Science

1,600-Foot-Wide Asteroid Headed for Earth in 2036…Can Scientists Stop It?

Apophis, a 1,600-foot-wide asteroid, has a one in 250,000 chance of hitting Earth in 2036, creating a real-life Armageddon situation. But scientists are not taking any chances in assuming the odds are in our favor.

Though the asteroid is expected to pass Earth in 2029, it could enter a gravitational keyhole, which could send it back towards Earth with the potential for impact in 2036. According to Technology Review, keyholes are small — the one in question being 600 meters wide — so deflecting the asteroid just a touch would be enough to send it off course and ensure it doesn’t come back toward Earth seven years later.

The European Space Agency and Chinese researchers have independently announced plans to begin testing methods of asteroid deflection. Scientists at both European Space Agency and Tsinghua University in Beijing believe that spacecraft collision with the asteroid is the best way to set it off course.

The European Space Agency will test its technique against a real asteroid in 2015 in a mission called Don Quijote. Don Quijote involves two spacecrafts. One, called Hidalgo, will impact the asteroid at a speed of six miles per second while the other (Sancho) will orbit the asteroid before and after collision collecting data and analyzing just how far off course the impactor spacecraft threw the asteroid.

Watch the European Space Agency’s simulation here:

Similarly, the Chinese researchers propose hitting the asteroid with a spacecraft, but the method of getting there is a bit different. They propose using a solar sail (a form of spacecraft propulsion) to send the spacecraft into retrograde orbit and on a collision course with the asteroid. Technology Review has more on this technique:

Putting a spacecraft into a retrograde orbit about the Sun using little or no fuel is a pretty neat trick by anyone’s standards.. The Chinese team’s calculations demonstrate the point. They show that a 10 kg sail in retrograde orbit, that hits Apophis a year before 2029, would deflect it enough to miss the keyhole, thereby eliminating the chance that the asteroid will return in 2036.

And such a mission ought to be relatively cheap and relatively easy to deploy.

That sounds easy enough. In practice, however, threading this camel through the eye of a needle will be extremely tricky. There are all kinds of variations in the solar wind that could send such a spacecraft wildly off course.

As PC World points out, these collision techniques may not be as Hollywood-worthy as the nuclear warheads of Armegeddon, but with a few years to experiment, refine and (hopefully) collaborate, the asteroid will hopefully be diverted and not directed back toward us.

Comments (189)

1 2 3 ... 5
  • Psychosis
    Posted on August 19, 2011 at 11:26pm

    any chance we can make sure it hits california ???

    Report Post » Psychosis  
    • poverty.sucks
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 12:05am

      The earth will not be devastated per Gods Noahic Covenant until after the 2nd coming of Christ.

      Is your house in order?

      Report Post » poverty.sucks  
    • paleoconservatarian
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 12:06am

      California is probably the worst place for it to land – aside from causing great destruction on it’s own, the impact would likely activate the Yellowstone caldera and vaporize most everyone in that tri state area, raining down pumice onto the mid-west setting the entire region afire and sending a choking smoke to cover the entire east coast until, sunlight blocked, all animal stock and crops would die. An impact of that scale would be the end of America.

      Report Post » paleoconservatarian  
    • Secret Squirrel
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 12:08am

      .
      Blaze, your headline is misleading.
      It’s heading NEAR Earth, with something like a 1 in 5000
      odds of impact.
      By 2036 we’ll have a lot more to worry about, since America will be a third world country.

      Report Post » Secret Squirrel  
    • banjarmon
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 12:16am

      Bring it on…The Earth needs a GOOD CLEANING!!!

      Report Post » banjarmon  
    • nptden
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 1:20am

      Don’t worry, Barry already read the Marxist script. Remember, he said we are going to land on an ‘asteroid’. And with Aliens, Hollywood has been pumping that for years. Notice all the shows on TV: Ancient Aliens: UFO Files: UFO Hunters etc. etc. See how the Commies work together to put ideas in peoples head. Don‘t forget all these present ’Hippies‘ in the White House started out as ’Village People’ in NYC. Some, went to the Arts, some like Ayers and the bride were actual ‘foot’ soldiers of the revolution. Notice the SDS dude, the pocked face guy who married Hanoi Jane. They all lie in bed together. And don’t forget Hillary.

