Simulation of Close Asteroid Fly-By 148
c0mpliant writes "NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory have released a simulation of the path of an asteroid, named Apophis, that will come very close to Earth in 2029 — the closest predicted approach since humans have monitored for such heavenly bodies. The asteroid caused a bit of a scare when astronomers first announced that it would enter Earth's neighborhood some time in the future. However, since that announcement in 2004, more recent calculations have put the odds of collision at 1 in 250,000."
So if it hits... (Score:2, Funny)
That means we won the global armageddon lottery?
In case of slashdotting (Score:5, Funny)
* O - Earth
|
| ---- Asteroid
|
Re:Danger... or opportunity? (Score:5, Funny)
Hmmm . . . a giant harpoon, tethered by a long nanotube to the Earth. We could nail that asteroid, like Captain Ahab did to Moby Dick. We could travel back and forth on a space elevator. The more alcohol I drink, the better this idea sounds!
Re:Where's The OTHER Simulation? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Thank goodness (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Danger... or opportunity? (Score:5, Funny)
Of course Apophis is going to miss Earth in 2029 (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Danger... or opportunity? (Score:4, Funny)
Actually I'm pretty sure that's a standard sci-fi technique. Send the big mining robot to the asteroid. It then starts processing the asteroid and ejects the waste material in order to produce thrust to head towards Earth (aiming for an orbit rather than a collision :).
Actually, the standard Sci-Fi technique is:
- Send big mining robot.
- Big mining robot passes through exotic magnetic field and develops conscience.
- Big mining robot invades Earth; possibly to mine it.
Re:Danger... or opportunity? (Score:5, Funny)
Q, stop posting on Slashdot. Or is the Continuum that boring these days?
Looks like our force field will save us (Score:3, Funny)
In that animation, the asteroid was apparently deflected by the earth's force field. Either that or I just don't understand what's going on. Can someone kindly explain what the video is showing?
Re:In case of slashdotting (Score:5, Funny)
Scientists report that the Apophis asteroid is approximately the size of two-and-a-half football fields. Further research and government grants are necessary to determine whether the Apophisites are playing American Football or that odd metric football where you use your feet.
Re:In case of slashdotting (Score:5, Funny)
I'm curious to know how many Volkswagen Beetles we'd need to collide with a two-and-a-half football fields asteroid to change its trajectory.
Re:Danger... or opportunity? (Score:3, Funny)
Thank god, more rocks on the moon. What a prize.
Re:In case of slashdotting (Score:4, Funny)
It's all documented in the Library of Congress. In fact, a lot of information is contained in the Library of Congress. Ten Terabytes: [techtarget.com] and if each bit was a "0" or "1" in 12-point font, laid end-to-end, it would stretch to the Apophis asteroid and back nine times (at its closest point to Earth).
Seriously, what's this "1 in 250,000" chance of hitting the Earth? It's only going to pass once, and it'll either hit or miss. So it's one in 2.
That's why it's important for lottery money to go toward education. These scientists can't calculate probabilities!
Yet another simulation (Score:2, Funny)
Re:In case of slashdotting (Score:3, Funny)
Ironic then, that as I win the lottery every other time I play (the odds being 1:2) the education fund will no doubt go into the red delivering my payouts... Take that, book learnin'!
Duh! That's one of the stupidest things I've ever heard! I mean, why aren't you skipping every other lottery drawing?
Re:In case of slashdotting (Score:4, Funny)
I've been trying that for years now, but I must be skipping the wrong ones...I'm only picking every other loser. :-(