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City-Sized Asteroid to Pass Earth This Fall

FiniteLoop sends a collection of links about a city-sized asteroid named Toutatis which will approach - but miss - Earth this September. MSNBC also has a story, and JPL and the Near Earth Object program have more information.

41 of 340 comments (clear)

  1. Familiar territory by Caseylite · · Score: 4, Funny

    Someone call Bruce Willis!

    1. Re:Familiar territory by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Yeah, and be sure to start rotating the space station *before* they try to land!

  2. Sure. It'll miss. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    But, they fail to mention that it is of such size as to have sufficient gravity that when it passes, it will rip the oceans from the face of the earth and carry them off into space.

    All you doubters are gonna be mighty thirsty. It's going to be a hot dry 2005!

    1. Re:Sure. It'll miss. by Gulik · · Score: 2, Funny

      But, they fail to mention that it is of such size as to have sufficient gravity that when it passes, it will rip the oceans from the face of the earth and carry them off into space.

      Oooh! Oooh! I get to be Thundarr!

  3. But miss!?! by LqqkOut · · Score: 5, Funny
    > Will approach - but miss - Earth.

    ACK! "But Miss" sounds like a negative statement. I, for one, wouldn't feel the least bit sad if we're excluded from the city-sized-meteor-strikes-planet team.

    --

    -- In Soviet Russia, radio listens to YOU!

  4. Hmmm by sv25 · · Score: 5, Funny

    All of these misses... Geez, the universe sure does have bad aim!

  5. City-sized? by morcheeba · · Score: 2, Funny

    On Sept. 29, 2004 an asteroid the size of a small city ...
    Toutatis is about 2.9 miles long and 1.5 miles wide (4.6 by 2.4 kilometers).


    Well, most small cities are about 30 feet thick (about 10 feet of plumbing underground, plus a two story building above-ground), so I'm not so worried.

  6. Toutatis was formerly known as... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...Anna Nicole, but was recently renamed.

  7. This demands a BTAF strip! by Walkiry · · Score: 2, Funny

    As in Bob The Angry Flower:

    http://www.angryflower.com/astero.gif

    --
    ---- Take the Space Quiz!
  8. Coming this fall??? by TopShelf · · Score: 4, Funny

    OMG, is there enough time to make the TV movie???

    --
    Stop by my site where I write about ERP systems & more
  9. 2.9 miles long and 1.5 miles wide by exp(pi*sqrt(163)) · · Score: 4, Funny

    Are they sure it's completely flat?

    --
    Doesn't it make you feel good to know that our freedoms are protected by politicans, lawyers and journalists.
  10. Re:Catch that puppy by jwitch · · Score: 2, Funny
    That would be a good plan. Put a naquadah-heavy asteroid on a collision course with Earth.


    No wait... that's been done already

  11. Re:Catch that puppy by tunabomber · · Score: 4, Funny

    President Bush: Well, a city-size asteroid has landed on Fallujah. It's so sad but so conv- I mean what are the odds!?

    --

    pi = 3.141592653589793helpimtrappedinauniversefactory71 ...
  12. Re:Ironic name by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny
    The only thing us Gauls have to fear is the sky falling on our heads

    ...by Toutatis!

  13. Re:City sized? by stevesliva · · Score: 4, Funny

    It is definitely the size of several dozen libraries of congress and will pass withing a few moon units. However, scientists can predict its path to the less than the width of a human hair, so do not fear.

    --
    Who do you get to be an expert to tell you something's not obvious? The least insightful person you can find? -J Roberts
  14. I, for one ... by Triumph+The+Insult+C · · Score: 1, Funny

    welcome our speedingly fast galatic dust and ice overlords

    --
    vodka, straight up, thank you!
  15. Wow... by sczimme · · Score: 2, Funny


    Just like presidential elections!

    (I kid, of course: there's no way to escape election hoopla - carefully distinguished from useful content - for at least 2 of the 4 intervening years.)

    --
    I want to drag this out as long as possible. Bring me my protractor.
  16. Re:Catch that puppy by jwitch · · Score: 2, Funny

    Give me a leaver long enough...

  17. Don't worry... by jared_hanson · · Score: 2, Funny

    A recent attempt to fuse the tectonic plates failed and caused the oceans to drain into fault lines. We are keeping the oceans for ourselves!

    --
    -- Fighting mediocrity one bad post at a time.
  18. Yup by fiannaFailMan · · Score: 5, Funny

    The dinosaurs are extinct cos they didn't have a space programme.

    --
    Drill baby drill - on Mars
    1. Re:Yup by Geoffreyerffoeg · · Score: 4, Funny

      How do you know they are extinct? Maybe they had a space program, left for another plnet, and let the Earth be hit by the asteroid. There'd've been enough bodies of already dead dinosaurs for us to find.

