Space Shuttle Science Shows How 1908 Tunguska Explosion Was Caused By A Comet

www.sciencedaily.com...

The mysterious 1908 Tunguska explosion that leveled 830 square miles of Siberian forest was almost certainly caused by a comet entering the Earth's atmosphere, says new Cornell University research. The conclusion is supported by an unlikely source: the exhaust plume from the NASA space shuttle launched a century later.

The research, accepted for publication (June 24, 2009) by the journal Geophysical Research Letters, published by the American Geophysical Union, connects the two events

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[edit on 25-6-2009 by kiwifoot]

There have been other assertions before (news.bbc.co.uk...), and it has always been strongly believed that either a comet or a meteor caused the explosion.

I find this interesting because of the use of data from the shuttle and the fact it's being published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

"It's almost like putting together a 100-year-old murder mystery," said Michael Kelley, the James A. Friend Family Distinguished Professor of Engineering at Cornell who led the research team. "The evidence is pretty strong that the Earth was hit by a comet in 1908."

Looks like their contention is that the vast amounts of ice (found in comets) could have been responsible for the atmospheric phenomena seen following the blast. Mystery solved!




(visit the link for the full news article)




[edit on 25-6-2009 by kiwifoot]