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Science

7 Answers to the Questions You’re Probably Asking About the Russian Meteor: ‘Is It Related to the Asteroid Flying-By Earth Right Now?’

Feb. 15, 2013 8:19am Jonathon M. Seidl

Details About the Meteor that Hit Russia

In this photo provided by Chelyabinsk. ru a meteorite contrail is seen over Chelyabinsk on Friday, Feb. 15, 2013. A meteor streaked across the sky of Russia s Ural Mountains on Friday morning, causing sharp explosions and reportedly injuring around 100 people, including many hurt by broken glass. Credit: AP

BERLIN (TheBlaze/AP) — A meteor exploded in the sky above Russia on Friday, causing a shockwave that blew out windows injuring hundreds of people and sending fragments falling to the ground in the Ural Mountains. Here’s a look at those objects in the sky:

What’s the difference between a meteor and a meteorite?

Meteors are pieces of space rock, usually from larger comets or asteroids, which enter the Earth’s atmosphere. Many are burned up by the heat of the atmosphere, but those that survive and strike the Earth are called meteorites. They often hit the ground at tremendous speed – up to 30,000 kilometers an hour (18,642 mph) according to the European Space Agency. That releases a huge amount of force.

TheBlaze’s Mike Opelka put together a more thorough explanation with more detail here.

How common are meteorite strikes?

Experts say smaller strikes happen five to 10 times a year. Large impacts such as the one Friday in Russia are rarer but still occur about every five years, according to Addi Bischoff, a mineralogist at the University of Muenster in Germany. Most of these strikes happen in uninhabited areas where they don’t cause injuries to humans.

What caused the damage in Russia?

Alan Harris, a senior scientist at the German Aerospace Center in Berlin, said most of the damage would have been caused by the explosion of the meteor as it broke up in the atmosphere. The explosion caused a shockwave that sent windows and loose objects flying through the air in a radius of several kilometers. By the time the remaining fragments hit the ground they would have been too small to cause significant damage far from the site of impact, he said.

Is there any link to the asteroid fly-by taking place later Friday?

No, it’s just cosmic coincidence, according to European Space Agency spokesman Bernhard von Weyhe, who says Asteroid 2012DA14 is unrelated to the meteorite strike in Russia.

When was the last comparable meteorite strike?

In 2008, astronomers spotted a meteor heading toward Earth about 20 hours before it entered the atmosphere. It exploded over the vast African nation of Sudan, causing no known injuries. The largest known meteorite strike in recent times was the “Tunguska event” that hit Russia in 1908. Even that strike, which was far bigger than the one that happened over Russia on Friday, didn’t injure anyone. Scientists believe that an even larger meteorite strike may have been responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs about 66 million years ago. According to that theory, the impact would have thrown up vast amounts of dust that blanketed the sky for decades and altered the climate on Earth.

What can scientists learn from Friday’s strike?

Bischoff says scientists and treasure hunters are probably already racing to find pieces of the meteorite. Some meteorites can be very valuable, selling for up to (EURO)500 ($670) per gram depending on their exact composition. Because meteors have remained largely unchanged for billions of years – unlike rocks on Earth that have been affected by erosion and volcanic outbreaks – scientists will study the fragments to learn more about the origins of matter. Harris, of the German Aerospace Center, says some meteorites are also believed to carry organic material and may have influenced the development of life on Earth.

What would happen if a meteorite hit a major city?

Scientists hope never to find out, but they’re still trying to prepare for such an event. Von Weyhe, the European Space Agency spokesman, says experts from Europe, the United States and Russia are already discussing how to spot potential threats sooner and avert them. But don’t expect a Hollywood style mission to fly a nuclear bomb into space and blow up the asteroid.

“It’s a global challenge and we need to find a solution together,” he said. “But one thing’s for sure, the Bruce Willis “Armageddon” method won’t work.”

–

The most recent reports from Russia Today suggest that nearly 3,000 people have been injured and over 725 people injured. The outlet is also says that country’s scientists claim the meteor weighted 10 tons before hitting earth.

