Nasa corrected by 13 year old boy

news.yahoo.com... 080415214429
Is it only me that finds it strange that NASA makes a "MISTAKE" in the orbit of a supposed 'killer' asteroid?[ Link to yahoo story is dead]
BERLIN (AFP) - A 13-year-old German schoolboy corrected NASA's estimates on the chances of an asteroid colliding with Earth, a German newspaper reported Tuesday, after spotting the boffins had miscalculated
Nico Marquardt used telescopic findings from the Institute of Astrophysics in Potsdam (AIP) to calculate that there was a 1 in 450 chance that the Apophis asteroid will collide with Earth, the Potsdamer Neuerster Nachrichten reported.

NASA had previously estimated the chances at only 1 in 45,000 but told its sister organisation, the European Space Agency (ESA), that the young whizzkid had got it right.

The schoolboy took into consideration the risk of Apophis running into one or more of the 40,000 satellites orbiting Earth during its path close to the planet on April 13 2029.

Those satellites travel at 3.07 kilometres a second (1.9 miles), at up to 35,880 kilometres above earth -- and the Apophis asteroid will pass by earth at a distance of 32,500 kilometres.

If the asteroid strikes a satellite in 2029, that will change its trajectory making it hit earth on its next orbit in 2036.

Both NASA and Marquardt agree that if the asteroid does collide with earth, it will create a ball of iron and iridium 320 metres (1049 feet) wide and weighing 200 billion tonnes, which will crash into the Atlantic Ocean.

The shockwaves from that would create huge tsunami waves, destroying both coastlines and inland areas, whilst creating a thick cloud of dust that would darken the skies indefinitely.

The 13-year old made his discovery as part of a regional science competition for which he submitted a project entitled: "Apophis -- The Killer Astroid."


[edit on 16-4-2008 by SUNRAY06]

[edit on 16-4-2008 by SUNRAY06]

Here's a link that's working:
www.universetoday.com...

So the 13-year old kid took into account the possibilty of Apophis hitting one of Earths 40,000 satellites in 2029, thus changing its course to hit the Earth in its next approach in 2036.

Reading this story, I was wondering how hitting a satellite would automatically make it more likely to hit the Earth. Couldn't the satellite also push Apophis further off course, making it less likely to hit the Earth on it's next fly-by 7 years later -- that is if a tiny saellite would have any effect at all on Apophis' trajectory.

I guess I need to see more information.

[edit on 4/16/2008 by Soylent Green Is People]

This is probably the most "reposted" article I have seen on ATS in a long time. This has been posted several times already today.

Yes. And if you recheck the Universe Today link you'll see it's now been found to be a hoax!

One dead giveaway is that NASA agree it would crash into the Atlantic if it it hits

Like they could predict that all those years in advance from an asteroid not going to hit unless it gets diverted by a satellite

reply to post by expatwhite

Another dead giveaway is that it isn't coming anywhere near our satellites in 2029 -- and even if it did, a satellite running into apophis would have the same effect as an insect hitting a moving car.

[edit on 4/16/2008 by Soylent Green Is People]