      Report Post » nptden  
    • Restored One
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 1:52am

      Hey, it would better serve us if it the big sand box in the middle east.

      Report Post »  
    • TheCenturion
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 10:32am

      My first thought exactly. Of course some here have obviously missed the joke.

      Report Post »  
    • gmoneytx
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 10:57am

      That’s funny!

      Report Post » gmoneytx  
    • Fly Old Glory 24/7 365
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 11:35am

      these morons are going to attempt to deflect this thing but I can see that the deflection will go wrong and it hits earth even sooner…I say we take our chances….

      Report Post »  
    • johnj1952
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 12:58pm

      Please land in the middle east, or china.

      Report Post » johnj1952  
    • ThoreauHD
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 1:00pm

      “Blaze, your headline is misleading. It’s heading NEAR Earth, with something like a 1 in 5000
      odds of impact.”

      Virginia Lotto. Match 4 “Win For Life” plus bonus odds are 1 in 9,992. That’s just a scratch 4 lottery ticket.

      And people I know have won that. So when they say 1 in 5000 chance of impact, don‘t pretend you’re the only one rolling the dice.

      Report Post » ThoreauHD  
    • chazman
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 1:10pm

      … then suddenly an asteroid killed every muslim on earth …

      Report Post »  
    • WE-SURROUND-THEM
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 3:35pm

      haven’t you seen the movies these things always hit california. its one of the reasons i haven’t lost complete faith in our entertainment industry.

      Report Post »  
    • yiddishlion
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 5:23pm

      I’m hoping the impact splits it in two and the other piece hits D.C.

      Report Post » yiddishlion  
    • Molalla912
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 5:38pm

      Total distruction of the U.S.
      Quick and painfull or Obama and Painfull.
      Looks to me like we get the same thing.

      Report Post » Molalla912  
    • Wes Hardin
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 5:46pm

      Can we speed it up so that it will hit Jerusalem next year?

      Report Post »  
    • HD Veteran
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 7:50pm

      I’d pay more taxes if we could make this happen…

      Report Post » HD Veteran  
    • SLmanDR
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 11:21pm

      Of course you know what they say about poking the hornets nest?

      Report Post » SLmanDR  
    • LibertarianForLife
      Posted on August 21, 2011 at 4:53am

      poverty sucks, please tell me you are joking. That is the biggest bunch of nonsense i have ever heard. Where do you christians derive this evidence for god that i apparently have no access too…?

      Report Post »  
    • drhunt
      Posted on August 22, 2011 at 12:59am

      Psychosis-While I understand your reasons to “bag” on California, as a 3rd gen californian, however…some things need to be straightened out. Beck also constantly bags on us…but there are important lessons to be learned. As California goes, so does the rest of this nation. We have been driven into the dirt by the same ideology that has taken America to the brink. Liberalsim, and all of its trappings has taken the 8th largest economy into the ditch…high entitlement benefits, HUGE government, strong unions…we have it all.

      But consider this…for decades, California was the 5th largest economy in the world, and our tax dollars went to all other States to build schools, roads, bridges, dams…the works. For decades, California was the engine that drove the US economy…so before you continue to rag on us remaining conservatives…educate yourself first.

      Report Post » drhunt  
    • -Publius
      Posted on August 22, 2011 at 8:54pm

      I suppose it would be a silly question requesting confirmation of this, that way tax payers wont be throwing billions of dollars at this blindly like they do for global warming. Just how much is it going to cost to play ping-pong with an astroid?

      Report Post »  
  • imreddog
    Posted on August 19, 2011 at 11:21pm

    For those of you that are worried about an asteroid hitting the earth, I have some bad news for you.
    Rev 8:8-12
    8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
    9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
    10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;
    11 And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.
    12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.
    (KJV)
    There is a really big one coming and there is nothing that can stop it. Maybe it hasn’t been seen yet, but it‘s there and it’s coming here.
    Of course, you athiests can disregard this message.

    Report Post »  
    • RationalMan
      Posted on August 19, 2011 at 11:26pm

      Make sure I’m in your will!!!

