....on March 16, 2880!! Story The asteroid 1950 DA, measuring some 1.1 kilometers in diameter, could collide with Earth on March 16, 2880, a team of international researchers concluded in Friday's issue of the journal Science. Within a period of about 20 minutes on that day, there will be a one in 300 (0.33 percent) chance of collision, according to the research team, led by Jon Giorgini of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Though the probability of that happening may seem practically infinitesimal, it is about three times greater than the risk of any other asteroid collision, Giorgini said. First observed on February 23, 1950, the 1950 DA asteroid disappeared from sight after 17 days and reappeared for the first time on New Year's Eve 2000. Using doppler radar in March 2001, researchers measured the orbit of the asteroid, at a distance 20.3 times greater than the distance between the Earth and the Moon, and discovered its slightly asymmetrical spheroid shape. Astronomers caution that the path of the asteroid, which will pass close to Earth in 2032, could still change, because the physical properties of the asteroid's surface are unknown. The physical properties affect how an asteroid reflects light, which can, in turn, have a significant influence on its orbit.
When the hell is someone going to find a cure for cancer??? Thats the burning question that I want to know.......
In 800 years if the world can't figure out how to stop an asteroid from hitting it (that they know is going to hit it) , they deserve to get hit.
1.1 km? Seems kind of small for the tone of the article. Doesn't a good portion of a meteor disentegrate in the atmosphere.
That's a pretty honkin' meteor. Scientists figure it was one somewhere near that size that crashed into the Gulf of Mexico and did the Dinosaurs in. It would probably kick enough dirt in the atmosphere to obscure the sun for at least a couple of years.
I thought the Yucatan crater indicated an asteroid much larger than 1.1 kilometers in size. Perhaps 5 - 6 miles across, but 1.1 kilometers would be more than enough to cause massive problems on this planet regardless of the impact point. Mango
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/a.buckley/dino.htm 25% of humanity destroyed....I was expecting about 5%. Let me clarify, I think losing any life is horrible, but life will live on...if we don't nuke ourselves first. Does anyone have info on converting size of meteor to size of meteorite?
Maybe an "asteroid" will hit all terrorists. Oh Darn those meteor showers. I think the U.S. Should invest in a way to disguise our weapons as natural disasters... "wow, that hurricane just snuck up on Iraq."
How do they predict this? How can you predict something this devastating is going to take place in 878 years? Mind-boggling!
