NASA Rules Out Earth Impact in 2036 for Asteroid Apophis. - Polidicks

[TABLE="class: outer_border, width: 800, align: left"] [TR] [TD] [TABLE="width: 640, align: center"] [TR] [TD][h2]NASA Rules Out Earth Impact in 2036 for Asteroid Apophis[/h2][B]PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA scientists at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., effectively have ruled out the possibility the asteroid Aphophis will impact Earth during a close flyby in 2036. The scientists used updated information obtained by NASA-supported telescopes in 2011 and 2012, as well as new data from the time leading up to Aphophis' distant Earth flyby yesterday (Jan. 9). [/B][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][QUOTE][IMG]http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/asteroid/apophis-20071114-640.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] [TABLE="width: 500, align: center"] [TR] [TD]Discovered in 2004, the asteroid, which is the size of three-and-a-half football fields, gathered the immediate attention of space scientists and the media when initial calculations of its orbit indicated a 2.7 percent possibility of an Earth impact during a close flyby in 2029. Data discovered during a search of old astronomical images provided the additional information required to rule out the 2029 impact scenario, but a remote possibility of one in 2036 remained - until yesterday. "With the new data provided by the Magdalena Ridge [New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology] and the Pan-STARRS [Univ. of Hawaii] optical observatories, along with very recent data provided by the Goldstone Solar System Radar, we have effectively ruled out the possibility of an Earth impact by Apophis in 2036," said Don Yeomans, manager of NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office at JPL. "The impact odds as they stand now are less than one in a million, which makes us comfortable saying we can effectively rule out an Earth impact in 2036. Our interest in asteroid Apophis will essentially be for its scientific interest for the foreseeable future." The April 13, 2029, flyby of asteroid Apophis will be one for the record books. On that date, Apophis will become the closest flyby of an asteroid of its size when it comes no closer than 19, 400 miles (31,300 kilometers) above Earth's surface. "But much sooner, a closer approach by a lesser-known asteroid is going to occur in the middle of next month when a 40-meter-sized asteroid, 2012 DA14, flies safely past Earth's surface at about 17,200 miles," said Yeomans. "With new telescopes coming online, the upgrade of existing telescopes and the continued refinement of our orbital determination process, there's never a dull moment working on near-Earth objects." NASA detects and tracks asteroids and comets passing close to Earth using both ground and space-based telescopes. The Near-Earth Object Observations Program, commonly called "Spaceguard," discovers these objects, characterizes a subset of them and plots their orbits to determine if any could be potentially hazardous to our planet. The Near-Earth Object Program Office at JPL manages the technical and scientific activities for NASA's Near-Earth Object Program of the Science Mission Directorate in Washington. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. For more information about asteroids and near-Earth objects, visit: [url]http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch[/url] Updates about near-Earth objects are also available by following AsteroidWatch on Twitter at [url]http://www.twitter.com/asteroidwatch[/url] .[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][B]SOURCE: [/B] [URL]http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-017[/URL][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]

Needless to say we can expect a volley of doomsday sayers in 2035.

The would never have named the asteroid after the egyptian god of death if they didnt know it might hit earth.

You can go home now Bruce Willis

2036 is the new 2012.

[QUOTE=pansarkurt;39171531]The would never have named the asteroid after the egyptian god of death if they didnt know it might hit earth.[/QUOTE] From what I've read is was named half for the God, and Half after that Stargate character, who was the god.

Time to write a book on 2036 Doomsday and make millions

[QUOTE=AJisAwesome15;39171598]Time to write a book on 2036 Doomsday and make millions[/QUOTE] You should write one for 2029 and then 2036.

[QUOTE=markg06;39171707]You should write one for 2029 and then 2036.[/QUOTE] You can be the marketing executive. :v:

Well there goes my ARK plans down the drain.

3 and a half football fields... surely that's just doomsday for Moscow or San Francisco or the penguins?

[QUOTE=MrEndangered;39172478]3 and a half football fields... surely that's just doomsday for Moscow or San Francisco or the penguins?[/QUOTE] i'm unsure how big the Tunguska event was, but i'm sure this could destroy more than a large city. a LOT more.

I'm ever so slightly disappointed for some reason.