      Report Post »  
    • DDD
      Posted on August 19, 2011 at 11:49pm

      I’m not an atheist, but I know the Bible has more than one interpretation of the end of the world.

      Report Post »  
    • The Third Archon
      Posted on August 19, 2011 at 11:58pm

      “Of course, you athiests can disregard this message.”
      And I happily will until I receive any empirical evidence that would suggest I should believe otherwise, at which point I will adjust my beliefs accordingly. If you Christians turn out to be right and that whole anti-Christ businesses, with the two guys that breathe fire at the Temple of Solomon and the beast, whatever that is, building a statute of itself at the same and demanding the world worship it, stats happening then I will happily side with you Christians in the insurrection against his rule. But until then, or some equally convincing evidence, I think it is irresponsible to believe in something without having any more reason to suggest believing in it over any other religion, or nothing at all, metaphysically speaking.

      Report Post » The Third Archon  
    • beckwasfox
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 12:10am

      Actually some of the trumpet judgements may have already happened. Look at wormwood and Chernobyl.

      Report Post » beckwasfox  
    • Ira McBiff
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 5:17am

      well when it dose happen i hope i have a good view dont want to miss a bit of it

      Report Post »  
    • Meyvn
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 6:13am

      @DDD: Keep studying my friend. The world never ends.

      Report Post » Meyvn  
    • LarryofArabia
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 10:26am

      To ‘The Third whats-his-name’: being athiest isnt against the law… on earth. I suppose you don’t believe because you cannot be held accountable if you deny and do not accept. That is your right. God is above all things and the master of creation. He is above rationale, and provocative thinking e.g. Stephen Hawking and the like.

      In the end, evidence of God cannot be found in your head; it is found in your heart. But if you’re a mindless robot, I suppose you’re off the hook.

      Report Post »  
    • dupaws
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 10:57am

      This is true. Wormwood will hit us and no one can change that fact. It will not wipe out the human race, but will make for a real bad day.

      Report Post » dupaws  
    • jac1216
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 12:04pm

      I wish people would stop using Bible verses to try and make us feel better. The only thing worse than irrational fear is irrational faith. I like the deflection idea. We know that large asteroids have hit the earth before possibly killing off dinosaurs. It would be a good use of the space program… if WE had one.

      Report Post »  
    • imreddog
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 3:22pm

      @meyvn
      Here is some scripture for you.

      Rev 21:1
      1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
      (KJV)
      Uh oh, gonna need to interpret this to say that the world never ends. You’ve been listening to too many TV preachers.

      Report Post »  
    • Phoenixsoulfire
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 4:53pm

      @The Third Archon

      Wouldn’t be better to be a Christian and be wrong then an Atheist and be wrong? I mean being a Christian you try to live your life good and treat others the same and help your fellow man. Believe in Jesus Christ and that he died for your sins so when you die you go to heaven. If a Christian is wrong then we just rot in the ground right?

      Now if an Atheist is wrong. Yes you can still live your life treating others with respect and all the things a Christian does but the difference is you didn’t believe in Jesus, and thus the problem lies when you die and you are wrong. You will be burning in hell.

      Not saying that is why I choose to believe I just look at the world around me and things like how complex the human body is. Now I don’t believe every single word about the bible I believe God did use evolution to get us where we are today. And for the time fram I am pretty sure Gods time isn’t the same as ours.
      Just saying.

      Report Post »  
    • yiddishlion
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 5:37pm

      You need to study those passages in Biblical Greek. You will actually understand what they REALLY mean. The word for mountain in Greek is oros. It literally means mountain or hillside. Mountains in that context refer to a volcano. Makes more sense. There are two stars in the Bible. One is Jesus, the other is Satan. Remember that Lucifer is the “luciferous” one. Which means light bearer. Like a lamp.
      Get a Strong‘s concordance and look up the words ’wormwood‘ and ’waters’ in their various contexts then comment.

      Report Post » yiddishlion  
    • Wes Hardin
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 5:49pm

      We can only hope.

