2014 UR116 - New asteroid may threaten Earth

1,000 times stronger than Chelyabinsk meteorite: New asteroid may threaten Earth

Have you heard of this asteroid before ?

Moscow University’s robotic telescope has discovered a massive asteroid that could potentially hit Earth in the future. If such a collision happens, the explosion would be 1,000 more powerful than the Chelyabinsk meteorite explosion in 2013.

When a meteorite exploded in the skies above the Russian city of Chelyabinsk in February 2013, the energy of the explosion was estimated to be equivalent to 300-500 kilotons of TNT. But the Chelyabinsk meteorite was relatively small, about 17 meters in diameter and it disintegrated with a blast at an altitude of over 20 kilometers. The newly discovered 2014 UR116 is much bigger and its collision with our planet would be catastrophic, as its impact power would be 1,000 times stronger than of the Chelyabinsk meteorite, Scientific Russia journal pointed out.

BUT WAIT, HERE ARE THE GOOD NEWS !!!

But the good news is that the asteroid poses no threat to Earth for at least the next six years, Victor Shor, research associate at the Institute of Applied Astronomy told the Interfax news agency.

WHAT !!! .... No threat for the next 6 years ?! ...IS THIS GOOD NEWS ???

reply to: CosmicDude

Hahaha! i LOVE this! run in fear, all!
Hide in basements!!! Buy food And other supplies for 100 years!!! Buy,buy,buy!!!!

Peace! ^^

Have you heard of this asteroid before ?

Since it was discovered about two weeks ago, no.

WHAT !!! .... No threat for the next 6 years ?! ...IS THIS GOOD NEWS ???

Yes. Quite a bit better than, "2014 UR116 poses an extreme risk when it next approaches Earth in 2017!" Don't you think?

How about waiting for the orbit to be better determined before panicking? It's been out there for a while, making quite a few passes, and it hasn't hit us yet.

a reply to: Phage

Thank you for your reply

Yes, it could be worse but 6 years is a very short period of time. However, I totally agree with you that we shouldn`t go panic before the orbit is better determined.

originally posted by: CosmicDude
No threat for the next 6 years ?! ...IS THIS GOOD NEWS ???

I'm happy with that, and if a 'big one' hits in my lifetime I'll be happy with just enough time to say goodbye/I love you to a few key people.
...I'm more likely to be killed by a runaway bus or something but I don't spend time worrying about stuff out of my control.

I live for doom porn!

So the Russians had to find this thing. I remember a time when science and space technology was important to the United States. The Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona has done a good job considering that the US budget for Asteroid tracking is embarrassing.

In 2005, Congress passed a NASA Authorization Act that, among other things, tasked the organization with finding and charting 90 percent of the Near Earth Objects (NEOs) 140 meters in diameter or greater. The bill gave NASA 15 years to complete the study, and budgeted exactly $0 extra to do it. NASA's existing NEO-search budget is $4 million annually, which helps to fund existing observatories that aren’t exclusively devoted to NEO discovery.

The Surveillance State Is Looking in the Wrong Direction: The Asteroid Threat

So, to summarize:
NASA's NEO search budget: $4 million

The current unit cost of a US built F35 fighter jet: $114 million each.

Probability a single F35 could engage 2014 UR116 successfully: 0%


Dex

a reply to: DexterRiley

So the Russians had to find this thing.

Who cares who found it?

So, to summarize:
NASA's NEO search budget: $4 million

To summarize; your source sucks.

The NEO Observations Program operated on a budget of a few million dollars per year from fiscal year 1998 through fiscal year 2011, at which point the program budget was about $4 million. In April 2010, the President announced a new goal for NASA: a human mission to an asteroid. Consequently, the President’s fiscal year 2012 budget request included, and Congress authorized, $20.4 million for an expanded NASA NEO Observations Program. The Program was again expanded in fiscal year 2014, with a budget of $40 million.

In fiscal year 2013, the NEO Observations Program supported 41 ongoing projects (compared to 29 in fiscal year 2012), including 5 detection and tracking campaigns, 10 follow-up surveys, 9 characterization efforts, 3 radar projects, 4 data processing and management projects, 6 technology development projects, and 4 studies of techniques for impact mitigation. Ten of these projects are being conducted by NASA centers, 2 by other federal agencies, 4 by space science institutes, 20 by university researchers, and 3 by private citizens.

science.nasa.gov...

Yes, more funding would be helpful but I don't think you're really aware of what has, and is being done.
neo.jpl.nasa.gov...

originally posted by: Phage
It's been out there for a while, making quite a few passes, and it hasn't hit us yet.

I just spat my coffee. An asteroid can make more than one pass before hitting us. It's like saying, "the penny landed alot of times on its tail side; it hasn't landed on its heads side yet".

a reply to: swanne
That's what I said, isn't it?

I hope you avoided your keyboard.

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: swanne
That's what I said, isn't it?

Yes, and with a "reassuring" smile!

I am just saying that muliple passes is hardly reassuring.

lol

And the keyboard is fine; it was the screen which I had to wipe...