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Comments (80)

ohreally
Posted on February 15, 2013 at 12:34pm
Does anyone know if there will be any type of radiation poisoning or climate effects from this meteor?

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- Chuck Stein
  Posted on February 15, 2013 at 3:42pm
  Meteors are no more radioactive than the rocks on the Earth. Meteors can have high levels of Iridium. Even though the name of that element sort of sounds like “irradiated,” the Iridium is not radioactive.
  
  Report this comment
- FreedbyTruth
  Posted on February 15, 2013 at 3:57pm
  I know Wikipedia is not very authoritative but this looks like a pretty good answer.
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteorite
  
  Report this comment
- RIDEMODELS
  Posted on February 15, 2013 at 5:18pm
  Is there any way that we can aks the president if he could please talk to someone about this…..If he could lower the seas then maybe he can stop this attack on earth. Maybe outlaw large rocks or large mean asteroids. Please Mr. President stop the asteroid attacks on us.
  
  Seriously this is the Fire and Brimstone that everyone is talking about….and why Russia?? Well Russia has a serious problem with sex slave trafficking and they have a brand new drug for young female prostitutes that causes their skin to rot off….dragon or something like that….So we are watching Gods wrath on this planet in HD,so all the non believers can sit their butts in church on Sunday and try to catch up with the rest of us….The End
  
  Report this comment
- snufy
  Posted on February 15, 2013 at 10:51pm
  Is it true that CNN thinks the meteor struck Earth because of global warming?
  
  Report this comment
- rightwingtunes.com
  Posted on February 16, 2013 at 2:50am
  Liberal Meteors:
  
  Al Gore: I actually invented asteroids.
  Joe Biden: That meteor was clean and articulate for coming from the black of space.
  Nancy Pelosi: You have to be creamed by the meteor to see what is in the meteor.
  Harry Reid: The meteor is lost…
  Barack Obama: Though the meteor was lost, we actually created or saved 3 million of them.
  Diane Feinstein: We need to outlaw meteors weighing ten tons or more.
  
  Report this comment
Verceofreason
Posted on February 15, 2013 at 12:24pm
Too bad no one gave the meteor the address of Texas.

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- mlip
  Posted on February 15, 2013 at 2:04pm
  Or 1600 P. ave. Loser.
  
  Report this comment
- Salamander
  Posted on February 16, 2013 at 12:25pm
  You don’t have to worry about it hitting Washington! They have a ‘hot air curtain’ over that city that would divert any meteor!
  
  Report this comment
- rightwingtunes.com
  Posted on February 16, 2013 at 1:50pm
  So Texas is now a negative place in America….got it. Like the Tea Party, Sarah Palin, Paul Ryan and now Marco Rubio, the Left seeks to define something.
  
  Texas: A place where they have the audacity to want less government restiction, lower taxes, lower fees, and better opportuities for businesses.
  
  Yeah, we gotta hate that kind of place.
  
  Report this comment
Metalstr8jckt
Posted on February 15, 2013 at 11:04am
“In 2008, astronomers spotted a meteor heading toward Earth about 20 hours before it entered the atmosphere.” Twenty hours notice…..HHHmmmm. Not much time.

Okay, we only starting tracking these objects a dozen years ago or so. Billions of potential killer objects in huge elliptical orbits that could hit earth…If the geeky guy with the astronomer job in your neighborhood becomes bizarrely psycho, that may be the heads up for the big one that is inbound in a few hours.

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- atechgeek
  Posted on February 15, 2013 at 12:08pm
  Yep .. Odds are you won’t hear about the asteroid untill your saying ouch or what was that !!
  The government won’t say a word to protect civility.
  