      Report Post »  
    • yiddishlion
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 5:55pm

      You need to study those passages in Biblical Greek. You will actually understand what they REALLY mean. The word for mountain in Greek is oros. It literally means mountain or hillside. Mountains in that context refer to a volcano. Makes more sense. There are two stars in the Bible. One is Jesus, the other is Satan. Remember that Lucifer is the “luciferous” one. Which means light bearer. Like a lamp.
      Get a Strong‘s concordance and look up the words ’wormwood‘ and ’waters’ in their various contexts then comment.

      Report Post » yiddishlion  
  • RightPolitically
    Posted on August 19, 2011 at 11:19pm

    It must be a slow news night if The Blaze feels the need to post this story. Kind of like LEFTIST SCARE TACTICS. Give it up.

    Report Post » RightPolitically  
  • The Third Archon
    Posted on August 19, 2011 at 11:19pm

    “threading this camel through the eye of a needle will be extremely tricky.”
    That’s an odd and inappropriate use of a biblical analogy here (by inappropriate I mean “non-analogous“ not ”morally wrong”–I say non-analogous because in the analogy a relatively large object, a camel, attempts to pass through a relatively small object, the eye of a needle, whereas in this instance a relatively small object (in comparison to space and the distances involved in the two objects’ paths) has to be struck be an even smaller object (the spacecraft/rocket).

    A more appropriate, but oddly and unrelated biblical, analogy would be “it’s like skeet-shooting using mustard seeds for the target.”

    Report Post » The Third Archon  
    • Tretka
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 1:36am

      What ARE you trying to say?

      So what’s your translation? If you really want to launch in on this-please gather an original Greek bible and a Hebrew bible. Then we can rap. Please don’t do this if you have not studied. Whether you have faith or not, there is historical relevance and ancient translation here-have a little respect.

      Report Post » Tretka  
    • RootsOfTruth
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 1:51am

      The eye of the needle the bible speaks of isn’t what we sew with… they were gates into the walled cities… archways really that would allow a man to easily walk thru but is much more awkward for camels to creep/crawl under being they were too tall to walk thru normally.

      Report Post » RootsOfTruth  
    • Dustyluv
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 5:10am

      Correct ROOTSOFTRUTH…But you are throwing your perals before swine.

      Report Post »  
    • rocker98
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 12:36pm

      “Though the asteroid is expected to pass Earth in 2029, it could enter a gravitational keyhole, which could send it back towards Earth with the potential for impact in 2036. According to Technology Review, keyholes are small — the one in question being 600 meters wide — so deflecting the asteroid just a touch would be enough to send it off course and ensure it doesn’t come back toward Earth seven years later.”

      600m wide keyhole (eye), as opposed to a 1600ft wide asteroid going through it. (camel) The statement quoted above has nothing to do with the proposed mission. It just states that the freaking rock has to go through a reletivly small area of space to send it back our way in 2036. Another way of looking at it, Earth (eye), 1 in 250k chance of rock hitting us in 2036 (camel).

      Report Post » rocker98  
    • Rick Steele
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 2:43pm

      I think he meant to say, “It’s like skeet shooting with mustard seeds for the AMUNITION.

      Report Post »  
  • ARealCharliesAngel
    Posted on August 19, 2011 at 11:17pm

    Apophis….wasn’t that a reoccuring character on Stargate SG-1? How ironic.

    Report Post » ARealCharliesAngel  
  • santramir
    Posted on August 19, 2011 at 11:16pm

    this does not seems to be like any california highway dope car driver chase

    Report Post » santramir  
  • RationalMan
    Posted on August 19, 2011 at 11:11pm

    Apophis, a 1,600-foot-wide asteroid, has a one in 250,000 chance of hitting Earth in 2036…..

    ***WOW, you scientist can predict this far into the future?
    When is Obama, going to “RESIGN or IMPEACH”?????

    Report Post »  
    • db321
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 12:26pm

      Or when he becomes Dictator and what hand are we suppose to Kiss.

      Report Post » db321  
  • Tyr
    Posted on August 19, 2011 at 11:08pm

    Hmmmmm, there must be another Hollywood asteroid disaster movie coming out soon.

    Report Post » Tyr  
  • Iman Barak Hussein
    Posted on August 19, 2011 at 10:51pm

    An excuse for a chinese nuke to hit NYC.

    Report Post » Iman Barak Hussein  
    • Ruler4You
      Posted on August 19, 2011 at 10:57pm

      The question is, should the government stop it?

