Simulation of Close Asteroid Fly-By

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."

Comments

In case of slashdotting

[Anonymous Coward]

* O - Earth
|
| ---- Asteroid
|

Re:In case of slashdotting

[Chapter80]

Scientists report that the Apophis asteroid is approximately the size of two-and-a-half football fields. Further research and government grants are necessary to determine whether the Apophisites are playing American Football or that odd metric football where you use your feet.

Re:In case of slashdotting

[WormholeFiend]

I'm curious to know how many Volkswagen Beetles we'd need to collide with a two-and-a-half football fields asteroid to change its trajectory.

Re:Danger... or opportunity?

[PolygamousRanchKid]

Hmmm . . . a giant harpoon, tethered by a long nanotube to the Earth. We could nail that asteroid, like Captain Ahab did to Moby Dick. We could travel back and forth on a space elevator. The more alcohol I drink, the better this idea sounds!

Re:Danger... or opportunity?

[hodet]

Then just change the gravitational constant of the universe....duh

Re:Danger... or opportunity?

[Yvan256]

Q, stop posting on Slashdot. Or is the Continuum that boring these days?

Impact Simulations

[smitty777]

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.

Re:You Pose An Excellent Question, "How Much?"

[prgrmr]

The laws of thermodynamics are against you.

And art deco was in the 20's and 30's.