  Report this comment
- DogsLoveFreedom
  Posted on February 15, 2013 at 2:15pm
  Here’s a better question no one is answering. The government is unsealing it’s files on aliens from 50 years ago and no one is even mentioning it in the media. No one here seems to know about it. Government footage, government reports, Kevlar and Night vision is from the crashed ship that was carted off to Area 51. Why is no one interested? They blew up a couple of our missiles. government video footage… now why couldn’t the aliens and those ships that blew up that missile be diverting the asteroids to uninhibited areas? I mean statistically if there are that many occurrences a year wouldn’t one have hit a city yet? Or do you still think, having not seen the footage, that they don’t exist? At least check out the show Unsealed Aliens Files on H2 (History 2 channel) and a man wrote a book I’m hearing that is climbing the NY Times best seller list. Check it out people then you will wonder what’s up with this government shell game.
  
  Report this comment
Tigress1
Posted on February 15, 2013 at 10:31am
Meteors burn up in the atmosphere and what survives the burn lands on the ground. How can a ROCK explode on it’s own? Gasses inside? I’m inclined to believe the Russians did blow it up and created more damage with flying debris than if the meteor hit the ground – unless it had landed on people.

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- Metalstr8jckt
  Posted on February 15, 2013 at 11:13am
  @Tigress1: “Most” meteors burn up on entry. Why not “Google” large impact craters of meteors or asteroids that have hit earth and still maintained a relatively large size prior to impact.
  
  If the Russians had the technology to destroy inbound meteors like you suggested…We would all be speaking Russian now. Moscow would have annexed America for itself with it’s world domination capable anti-meteor missile system: The “Stolichnaya-1000″ system. ROTFL.
  
  Report this comment
- Atrum Angelis
  Posted on February 15, 2013 at 11:27am
  Simply, frozen gases and water rapidly expanding from the heat caused by the friction of entry cause the rock to explode.
  
  Report this comment
- Warphead
  Posted on February 15, 2013 at 11:36am
  This is how rumors, myths, and conspiracy theories are born. Take anything made up of lots of different materials (each with different rates at which they contract and expand when temperature changes) quickly change it’s temperature from that of deep space to thousands of degrees Fahrenheit while simultaneously slamming it into an atmosphere that due to the speed of the collision it is like nearly hitting a solid and finally introduce the extreme gravitational forces applied as the high speed when hitting earths atmosphere causes the object (relative to it’s previous speed) to nearly come to a complete stop and what do you get? A big boom is what you get as the object can not withstand the stresses and explodes. Most meteors that enter the earth’s atmosphere do this. It’s why the earth doesn’t look like the moon. It’s not because Russian missiles hit them.
  
  Report this comment
- OutOfTheAether
  Posted on February 15, 2013 at 11:51am
  Any object entering into the atmosphere going at the speeds that they do, generates horrendously huge amounts of heat. Any solid substance subjected to sufficient heat will change from solid to gas, and if that happens rapidly enough, you get an explosion. Yes, rocks can explode
  
  Report this comment
- Tigress1
  Posted on February 15, 2013 at 12:07pm
  Sorry folks, I wasn’t trying to create a new conspiracy (even though they can be fun at times). This was an article about QUESTIONS regarding the meteor, and I happened to have a few. (I’m not an astrophysicist) Here’s another one: Meteors have a high iron content. How much “activity” of expansion and contraction goes on within iron? (I’m asking this, I don’t know!) Also, if meteors “exploded” as this one did, wouldn’t we would be hearing booms all the time (or at least small booms). Finally, Russia seems to have a problem with OUR anti-missile defense systems, why is that?
  
  Report this comment
- Tigress1
  Posted on February 15, 2013 at 12:15pm
  Forgive me for my stupid questions, but why are there TWO trails in the pictures above? Were there 2 meteors that collided? Did one break up into 2 pieces? Or did a missile of some sort track the meteor and blow it up? (Why can’t I ask if Russia broke it up when Russia CLAIMED it blew them up in the other Blaze story?)
  “According to unconfirmed reports, the meteorite was intercepted by an air defense unit at the Urzhumka settlement near Chelyabinsk. A missile salvo reportedly blew the meteorite to pieces at an altitude of 20 kilometers.”
  -Source: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/02/15/stunning-pics-video-reports-of-many-injuries-from-meteor-strike-in-russias-ural-mountains/
  
  Report this comment
- ihasa
  Posted on February 17, 2013 at 12:52pm
  Yup, the actual science is just too boring isn’t it? Better to think up some hokum conspiracy theory scenario that you just pulled out of your a**, than admit the so-called ‘scientists’ know what they are talking about.
  
