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Giant Asteroid could hit Earth in 2014

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout' started by waran007, Sep 2, 2003.

  1. waran007

    waran007 Member

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    Not really a likely scenario but still, interesting.
    http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/09/02/asteroid.reut/index.html
    Giant asteroid could hit Earth in 2014
    LONDON, England (Reuters) -- A giant asteroid is heading for Earth and could hit in 2014, U.S. astronomers have warned British space monitors.

    But for those fearing Armageddon, don't be alarmed -- the chances of a catastrophic collision are just one in 909,000.

    Asteroid "2003 QQ47" will be closely monitored over the next two months. Its potential strike date is March 21, 2014, but astronomers say that any risk of impact is likely to decrease as further data is gathered.

    On impact, it could have the effect of 20 million Hiroshima atomic bombs, a spokesman for the British government's Near Earth Object Information Centre told BBC radio.

    The Centre issued the warning about the asteroid after the giant rock was first observed in New Mexico by the Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research Program.

    "The Near Earth Object will be observable from Earth for the next two months and astronomers will continue to track it over this period," said Dr Alan Fitzsimmons, one of the expert team advising the Centre.

    Asteroids such as 2003 QQ47 are chunks of rock left over from the formation of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago. Most are kept at a safe distance from the Earth in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

    But the gravitational influence of giant planets such as Jupiter can nudge asteroids out of these safe orbits and send them plunging towards Earth.
     
  2. Faos

    Faos Member

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    I'm sure we would just use our lasers to blow it up.
     
  3. giddyup

    giddyup Member

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    Great, just in time for my daughter's Sweet Sixteenth Birthday! :D
     
  4. ima_drummer2k

    ima_drummer2k Member

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    Clearly this is all Bush's fault. :p
     
  5. Dubious

    Dubious Member

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    Holy Crap! Quick find somebody to love and do it all you can.
     
  6. A-Train

    A-Train Member

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    ...and the Utah Jazz STILL won't have an NBA title...
     
  7. RocketMan Tex

    RocketMan Tex Member

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    Maybe he ought to divert money from the Star Wars missile "protection" scheme and come up with a way to blow asteroids into tiny little bits!:p
     
  8. Deckard

    Deckard Blade Runner
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    You guys have all the fun you want, but there isn't a damn thing we can do about it if it were to turn out to be a "certain strike".

    Nothing.





    (well, those who care to could pray to the deity of their choice)
     
  9. Dark Rhino

    Dark Rhino Member

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    Let not your hearts be troubled if Armageddon - as in the movie - is any indication, Bruce will find a way.;)
     
    #9 Dark Rhino, Sep 2, 2003
    Last edited: Sep 2, 2003
  10. PhiSlammaJamma

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    Don't worry. I've saved the earth several times on x-box. I've got us all covered.
     
  11. Dark Rhino

    Dark Rhino Member

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    Man, then I've got to give you props on a job well done.:cool:
     
  12. rockets-#1

    rockets-#1 Member

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    Hey man, we could always send up a team of oil drillers who have no experience in space to drill a real deep hole with amazing drills on the surface of the asteroid itself. That sounds like a plot a guy on crack would come up with for a movie....hey wait a minute...
     
  13. Friendly Fan

    Friendly Fan PinetreeFM60 Exposed

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    note to self: schedule trip to Mars for 2013-2014 just to be safe
     
  14. Friendly Fan

    Friendly Fan PinetreeFM60 Exposed

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    or ...


    OH NO! my life expectancy just went down a few months
     
  15. thumbs

    thumbs Member

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    What a dilemma! If we don't act now and the asteroid strikes, there will be no one to cast historical blame. If we do act and the asteroid doesn't strike, trillions of dollars will go down the drain. And, if we do act now, the asteroid may still destroy mankind so the trillions don't matter. Or, if we don't act and the asteroid doesn't strike, we go on happily with our global feuding.

    Himmm. Regardless of the truth, what if the astronomers declared the hit was a certainty?

    Can you imagine the populations of the world united in an effort to build a spaceship capable of reaching the rock in time? Can you imagine all the new jobs for both cerebral and physical labor designing some type of strategy for deflecting / destroying the asteroid or lifting enough sperm/ova and caretakers into space to await a time for re-populating Earth? Can you imagine everybody putting their political hatreds on hold?

    Wow .... ten years of peace and a common goal. I feel like the dreamer in the John Lennon (or is it McCartney) song. But, can you imagine....?
     
    #15 thumbs, Sep 2, 2003
    Last edited: Sep 2, 2003
  16. bnb

    bnb Member

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    I agree completely. Just to be prudent, lets pack Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thorton in a rocket right away and blast them into space...
     
  17. Friendly Fan

    Friendly Fan PinetreeFM60 Exposed

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    No, but I can imagine a MOVIE that tells that story.
     
  18. Friendly Fan

    Friendly Fan PinetreeFM60 Exposed

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    I'm in favor of anything that gets Bruce Willis off the planet.
     
  19. rockets-#1

    rockets-#1 Member

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    Oh c'mon! Gotta show some love for Bruce Willis, he's been in lots of good movies.
     
  20. VesceySux

    VesceySux World Champion Lurker
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    Hogwash! I'm certain President Morgan Freeman will save us from that pesky meteor.
     

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