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Simulation of Close Asteroid Fly-By

Posted by Soulskill on from the close-enough-to-feel-the-vacuum-breeze dept.

c0mpliant writes "NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory have released a simulation of the path of an asteroid, named Apophis, that will come very close to Earth in 2029 — the closest predicted approach since humans have monitored for such heavenly bodies. The asteroid caused a bit of a scare when astronomers first announced that it would enter Earth's neighborhood some time in the future. However, since that announcement in 2004, more recent calculations have put the odds of collision at 1 in 250,000."

4 of 148 comments (clear)

  1. we've had worse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I think the asteroid that just missed us (was that last month?) came closer than this will.
    the only difference is we didn't see it coming.

  2. Impact Simulations by smitty777 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'm surprised the original post didn't link to this article from Sandia National Labs. There is a pretty interesting analysis of what would actually happen if an asteroid did hit (complete with nifty graphics).
     
    From the Sandia article:So what would happen during such an impact, really? According to the simulation, the impact would vaporize the asteroid, deform the ocean floor, and eject hundreds of cubic miles of superheated water vapor, melted rock, and other debris into the upper atmosphere and back into space. Much of the debris would then rain down over the world for the next several hours and also form a high global cloud, says David Crawford of Sandia's Computational Physics and Mechanics Department. The shock wave from the impact would level much of the New England region. The heat would incinerate cities and forests there instantaneously. The global cloud would then lower temperatures worldwide, and a global snowstorm likely would ensue and last several days to several weeks, initiating a "nuclear winter" that would create more hardships for earth's inhabitants.

    --
    "Before God we are all equally wise - and equally foolish"
    Albert Einstein
  3. Re:Looks like our force field will save us by starglider29a · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I did a simulation of the Cassini flyby. It came so close to the earth that you saw NOTHING for a while. That 'nothing' was the dark side of the earth. That was like grabbing the beer off the back bumper.

  4. What about landing a probe? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    This strikes me as a great opportunity - the asteroid will be passing closer than any other large body has ever come to Earth. I wonder if it would be practical to land a probe on the surface as it passes by. This could provide us with a lot of great science.