      Report Post » Ruler4You  
    • A Doctors Labor Is Not My Right
      Posted on August 19, 2011 at 11:17pm

      Rockhound: “Guess what guys, it’s time to embrace the horror! Look, we’ve got front row tickets to the end of the earth!”

      Report Post »  
    • The Third Archon
      Posted on August 19, 2011 at 11:25pm

      @A DOCTORS LABOR IS NOT MY RIGHT
      Every time I see your username I laugh because of how ironic it is. Funnily enough, it IS your right (and one that you would probably vehemently assert in any other context) to seek any lawful commercial service or product in the United States with the legal tender of the same, and it is the doctor’s legal right to form a contract to provide the same. As long as their is not a constitutionally valid law that prohibits the commercial exchange, then the beauty of our system of free enterprise is that YOU do have the right to form a contract to exchange money for said service/product (again assuming it is legal). The government couldn’t, and I‘m sure you will agree shouldn’t, interfere with legal contracts to sell legal goods/services without a good reason (like that it violates a law, such as selling stolen property that would otherwise be legal to sell…if it weren’t stolen).

      Report Post » The Third Archon  
    • khandahar&jalalabad
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 12:03am

      Archon: your comparing apples to oranges, yes you are aloud to enter a contract with anyone for anything legal. But healthcare (a doctors labor) is not a right. If it were a right then a doctor will be forced to treat anybody even if the doctor refused. How can a doctor deny you a boob job if you pleased, having good self esteem may lead to less stress which is good healthcare. Forcing a doctor to give healthcare as a right is not a contract because the doctor may not want to do it.

      Report Post »  
    • The Third Archon
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 2:16am

      The point is that it’s a right of a doctor and a patient to contract to perform an abortion, assuming that’s legally offered. And it is furthermore legally required that a state not interfere with access to this right if it is a legally obtainable good or service. Now, the state probably shouldn’t compel doctors to perform them (given that so long as they don’t make it a policy of interfering there are probably enough doctors in a state that WILL perform an abortion that potential patients can still reasonably gain access to one if they need it), but it also shouldn’t stop them, or put unreasonable and/or unwarranted barriers in the way of their attainment.

      Report Post » The Third Archon  
    • khandahar&jalalabad
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 9:12am

      Totally in agreement about the right to contract for anything that is legal. You bring up abortion, and while legal, it is totally ethically wrong. Abortion is the act of killing a human child, not a ball of strange cells in a womb. Therefore you have violated the rights of that child. If there is a god we are all in deep trouble for allowing this genocide to take place. Pregnancy is easily avoidable, there is no excuse for murder. Oh and I also don’t believe in the death penalty either.

      Report Post »  
    • USAFFELPMAN
      Posted on August 21, 2011 at 8:31am

      The Third Achron: Once again you missed the point. If healthcare is a right, then someone must be compelled to give it to you. In other words, your right assumes the ability to force someone else to provide the materials and labor to you (AKA Slavery).

      The right to pursue entering into a contract with a provider does not translate into a mandate for the provider to enter in contract with you. Therefore, a doctors labor is not your right.

      Report Post »  
  • thomas242007
    Posted on August 19, 2011 at 10:43pm

    i have an idea hava space shuttle equipped with a big slide kind of device attached to the top and redirect it that way

    Report Post » thomas242007  
  • SPOT_OF_TEA
    Posted on August 19, 2011 at 10:43pm

    NASA was right…the aliens are shooting at us

    Report Post » SPOT_OF_TEA  
  • hillbilly777
    Posted on August 19, 2011 at 10:39pm

    If we don’t die in 2012, then the Eco Aliens will get us, or a giant asteroid, or we’ll use too much hair spray and all die in a ozone depleted solar flare incident, or camel-farts, exhaling, starvation from overpopulation, super insects, deadly bird flu, pig flu, ….. Sorry, I almost just died, because a rogue gun from the corner of the room started attacking me all by itself. I hate it when they do that.