Since the politicians in Washington DC are the ones responsible for this minuscule budget for tracking NEOs, I ran a simulation on the Earth Impact Effects Program using these parameters:

Distance from Impact: 37.00 km ( = 23.00 miles )
Projectile diameter: 370.00 meters ( = 1210.00 feet )
Projectile Density: 8000 kg/m3
Impact Velocity: 25.00 km per second ( = 15.50 miles per second )
Impact Angle: 90 degrees
Target Density: 1000 kg/m3
Target Type: Liquid water of depth 14.0 meters ( = 45.9 feet ), over crystalline rock.

Basically I targeted the Chesapeake Bay just to the East of Washington, DC. I decided that this asteroid was made of iron and was as mad at the politicians in DC as I was. So it hit squarely in the middle of the Bay at 90 degrees.

These are my results:
1. The impact energy is 15700 MegaTons. (These war mongers understand megatons)

2. The fireball appears 48.9 times larger than the sun (I guess these night-crawlers remember what the sun looks like)

3. Clothing ignites, much of the body suffers third degree burns (Those Armani suits provided by the lobbyists aren't fire proof.)

4. 7.4 seconds after impact, comes an earthquake of magnitude 7.4 (That'll shake 'em harder than those lobbyist supplied call girls)

5. The Ejecta will arrive in approximately 1.45 minutes with a mean fragment diameter of 1.03 meters ( = 3.37 feet ) (Everybody's gettin' stoned)

6. The air blast will arrive in approximately 1.87 minutes with max wind velocity of 376 m/s = 841 mph (That's more hot air than even they can generate.)

7. The tsunami wave arrives in approximately 52.6 minutes with wave amplitude of between 2.7 meters ( = 8.9 feet) and 5.4 meters ( = 17.7 feet) (That's almost enough water to clean up the mess in Washington)

To summarize:
They are blinded, burned, crunched, shaken, blown around, and washed away. Sounds like justice to me.




Dex

a reply to: swanne

I am just saying that muliple passes is hardly reassuring.

Actually, it is.
Do you think that the odds of getting heads depends on how many times you flip coin?
Do you that the odds are 50/50 that the asteroid will hit Earth?

originally posted by: Phage
Do you think that the odds of getting heads depends on how many times you flip coin?

Well, yeah! Try flipping a coin. With each successive tails you have augmets the statistical probability that the next toss will give you heads.

a reply to: Phage

Who cares who found it?

I don't care. But there are more than a few people on this site that do. You know: America First!

To summarize; your source sucks.

Okay, I guess with a source named "Bloomberg" I should have been a little more careful.
Hey, anybody in New York City want a 64 oz Slurpee? Oh wait, never mind... [/joke]

In April 2010, the President announced a new goal for NASA: a human mission to an asteroid. Consequently, the President’s fiscal year 2012 budget request included, and Congress authorized, $20.4 million for an expanded NASA NEO Observations Program. The Program was again expanded in fiscal year 2014, with a budget of $40 million.

So, once somebody figured out that there was money to be made on those asteroids, they ponied up a little more cash.

In fiscal year 2013, the NEO Observations Program supported 41 ongoing projects (compared to 29 in fiscal year 2012), including 5 detection and tracking campaigns, 10 follow-up surveys, 9 characterization efforts, 3 radar projects, 4 data processing and management projects, 6 technology development projects, and 4 studies of techniques for impact mitigation. Ten of these projects are being conducted by NASA centers, 2 by other federal agencies, 4 by space science institutes, 20 by university researchers, and 3 by private citizens.

I'm not mad at NASA. I know they can work wonders on a few dollars, compared to the DOD. On the other hand "3 by private citizens" does not instill in me the greatest of confidence.

Yes, more funding would be helpful but I don't think you're really aware of what has, and is being done.

Ok, I'll give you that one. NASA has a lot more going on than I was aware of.

However given the potential catastrophic results of an asteroid impact, I think the politicians should take this a bit more seriously. Most of them never met a weapon of war that they didn't like, but a substantial number of these clowns don't know the difference between an asteroid and hemorrhoid.

In any event, I stand corrected.


Dex

a reply to: okamitengu

I'd have to disagree , while I respect most of his information I would have to say he's
exactly like a very skilled Doctor with a horrible bedside manner , he comes off very condescending most
of the time , but that's just my opinion.
Plus I don't think he cares either way.


Sorry ! off topic , LOVE space doom , love non-doom tidbits as well.

originally posted by: CosmicDude
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BUT WAIT, HERE ARE THE GOOD NEWS !!!

WHAT !!! .... No threat for the next 6 years ?! ...IS THIS GOOD NEWS ???

But the good news is that the asteroid poses no threat to Earth for at least the next six years, Victor Shor, research associate at the Institute of Applied Astronomy told the Interfax news agency.

The name: 2014 UR116 is a little misleading. Just saying.

2nd. linea segundo.

I saw the thread title and went. . .



and. . .



and. . . .



But then I read some posts and went. . .