    2. Re:Yup by rpj1288 · · Score: 2, Funny

      No no no, you've got it all wrong. It was the dolphins that left!

      --
      Marvin knew: "Think of a number, any number..."
    3. Re:Yup by Lord_Slepnir · · Score: 4, Funny

      THey're not extinct, they're just hiding behind your funiture.

  19. To put things into perspective... by Saeger · · Score: 4, Funny
    A "city-sized" asteroid is about the size of:

    • 0.01 Texas'
    • 2000 Rock of Gibraltar's
    • 5000 Library Of Congress's
    • 10000 Empire State buildings
    • 20000 Football Stadiums
    • 150000 Houses
    • 300000 Semi Trucks
    • 2300000 "New Beetle's"
    • 2500000 VW Bugs
    • 30 Oprah's || CowboyNeal's
    (unit conversions came out of my ass just, like most stats)

    --

    --
    Power to the Peaceful
    1. Re:To put things into perspective... by Keighvin · · Score: 2, Funny

      Actually it's 25 Oprahs. Wait, now it's 823. ARGH, now it's back down to 24!

      --
      Any spoon would be too big.
  20. Re:City sized? by wronskyMan · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yes, but if it hits, how many VW Beetles worth of damage will it cause?

    --
    --- You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you mad- Neal (not Cowboy) Boortz
  21. Planet sized rock to pass our asteroid... by tttonyyy · · Score: 4, Funny
    ...depending on your frame of reference. Perhaps they're just relieved at missing our planet? :)

    Obviously I've been spending too much time playing this.

    --
    biopowered.co.uk - catalytically cracking triglycerides for home automotive use since 2008. Just say no to big oil!
  22. Re:NUKE FIRST!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    It's the only way to be sure.

  23. Re:Ironic name by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    These astronomers are crazy!

  24. Bottom of the seventh... by MosesJones · · Score: 5, Funny


    And another swing and a miss by the Kuiper belt, the Kuiper belt is batting a .0000001 ERA against small blue planets over the course of this aeon. Of course the last hit that wasn't called foul was a grand-slam homer which cleared the field for a couple of seasons.

    --
    An Eye for an Eye will make the whole world blind - Gandhi
  25. Re:God of War by automandc · · Score: 2, Funny
    Or, as Chief Vitalstatistix would say:

    "By Toutatis! The Sky is falling on our heads!"

    --
    I'm a lawyer with excellent karma. Something's gotta be wrong.
  26. Re:God of War by infinite9 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Of course, being a French asteroid, we can be sure that it would never hit us on account of
    the enevitable asteroid strike.

    oh hell, I have karma to burn...

    Of course, being a French asteroid, it will never hit us, just smell bad as it goes by. :-D

    or, similarly...

    Of course, being a French asteroid, it will never actually hit us because it would simply surrender once we declared war.

    --
    Disconnect your television. Do your own research. Draw your own conclusions. They're probably lying. Don't be a sheep.
  27. Re:City sized? by Fearless+Freep · · Score: 2, Funny

    >(LOC)

    Yeah, but LOC count really doesn't mean much.

    How many function points big is the city?

  28. Re:We should be safe... by Fearless+Freep · · Score: 5, Funny

    God does not play dice with the universe... ...He plays billiards

  29. Re:City sized? by xargoon · · Score: 4, Funny

    Damnit, can't you americans adopt SI already! ;)

  30. Re:City sized? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny
    >>BTW, if one ever does reach an orbit that will collide with us, we will have something useful to do with all those nukes, no?

    I know something useful you could do with a closing italics tag right now!

  31. A more practical thought... by NotQuiteReal · · Score: 2, Funny
    Why don't you just make a million dollars without having to pay taxes, or carve a boat from a block of wood?

    In case you don't know how to do either of those, I'll tell you [regards to Monty Python, etc]

    1) Make a million dollars. Don't pay taxes.
    2) Get a block of wood. Carve away all the bits that don't look like a boat.

    Nothing personal, nizo, I am just whoring for a funny moderation, but basically what you have just said is slight variation on a slashdot meme:

    1) ?
    2) use the asteroid for cool stuff.
    3) profit!

    --
    This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
  32. Re:City sized? by SamSim · · Score: 3, Funny

    Roughly the same as eight Statues of Liberty, or twelve football fields.

  33. Re:It's coming right for us! by Ingolfke · · Score: 2, Funny

    Of course we're not going to tell you... there's only so much room here in this secret shelter... oh wait... doh!

  34. Re:City sized? by I+don't+want+to+spen · · Score: 3, Funny

    You mean in 600 years, everyone reading this could be dead?

    --
    Don't go to a brothel if you want to buy broth
  35. Re:What would be left after 60 million years? by hesiod · · Score: 2, Funny

    > I don't think a T-Rex would have much use for a bow and arrow.

    Toothpicks?