Asteroid Highlighted as Impact Threat

Maggie McKee writes "The asteroid Apophis has been traversing the void of space for untold years; in just a few decades time it will make a very close pass to Earth, and could make an unwelcome stop on our planet's surface. Even still, it's nothing to get too worked up about. The 20-million-tonne object has a 1 in 45,000 chance of hitting the Pacific Ocean in early April of 2036. If it did hit, it could trigger a tsunami that would do an untold amount of damage to the California coastline and many other places on Earth. Despite the low level of the threat, it's still a real enough danger to prompt the United Nations to develop a protocol about the scenario. We'll get a closeup look at the object in 2029, and at that point we should have a better idea of what 2036 will bring us."

Comments

Call Bruce Willis

[Corporate Troll]

We have some drilling to do!

Re:Call Bruce Willis

[sconeu]

No, it's Apophis, so we call Jack O'Neill. Those darned Goa'uld!

Re:Call Bruce Willis

[jfclavette]

Talk about missing the point. In a few decades Bruce Willis might be DEAD ! Where does that leave us ?

No Worries

[blantonl]

untold amount of damage to the California coastline

Cancel that request... nothing to be worried about... nothing to see here. Move along folks..

Re:great

[Corporate Troll]

Look at the bright side: we won't need to fix the Unix date overflow ;-)

Re:1 in 45,000 chance

[Corporate Troll]

My wife plays the lottery, my bets are on total annihilation before she wins....

Thanks

[mustafap]

>We'll get a closeup look at the object in 2029, and at that point we should have a better idea of what 2036 will bring us."

I'll stick a reminder in outlook.

The new protocol point by point..

[plasmacutter]

1. set up an alert system:
  >>(green, no asteroid)
  >>(yellow, the asteroid MIGHT be near the earth)
  >>(orange, be careful when answering your door, IT MIGHT BE THE ASTEROID!)
  >>(red, we're already dead from the impact)

2. earmark government funds to buy swimsuits and surfboards for all californians

3. have congressional prayer sessions thanking the intelligent designer for wiping out the seat of all vice

4. only give recovery funds to predominently white areas.

5. Invade iraq in retaliation.

Ah, Wikipedia's dry humor.

[Kadin2048]

By far the best part of that article:

Using a (signed) 64-bit value introduces a new wraparound date in about 290 billion years, on Sunday, December 4, 292,277,026,596. However, this problem is not widely regarded as a pressing issue.

Re:Strange write-up

[skewer]

How can you know where it would hit (Pacific Ocean) but not the exact date (only "early April of 2036")? It seems that the Heisenberg uncertainty principle applies to astronomy too.