99942 Apophis: Asteroid on course for Earth's Neighborhood
I really enjoyed Deep Impact and Armaggedon. These movies came out 7 years ago, but I still find the situations they present to be thought provoking and the decisions that had to be made to be difficult ones.
Well, here we are, 8 years later and the scientists are watching an asteroid that has a 1 in 5,500 chance of hitting Earth in 2036.
Scientists are carefully watching Apophis, which will whiz by Earth in 2029,
passing within an unnerving 18,640 miles. That's a few thousand miles closer
than many communications satellites and 220,000 miles closer than the moon. In
2036, the concern is that it will move in even closer, leading to the 1-in-5,500
chance it will strike.
Astronauts say we have the capability of deflecting these asteroids, but that we need a plan. Let's hope that they get one in place just in case...
posted by Anonymous @ 4:37 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
How exactly do they plan on deflecting an asteroid...triggering earthquakes or something like that? shoot it down? using gravity or an explosion to pull it somewhere else?
I am glad that I am not a scientist and hoping that I will not be a dead civilian.
Its quite interesting to know that something like this could happen. They say we only know about one tenth of the meteors that could be coming to earth. Some we may only see once it is too late.
By 2036 I'll be so old, if I am still alive, that I will wishing for it to hit me first.
G B
Shoot, I was hoping to live till Apr 5 2063. I will be 100 yrs and one month. I wanted to travel to Bozeman Montana to see the Vulcans land and participate in the First Contact party with Zephram Cochrane.
Interesting also that Apophis is the antagonist Goa'uld in Stargate SG-1 for several seasons. He threatened to destroy Earth several times.
Equally interesting is that in the Kemetic religion (the religion of Ancient Kemet, or Egypt), Apophis is known as "The Destroyer. He is a Serpent God and is the patron God of Evil and Darkness. He is also called Apep. Every year, a ritual called the "Banishing of Apep" would be held by the priests of Ra. They would take an effigy of Apep and in the center of the temple they would pray that all the wickedness in Egypt would go into the effigy. Then they would trample the effigy, crush it, beat it with sticks, pour mud on it, and eventually burn and destroy it. In this way, the power of Apep would be curtailed for another year.
I have some big boots...anybody know how to make an effigy?
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