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.

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.

Literally

[UnpopularOpinion]

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