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Asteroid Highlighted as Impact Threat

Posted by Zonk on from the please-bring-your-seatbacks-and-traytables dept.

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."

2 of 297 comments (clear)

  1. Damn by linumax · · Score: 0, Redundant

    He is so obsessed with destroying earth to send us an asteroid and name it after himself?

  2. Guess we don't have to worry by VCAGuy · · Score: 0, Redundant

    ...as much about the UNIX time epoch rolling over in 2038 now, do we?

    --
    Q: "Why do sound techs say 'check 1, 2'?"
    A: "Cause if they could count any higher they'd be lighting techs."