[QUOTE=LilRobot;39172763]i'm unsure how big the Tunguska event was, but i'm sure this could destroy more than a large city. a LOT more.[/QUOTE] Hmm, the meteorite was roughly 100 metres (300 ft) An American football field is ~100 yards, which is 91 metres. So.. Oh shit it's ~three times as big. Ouch. So... forget Beijing, goodbye China?

They better keep monitoring it. It won't take much to alter it's trajectory just a little bit. A rock of similar size passing it could easily be enough to send it way the fuck off course, or right into our ass Just realized that my 13,000th post was a Ban. I'm now a believer in the number 13

[QUOTE=TheTalon;39175153]They better keep monitoring it. It won't take much to alter it's trajectory just a little bit. A rock of similar size passing it could easily be enough to send it way the fuck off course, or right into our ass[/QUOTE] True, but I believe it's very unlikely to encounter anything else. Space is usually far too big. [editline]11th January 2013[/editline] And your 13,001th post is about rocks up a planet sized arse :v:

i hope they'll still do a manned mission to it

[QUOTE=madmax678;39171555]2036 is the new 2012.[/QUOTE] "2012 2: 2036"?

Time to make an apocalypse movie about the earth being hit by an aster-- oh wait

[QUOTE=madmax678;39171555]2036 is the new 2012.[/QUOTE] 12 -> 1+2=3 12*3=36 2036 We should have listened

[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;39172852]I'm ever so slightly disappointed for some reason.[/QUOTE] Actually, I'm somewhat disappointed, too. Incredibly so, come to think about it. I was hoping it was going to collide with Earth so that we could kind of kick humanity back into being more science oriented once more and pump a shit load of money into research and development for purposes NOT involving killing brown skinned people. It'd be awesome to see the world's governments unite to face a common threat and put a shit load of funding into developing a countermeasure (or countermeasures) to take care of Apophis. It's always huge disaster driven (or potentially disastrous) events like this that really give science some fuel to burn on for a couple of decades before people forget about it again and the money gets allocated elsewhere once more.

[QUOTE=Bradyns;39172346]You can be the marketing executive. :v:[/QUOTE] [sp]'Executive' is just a special name to make insecure people feel important.[/sp] Executive moderator TH89.

[QUOTE=Tuskin;39171580]From what I've read is was named half for the God, and Half after that Stargate character, who was the god.[/QUOTE] [i]False[/i] god, mind you.

Some part of me wishes that there will be impact in 2036. I want to see what we'd do about it.

[QUOTE=A B.A. Survivor;39176107]Some part of me wishes that there will be impact in 2036. I want to see what we'd do about it.[/QUOTE] Agreed. If NASA told the government that there would definitely be an impact, they'd have to listen. It'd fuel space exploration like never before.

[QUOTE=Paramud;39175474]12 -> 1+2=3 12*3=36 2036 We should have listened[/QUOTE] No Half life 3 reference. 2/10. But really how much damage could this thing do if could enter the atmosphere?

[QUOTE=King Tiger;39176139]Agreed. If NASA told the government that there would definitely be an impact, they'd have to listen. It'd fuel space exploration like never before.[/QUOTE] we can still tell the north koreans it will impact. it will be fun watching them try and kerbal their way to save themselves from a disaster that won't happen.

40-meter is about 43.7yd right? That's barely the half the size of a football field? Considering a football field is 109.7m (120yd) by 48.7m(53.3yd). How much damage will that do?

[QUOTE=Sodisna;39177182]40-meter is about 43.7yd right? That's barely the half the size of a football field? Considering a football field is 109.7m (120yd) by 48.7m(53.3yd). How much damage will that do?[/QUOTE] a shit load. remember that it would be hitting us with a shit ton(actual measurement) of force. it would cause tidal waves all over the place and junk like that.

Say like it hit in the middle of the pacific. Tidal waves would reach how far inland? A good number of miles? Judging the from the [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torino_Scale#Current_Torino_Scale]Torino Scale[/url], best case impact senerieos would be level 8. "A collision is certain, capable of causing localized destruction for an impact over land or possibly a tsunami if close offshore. Such events occur on average between once per 50 years and once per several thousand years."