Asteroid Flies Under the Radar, Literally

mrn121 writes "Space.com is reporting that a 16-foot wide asteriod has passed the Earth in a phenomenally close call. The Asteroid, named 2004 YD5, passed just below the 22,300 mile range where geostationary satellites sit. What makes the incident most interesting is that the asteriod was not seen until after it passed the Earth, due to the well-known Cosmic Blind Spot caused by the Sun."

Comments

First post

[IO ERROR]

Asteroids this small, if they were to enter the atmosphere, would break up and the pieces would burn up on entry. Little or none of it would reach the ground in any form you could recover it.

The asteroids that are large enough to do damage can be seen far away enough that the cosmic blind spot is irrelevant. The article mentions a 2.9 mile wide asteroid (which would quickly wipe out all life on the planet if it hit) which scientists have known about for years. It won't come anywhere close.

At the moment, we have no defense against a planet-killing asteroid, but the European Space Agency is studying the issue, and NASA's Deep Impact project is also working on it.

Oops? But does it matter?

[agent dero]

While that does kind of suck that we had no idea of it before it passed "close" by, one has to ask, does it matter if we see it coming or not?

If an asteroid does head for us, will it matter if we see it coming or not? Or will the grandiose idea presented in "Armageddon" be employed (despite being cool as hell.)

Personally, i'd rather be blindsided by a sixteen-wheeler, than sit by and see it head towards me for hours/days/weeks.

Re:Well if I'm going to be obliterated by an aster

[fyngyrz]

No, no -- you must be from some other earth. Here, we don't spend money on planetary defense, we spend it on sports figures, actors, and politicians. And porn, of course.

Re:Tell that to Bikini Atoll...

[BrianH]

Correct, a nuke detonated against an asteroid could conceivably break it up or change its course. It's just a shame that we don't have a delivery system with the range, speed, or accuracy needed to actually HIT an incoming asteroid.

Literally

[UnpopularOpinion]

So... when you say 'literally', you mean 'metaphorically' right? As in not literally under a radar... *sigh*

Re:This is NOT reassuring ...

[Pantero Blanco]

If there WAS an asteroid hurtling towards us and we had significant warning, I'm sure we could throw something together. If we don't have that ability today, the information we gather now could be useful in the future if such an event occurs.

Re:This is NOT reassuring ...

[Doc Ruby]

We have a Greenhouse effect that is threatening us NOW, more slowly than a hurtling asteroid - so we can deal with it - but just as inevitably. Instead of doing something about it, we're denying it and making it worse. What makes you think an asteroid won't be "just a theory" to the people too entrenched in feeding at the status quo trough to raise their snouts?

Re:This is NOT reassuring ...

[HeghmoH]

Newton's law of gravitation is much simpler than the incredibly chaotic system that makes up our climate. Once such an asteroid is discovered and the details published, anybody with a year or two of university-level math and physics will be able to verify its path.