    Report Post »  
  • Dinkiecb
    Posted on August 19, 2011 at 10:37pm

    Ahh to think the USA and the Soviets had the great race to space and to the moon … and China comes along years later and saves us…who’d woulda thunk it…

    Report Post »  
    • MrJones
      Posted on August 19, 2011 at 10:46pm

      Whoa there Dinkie – China has to prove they can come up with an original idea that hasn‘t been stolen from the US or Russia before they’re in a position to save squat.

      Report Post »  
    • MODEL82A1
      Posted on August 19, 2011 at 10:54pm

      MRJONES, Do you mean original ideas like gunpowder, the compass, paper making, (wood block) printing and pasta? I’m not cheerleader for China, but your post is just plain ignorant.

      Report Post » MODEL82A1  
    • miketheartist
      Posted on August 19, 2011 at 11:56pm

      Model 82A1, can you come up with something perhaps from this or the last century? Communism doesn’t breed intellectual innovation…it breeds stagnation.

      http://www.miketheartist.net

      Report Post » miketheartist  
    • Chuck Stein
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 2:30am

      @ Miketheartist
      Actually, the Chinese do have a good number of inventions/innovations. Because they have stolen so much intellectual property from the West (and Japan & Korea, I’m sure), they can invent other stuff. Also, they are not actually Communist anymore — they squarely fit into the Fascist definition nowadays.

      Report Post »  
    • miketheartist
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 12:15pm

      @Chuck I stand corrected :)…Wonder what they’re going to come up with now that they got our stealth helicopter tech from Pakistan…

      Report Post » miketheartist  
  • lonewolf57
    Posted on August 19, 2011 at 10:36pm

    Scientists.
    Until they prove that I’m not created,nor can my actions contribute to the weather cycles,they are the least on my list of my worries.
    Me,Human.

    Report Post » lonewolf57  
    • MODEL82A1
      Posted on August 19, 2011 at 10:39pm

      I don’t think anyone is suggesting that you should be worried about scientists.

      Report Post » MODEL82A1  
    • Tim Law
      Posted on August 19, 2011 at 11:35pm

      Don‘t forget we don’t believe their crap about Global warming, so they need a new way to create terror in the live’s of the little people. This one is pretty lame though. ;)

      Report Post »  
  • patbarker
    Posted on August 19, 2011 at 10:33pm

    Inside sources say it‘s headed for Dinghy Harry Reid’s house…I say we leave it alone!!!

    Report Post »  
    • lonewolf57
      Posted on August 19, 2011 at 11:11pm

      He’s too busy eating figs and pomegrates to care.Dingy.

      Report Post » lonewolf57  
    • Chuck Stein
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 2:40am

      What if it is headed towards an earlier impact point? Say, for example, the Kaaba? That would make for a very interesting movie (but I wouldn’t write life insurance on anyone who wrote, acted in, produced, directed, or financed the movie).

      Report Post »  
  • MODEL82A1
    Posted on August 19, 2011 at 10:30pm

    How do you suppose eliminating the USA‘s manned space program would have gone over on a Republican president’s watch?

    Report Post » MODEL82A1  
    • Wes Hardin
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 5:58pm

      Every time i read or watch the news some Repub is always yapping about the need to cut spending. So now that most of the space program has been cut you guys are whining like babies.

      Get to work and pay your taxes.

      Report Post »  
  • Rayblue
    Posted on August 19, 2011 at 10:27pm

    Ask me in 2035 if I care.

    Report Post » Rayblue  
  • BCBORNCRAZY
    Posted on August 19, 2011 at 10:26pm

    This is article is filled with a ton of lies

    Report Post » BCBORNCRAZY  
    • Dinkiecb
      Posted on August 19, 2011 at 10:31pm

      so it’s all full of lies… you still read it…lol

      Report Post »  
    • MrButcher
      Posted on August 19, 2011 at 10:33pm

      no, its not.

      This asteroids orbit has been known and spoken of since the mid-90′s.

      Report Post » MrButcher  
    • Komponist-ZAH
      Posted on August 19, 2011 at 11:24pm

      Such as?

