Asteroid to Miss Earth by 15 Minutes on Feb. 15
Bill Nye, a.k.a. "The Science Guy," explains the effect and impact it could have on Earth.
On Friday, Feb. 15, asteroid 2012 DA14 will pass within 17,200 miles — or 15 minutes — of Earth, according to scientist Bill Nye. While the asteroid, which Nye said is comparable in size to the one responsible for the 1908 Tunguska event, is expected to pass harmlessly by, Nye said it is a very close shave relatively speaking. "This one will miss us by about 15 minutes," Nye explained. "Fifteen minutes difference and that's it." If it were not for those 15 minutes, life for millions of people could end. "If such a meteor were to hit Atlanta or New York City or Boston, that would be it for those municipalities," Nye said. As much as 1,200 square miles would be destroyed, Nye added. According to Nye, there are approximately 100,000 "Earth-…
Sundog
4:30 pm on Thursday, February 14, 2013
If a large object like this were to be found to be a possible Earth impactor, and we found it soon enough to deflect it or destroy it (at its apogee or whatever), then this would more than justify the effort and expense of all the various space exploration programs that have ever been done. You betcha. (hopefully it won't have to be learned the hard way). more ›