulations and found that the orbit of the asteroid will bend about 28 degrees, altering its course.

The flyby will make the orbit a bit bigger and Apophis will travel a bit slower. How much the orbit changes depends on how close it gets to us. If it flies through a specific 610-meter wide region of space as it goes past us in 2029, then Apophis’ and the Earth will be in the exact same spot 7 years later on Friday April 13th, 2036.

Apophis: The Asteroid That Could Smash Into The Earth on Friday, April 13th, 2036 (via Jens)

If Earth was hit by a Meteor

What would happen if our planet was ever to cross paths with a meteor? Well, according to this simulation it would be bad news for everyone and everything. This is a small scene from a Discovery Channel program called “Miracle Planet” which details the scary thought of a 500 km (or 300 miles) wide meteor hitting our planet in our lifetime. The amount of kinetic energy released when it hits would be enough to cause a firestorm powerful enough to vaporize all life on our planet and evaporate all of the Worlds oceans.

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A Manned Mission to Asteroid 2000 SG344?

Those who keep track of such things will know that there is a lot of discussion as to where man will head next, in its continuing journey in to space. Bush wants us to head back to the Moon in 2020, and set up a lunar outpost. Experts want us to forget the Moon and head straight to Mars.

But a new report out of NASA is looking at sending a two man crew to rendezvous with 2000 SG344, an asteroid discovered in 1999 and with a diameter of 40 meters.

The asteroid, which was in 2000 given a high chance of striking Earth (but has since been relegated to unlikely, along with so many others), has been identified as a potential landing site for astronauts.

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Closer encounter: Nasa plans landing on 40m-wide asteroid travelling at 28,000mph

It was once considered the most dangerous object in the universe, heading for Earth with the explosive power of 84 Hiroshimas. Now an asteroid called 2000SG344, a lump of rock barely the size of a large yacht, is in the spotlight again, this time as a contender for the next giant leap for mankind.

Nasa engineers have identified the 1.1m tonne asteroid, which in 2000 was given a significant chance of slamming into Earth, as a potential landing site for astronauts, ahead of the Bush administration’s plans to venture deeper into the solar system with a crewed voyage to Mars.

The mission – the first to what officials call a Near Earth Object (NEO) – is being floated within the US space agency as a crucial stepping stone to future space exploration.

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