      Report Post »  
    • ripwtc91101
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 5:41pm

      of course it’s all lies, there’s no evidence at all anywhere in the world of any impacts with space bodies…. well except for that one near panama that killed the dinosaurs but that’s it just one…. oh and that one out in the southwest so there’s only been two but no more… oh wait just remembered there’s that lake in Africa that is an old crater…. yeah you’re right any story involving the possible impact of an asteroid on earth is obviously nothing short of a big fat lie yep

      Report Post »  
  • freeweever
    Posted on August 19, 2011 at 10:25pm

    It’s global warming we did it. The heat from the 3 million degree core of our earth, according to Al gwhore, must be attracting it to us along with our horrible carbon output, and it is probably being followed by Aliens from outer space that are hitchhiking on it to save earth from global warming by killing all of us starting with this Assteroid lol.

    Report Post » freeweever  
    • Dinkiecb
      Posted on August 19, 2011 at 10:35pm

      That’s the ticket … it’s global warming.. yeah yeah…that’s it … it’s all related to global warming…Al Gore will have to save us with his tax credits now…oh wait maybe it‘ll be Bush’s fault … no wait..how about lets blame it on just the Tea Party .. they did it .. it’s their fault…no wait…I got it I got it… the butler did it…

      Report Post »  
  • Hungry_i
    Posted on August 19, 2011 at 10:24pm

    I’ll be 89–I don’t care.

    Report Post » Hungry_i  
    • MODEL82A1
      Posted on August 19, 2011 at 10:41pm

      That’s the spirit!

      Report Post » MODEL82A1  
    • Meyvn
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 6:16am

      Regardless of age, I still don’t care. But really, for those that do, where is Bruce Willis when they need him?

      Report Post » Meyvn  
  • Mannax
    Posted on August 19, 2011 at 10:23pm

    Yeah, I hope we check the math a few million times before we do this so we don’t end up aiming the rock at us.

    Report Post »  
  • Cold War Vet
    Posted on August 19, 2011 at 10:22pm

    After enduring the abuses of Obama, an asteroid impact doesn’t really seem all that bad!

    Report Post » Cold War Vet  
    • Captain Crunch
      Posted on August 19, 2011 at 10:38pm

      I wouldn’t put it past Obama to try to intentionally make it hit the earth under threat of more taxes.

      Report Post »  
    • Tim Law
      Posted on August 19, 2011 at 11:38pm

      Amen, Brother.

      Report Post »  
  • cntrlfrk
    Posted on August 19, 2011 at 10:22pm

    ‘

    Only if we pay higher taxes, stop drilling for oil, and become vegetarian.

    /
    .

    Report Post » cntrlfrk  
  • Steel Awesome
    Posted on August 19, 2011 at 10:22pm

    Isn’t 2036 the year in which Social Security becomes officially insolvent? Coincidence?

    Report Post » Steel Awesome  
    • Dinkiecb
      Posted on August 19, 2011 at 10:30pm

      And to think it‘ll all be Bush’s fault…just ask Obamama

      Report Post »  
  • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
    Posted on August 19, 2011 at 10:18pm

    Okay now, can they move the asteroid off a possible impact with the earth? Looks like the answer is a “high probable yes.” The next question is that in moving, or nudging it out of the way, are they setting it into another orbit that will bring it back into earth orbit at some point in the future as well?

    Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
    • GBMBulletsSKNRD
      Posted on August 19, 2011 at 10:59pm

      Come 2029/2036 I will be long past dead. Good luck to you that are still around.

      Report Post »  
    • LiveNation
      Posted on August 19, 2011 at 11:50pm

      Keyword there is “They”. We won’t be doing jack, cause Obama has effectively dismantled NASA. You expect the Europeans to do anything, they’re more broke than us. So once again we find ourselves beholden to the Chinese.

      Report Post »  
    • Chris
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 1:22am

      The trajectory data shows that the 2029 encounter will be a clean miss. The Earth’s gravity will deflect its path as it goes by. The problem is that if Apophis passes through exactly the right spot in space it comes back around in 2036 and impacts the Earth which would make kind of a mess.
      The deflection would try to make sure that is misses the keyhole.

      Report Post »  
    • Wes Hardin
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 6:04pm

      As the 1600 foot wide asteroid is deflected off course it whizzes out into space and throws an even larger rock off of its orbit. That larger rock picks up more rocks and they all head for Earth. We end up with a meteor shower of huge asteroids. It makes for a great movie.

      Report Post »  
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