  Report this comment
rfycom
Posted on February 15, 2013 at 10:13am
God is talking. What? You ask, what the hell is he saying. My nose miners, God works in mysterious ways. Individuals interpret crap in different ways. My take is this meteor is a sign that God wants Beckville to be built in Russia. It you look closely in the steam cloud you see it written. Beck is to move to Russia and build Beckville, L. Ron Hubbard will join him. Although Beck and L.Ron will become gay lovers, the city will be built. The city will be built of Almond Joys. People will not work, but will all be required to create 5 conspiracies per day. Ha. How about that?

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- MCON29
  Posted on February 15, 2013 at 11:44am
  your an idiot
  
  Report this comment
- MCON29
  Posted on February 15, 2013 at 11:46am
  *You’re
  
  that just cost me valuable points and credibility. Oh well, your still an idiot.
  
  Report this comment
- MCON29
  Posted on February 15, 2013 at 11:47am
  I give up
  
  Report this comment
GeoInSD
Posted on February 15, 2013 at 9:50am
It is amazing to think how much kinetic energy is in a meteor or asteroid when it strikes. K.E. = 0.5*m*v*v. A bullet fired from a rifle from the muzzle at about mach 1 to mach 4 depending on the caliber and load. A meteor or asteroid is way more massive than a bullet and way way faster than a bullet and the energy is dependent on the SQUARE of the speed. That is a huge amount of energy. So it isn’t hard to imagine how an asteroid hit would have the energy of a nuclear weapon.

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- Warphead
  Posted on February 15, 2013 at 10:24am
  Speed and movement in space is only detectable when in relation to something else. If a large chunk of rock is in space with a man upon it and there is nothing else detectable (as far as man can ascertain) anywhere else then that chunk of rock would be in all definition (by man’s logic) sitting still. But there are many objects in mans observable universe so by comparing one objects distance as it relates to other objects brings into being movement & speed of movement. With this elementary knowledge I have often wondered why when observing objects in space they are always moving at such high rates of speed. Why have we not seen an asteroid approaching earth at 75 mph? Why does everything move so fast in relationship to everything else in space? I have several guesses as to why. Gravitational forces are so strong that they define the speed of which things move. Or that our perspective of speed being high is equivalent to a 5 year old child trying to hit a fastball from a professional baseball player. That perspective of the players pitch will change as we humans become more knowledgeable of such things. Maybe our life spans are too short and brains hardwired as such for us to realize movement of objects except that which fall within our limited comprehension. As with most things it is probably either a conglomeration off all or none. Like a big swirling whirlpool, any object tossed into our known universe has no choice but to go with the swirl of the current.
  
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- Warphead
  Posted on February 15, 2013 at 10:31am
  When considering speed of any object through space and then space travel. Maybe the key to traveling from one planet to another has nothing to do with launching into space, expending energy to accelerate more and more and then waiting and waiting to get to your destination. Maybe the key to exploring the universe is not to move fast but rather find a way to stop moving and let the universe come to you.
  
  Report this comment
- look73
  Posted on February 15, 2013 at 2:20pm
  1 – 2 000 000 tonn TNT
  
  Report this comment
- FreedbyTruth
  Posted on February 15, 2013 at 3:48pm
  Warp:
  
  When you consider that the earth’s mean speed in relation to the sun is about 30 km/s. Yup the relative speed of these meteors to the earth are pretty common speeds for the solar system in general. (for those that would nit pick I intentionally said speed not velocity because I was not making a vectored reference).
  
  Report this comment
shogun459
Posted on February 15, 2013 at 9:35am
and there will be signs in the sky

portent anyone?

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- dietrdeb
  Posted on February 15, 2013 at 9:43am
  That occurred to me too.
  
  Report this comment
- Warphead
  Posted on February 15, 2013 at 9:51am
  Oh come-on now. Everybody knows that that is nothing more than just worn out old writings of old dead men and has no relevance in our modern day and time. Just like that old stodgy US Constitution or whatever they call it. That is for old dumb superstitious people. We have progressed past all….BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM, BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM.
  “Oh my God somebody call an ambulance. That man was just talking and like Boom, a meteor hit him in the head. Then, like Boom again, lightening struck him. Eeeewww, that stinks. He’s smokin and I like I don’t mean a camel.
  
  Report this comment
- CHROME_PLATED_HEART
  Posted on February 15, 2013 at 10:25am
  It’s one across the bow maties…arrr…maybe God’s thinking about scuttlin’ us…arrr…
  
  Report this comment
- Metalstr8jckt
  Posted on February 15, 2013 at 11:22am
  @SHOGUN459: Portent yes. A warning to Moscow to stop it’s global spread of despotic rule.
  
  Look at the forum outlining the aforementioned: “The Final Phase.”
  
  Report this comment
ozchambers
Posted on February 15, 2013 at 9:33am
“In 2008, astronomers spotted a meteor heading toward Earth about 20 hours before it entered the atmosphere. It exploded over the vast African nation of Sudan, causing no known injuries. The largest known meteorite strike in recent times was the “Tunguska event” that hit Russia in 1908. Even that strike, which was far bigger than the one that happened over Russia on Friday, didn’t injure anyone.”

They make it sound like the Tunguska event isnt something to be feared. It was the equivalent of a 10-15 Megaton blast. Or about 1,000 times more powerful than the Hiroshima blast. If it hit a metropolitan area, that city would cease to exist.

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- GhostOfJefferson
  Posted on February 15, 2013 at 10:07am
  Exactly what I thought. It didn’t hurt anybody because that part of Russia is uninhabited. If it exploded over the middle of the ocean far outside of human activity, it wouldn’t hurt anybody either. But if it exploded over Washington D.C. then we’d see a huge, vast improvement in the world. Wait, I mean it would destroy a lot of stuff and people.
  
  Report this comment
Soulphoenix
Posted on February 15, 2013 at 9:31am
Nope, it’s global warming. Ask anybody on CNN or MSNBC.

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- Metalstr8jckt
  Posted on February 15, 2013 at 11:33am
  Quoting: GHOSTOFJEFFERSON; “But if it exploded over Washington D.C. then we’d see a huge, vast improvement in the world. Wait, I mean it would destroy a lot of stuff and people.”
  
  Freaking funny stuff!
  
  Quote of the day. Hilarious.
  
  Report this comment
Warphead
Posted on February 15, 2013 at 9:29am
I bet a lot of those poor Russians thought those crazy Americans had finally popped a cap on their a$$. I read that some Russians are blaming it on the crazy Americans. Saying it was a new military weapon test. Hmm, comrade. Could be, could be. But officially comrade, it is meteorite. Поймите?

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- Female
  Posted on February 15, 2013 at 10:07am
  Why USA?
  
  The N. Korean’s did that earthquake thing just last week. Why not blame them for an exploding meteorite?
  
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- Warphead
  Posted on February 15, 2013 at 11:18am
  but rather poor as in scared to death at the thought of being in a nuclear exchange). Lastly it goes onto say, jokingly that some Russians were blaming the Americans and saying this was an American military weapons test. This information was reported by Fox News. I have one question for you female. Why do you immediately assume that something is prejudicial when someone refers to or singles out one group or person or even nation in this case and say’s something that is untoward about them? Then feel as if you have to say something about it before you actually think it through. A police chief made a stupid comment recently that I’m sure in the days that follow he’ll be wishing he had thought through first. I have my own theory as to why you and others like you do this and it falls into the category of symptoms of a mental disorder more commonly known as Liberalism. Ms (and I am only making an assumption as it could be Mr) female, do you have any more questions?
  
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- Warphead
  Posted on February 15, 2013 at 11:19am
  Female. Why so much chip on your shoulder? It was a joke. But if you want an answer I’ll give you one. I used the USA as the likely suspected nuke dropping villain because (from my perspective) we have been at odds with the Russians for as long as I can remember. I’m 50 years old so that has been a long while. Have you not ever heard of that thing they used to call The Cold War? Also it would sound rather stupid if I had said the “Some poor Russians are thinking those crazy Americans, or maybe the Koreans, well could have been India, or how about Pakistan, or those damned limey Brits.” now wouldn’t it? Somebody had to be the suspect and saying that “some unknown country” was the suspected culprit falls right into line with the PC ******** that so many have embraced. And one other thing. Just how in the he# would you presume to know what a Russian might be thinking if a meteor streaked overhead and exploded? If you read what I wrote carefully it say’s “I bet (which is a term meaning that a wager would be placed on the probable outcome of an event that either has not occurred or the results not yet fully known) that “a lot of those poor Russians” (a lot implying some but not all & given the fact that many of those Russians alive today remember the cold war with the US, would first speculate that a nuclear exchange would be with the US) (oh, and by Poor Russians, before you question that, was not meant to imply that they are poor economically
  
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wraith67
Posted on February 15, 2013 at 9:28am
Actually no. I was simply wondering if the asteroid was caused by global warming!

/s

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Warphead
Posted on February 15, 2013 at 9:21am
I hope this isn’t true but I have a feeling that something occurred way out in space. Possibly a collision of two asteroids, an asteroid with a planet’s moon our something similar. This could have happened a year ago or twenty million years ago but it happened. The result was a large amount of debris, a cloud of debris so to speak. A large portion of this debris cloud is being influenced by gravitational forces emitted from various stars and planets and has directed it toward Earth. These meteors and meteorites that we have seen recently may be the vanguard of the debris cloud as it enters the space close to earth. Some will pass close and be a light show only while others will strike the earth or, like in Russia yesterday, explode in the atmosphere. If this be the case then we can expect many more. The danger to life and property will be determined by the size, density & amount of objects in the cloud. ISON comet may possibly be the culprit or maybe something bigger. Could even be possibly something much larger moving into our solar system and setting into motion or altering the motion of asteroids from millions of miles away. We will see won’t we? Side note: I was lucky enough one night while driving through rural Georgia to see a meteorite pass directly over my car and then explode, like the one in Russia, just, what I perceived, a few miles ahead. It was awesome. I remember not being able to see for a second or so after it exploded due to the bright light.

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searching for the Truth
Posted on February 15, 2013 at 9:06am
The questions I would have asked would have been, how they missed the fast ball , Who is the Pitcher, and will He have a ” Shut Out?”

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oldincarolina
Posted on February 15, 2013 at 8:54am
Bush causes them.

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NewLife56
Posted on February 15, 2013 at 8:49am
So it couldn’t have been a chunk from the Asteriod that was tagging along? You have to love Scientist

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DougHuffman
Posted on February 15, 2013 at 8:43am
There is not a strategic missile capable of hitting a 70,000 mph object.

There has been considerable confidence that Asteroid 2012 DA-14 will not strike Earth since its discovery in 2012, Had there been similar confidence that it would, might the news have been released sooner or later?

Like forecasting hurricane track, do they balance panic before with panic afterwards?

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- carhouse
  Posted on February 15, 2013 at 8:48am
  could it be caused by global warming?
  
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- Warphead
  Posted on February 15, 2013 at 9:41am
  No Carhouse, not global warming but something much more evil. It is the all powerful, colossal, mind blowingly destructive, unpredictable, evil, no, I already said evil, brother of Satan, unintentional monster of man’s recklessness & son of man made global warming. Hide your children, hide your women, strap on the Depends for it is the return of…… EL NINO. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
  
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momrules
Posted on February 15, 2013 at 8:40am
This is a more accurate report of the event.

http://rt.com/news/russia-meteor-meteorite-asteroid-chelyabinsk-291/

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- PA PATRIOT
  Posted on February 15, 2013 at 8:57am
  Cool site,
  
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PA PATRIOT
Posted on February 15, 2013 at 8:38am
kinda exciting… 2:25 today

NYtimes

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/16/world/europe/meteorite-fragments-are-said-to-rain-down-on-siberia.html?hp&_r=0

Like the theme from Jaws. dnnnnuh, dnnnnnuh. dunnnnuh

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DZ-015
Posted on February 15, 2013 at 8:37am
The most significant thing about this event is that it involved a significant number of injuries, primarily due to shattered windows. While comets can break up as they repeatedly pass close to the sun in their orbits, the debris drifts in a straight line along the original orbital path, like happened with the comet which hit Jupiter some years back. It was pure coincidence that the Russian meteor fell on the same day an asteroid is due to come closer to the earth than many communications satellites, because the distance the earth will travel in the twelve hours between the events is, well, astronomical. The Russian strike was not in the path of the asteroid.

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- Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
  Posted on February 15, 2013 at 8:44am
  Not to mention that if the asteroid passing by this afternoon hits the earth, the devastation will be many times worse. The Tunguska blast and a similar one in Brazil in 1930 show the mess that can come about from even a small (100m or so in size) rock.
  
  Report this comment
MisterSarcastic
Posted on February 15, 2013 at 8:33am
The eighth question:
How many celebrities have plunked down 20 mil for a ride?

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Saff SGT
Posted on February 15, 2013 at 8:32am
Ural Mts??? darn why not DC

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Diane TX
Posted on February 15, 2013 at 8:31am
“The most recent reports from Russia Today suggest that nearly 3,000 people have been injured and over 725 people injured.”

Huh? Does the Blaze EVER proof read their copy?

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Joyzee
Posted on February 15, 2013 at 8:30am
Salvage a Meteorite brings big Buck’$

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- sparkyrules
  Posted on February 15, 2013 at 9:18am
  No doubt.Depending on the type,a person could potentially make a small fortune selling these space rocks.
  
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- Rayblue
  Posted on February 15, 2013 at 4:14pm
  Catch “Meteor Salvage Wars” on channel 26
  right after “Antique Venetian Millefiori Trade Bead Wars”.
  
  Report this comment
Gonzo
Posted on February 15, 2013 at 8:30am
Blaze my biggest question is: Do the Russians really have a missile defense system sophisticated enough to hit this thing 20 kilometers up as they are claiming they did?

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- RJJinGadsden
  Posted on February 15, 2013 at 8:42am
  GONZO, Apparently so, since Bubba assisted them back in the ’90s. He didn’t just give all of our technology to China.
  
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- Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
  Posted on February 15, 2013 at 8:45am
  Here is a simple bit of math: meteor moved at 30km/second. By the time the order to launch is spoken the meteor has already made impact.
  
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- Gonzo
  Posted on February 15, 2013 at 8:54am
  I don’t know R.J., I think Snowy is right. I think it’s just Putin and his macho ego claiming they did. I doubt we could even hit it even if we knew when and where it was coming.
  
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- Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
  Posted on February 15, 2013 at 9:32am
  @Gonzo:
  
  In theory, if we had enough warning (a few months or years) then the possibility of deflecting or nudging the asteroid off an impact course is possible. Given the sheer speeds and distances involved in the cosmos, the slightest change of course, speed, etc could avoid a future ‘dino-kill’ or ‘city-destroyer’ impact.
  
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rflemingtx
Posted on February 15, 2013 at 8:28am
Yesterday’s headlines: “ZERO Chance Asteroid Will Impact Earth”. Today’s headlines: “Meteorite Smashes Into Earth, Unrelated to Asteroid”. Of course it is.

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