Asteroid Buster??? Are they Hiding something?

Just ran across this today.

Fact following fiction? Scientists plan mission to blow up an asteroid 'hurtling towards Earth' Plan is similar to the plot of Hollywood film Armageddon. Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk...

Just seems a little suspicious with all the comets/asteroids that have been coming our way.

Why take a chance of deflecting a supposedly harmless asteroid in our direction???

One potential target is a 1600ft-wide asteroid called 99942 Apophis, which experts say does have a minute chance - around one in 250,000 - of hitting Earth in 2036, so it would be useful target practice. Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk...

Is there something we don't know??? I'm not a fear monger. I just think we should leave well enough alone!!

It would be tragic if they stuffed up and it changed trajectory enough to hit flush with the earth.

"experts say does have a minute chance - around one in 250,000 - of hitting Earth in 2036" -

thats better odds than the Lotto

Originally posted by JennaDarling
"experts say does have a minute chance - around one in 250,000 - of hitting Earth in 2036" -

thats better odds than the Lotto

and better odds than being hit by lightning

its about time we had Steve Buscemi WMD's to take out these pesky asteroids

I don't know why they keep talking about 2036, but I know exactly why they are worried about this specific asteroid. Here is it's upcoming scheduled passes and distances:

Jan 12, 2012 - 0.612 au
Mar 5, 2021 - .1126 au
Dec 30, 2027 - 0.293 au
Mar 29, 2036 - 0.324 au

1 au = about 150 million kilometres or 93 million miles

OH... I forgot a date, didn't I? How is this for a reason to be a little concerned about Apophis?

April 14, 2029 - 0.0004 au. To save everyone a trip to the convertor, that is a mere 59,839 Kilometers. It should be fun!

It's small, but nothing is a "small" event if you happen to be right under it.

reply to post by JennaDarling



So,,, Do think there is more of a chance of it hitting us than are telling? Is what they are planning just a precautionary "nudge"???

What if what they do causes a course change directly into Earth. Something they may not be able to undo.


Why can't gov't just leave well enough alone?

Initially, Apophis was thought to have a 2.7 percent chance of impacting Earth in 2029. Additional observations of the asteriod ruled out any possibility of an impact in 2029. However, the asteroid is expected to make a record-setting -- but harmless -- close approach to Earth on Friday, April 13, 2029, when it comes no closer than 18,300 miles above Earth's surface.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000



Sounds close to me.

N.A.S.A. predictions are always changing. I think this time they should save their "Asteroid Buster" until a collision is almost certain. Unless they believe it is.

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
I don't know why they keep talking about 2036, but I know exactly why they are worried about this specific asteroid. Here is it's upcoming scheduled passes and distances:

Jan 12, 2012 - 0.612 au
Mar 5, 2021 - .1126 au
Dec 30, 2027 - 0.293 au
Mar 29, 2036 - 0.324 au

1 au = about 150 million kilometres or 93 million miles

OH... I forgot a date, didn't I? How is this for a reason to be a little concerned about Apophis?

April 14, 2029 - 0.0004 au. To save everyone a trip to the convertor, that is a mere 59,839 Kilometers. It should be fun!

It's small, but nothing is a "small" event if you happen to be right under it.

edit on 16-8-2011 by Wrabbit2000 because: (no reason given)

1600 FT. is not a small asteroid if it were to impact Earth.

reply to post by Twisted1


Don't think we should mess with them flying comets/asteroids etc, What if we change the direction and something even worse happens? Say we destroy another planet outside our solar system that we can't see? Now that would be quite bad wouldn't it?

Originally posted by MoneyIsWorthless
reply to post by Twisted1

 

Don't think we should mess with them flying comets/asteroids etc, What if we change the direction and something even worse happens? Say we destroy another planet outside our solar system that we can't see? Now that would be quite bad wouldn't it?

Of course we should mess around with it I mean we are in control of everything right? We're so much more powerful than nature and we're so arrogant. Why not! That was sarcastic, of course.

Everything they tell you is just a distraction from something else. While we're all looking over to the right, they're pulling some bs over on the left.

Originally posted by Skorpiogurl


Of course we should mess around with it I mean we are in control of everything right? We're so much more powerful than nature and we're so arrogant. Why not!

That was sarcastic, of course.

Everything they tell you is just a distraction from something else. While we're all looking over to the right, they're pulling some bs over on the left.

Exactly, Every mayor event is just like a magician work, Yo yo look over here! see! Don't look over there....

Originally posted by Twisted1

Initially, Apophis was thought to have a 2.7 percent chance of impacting Earth in 2029. Additional observations of the asteriod ruled out any possibility of an impact in 2029. However, the asteroid is expected to make a record-setting -- but harmless -- close approach to Earth on Friday, April 13, 2029, when it comes no closer than 18,300 miles above Earth's surface.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000

 

Sounds close to me.

N.A.S.A. predictions are always changing. I think this time they should save their "Asteroid Buster" until a collision is almost certain. Unless they believe it is.

Friday the 13th, That just jumped right out at me there.
Very interesting information, S&F
Regards, Iwinder

Originally posted by MoneyIsWorthless
reply to post by Twisted1

 

Don't think we should mess with them flying comets/asteroids etc, What if we change the direction and something even worse happens? Say we destroy another planet outside our solar system that we can't see? Now that would be quite bad wouldn't it?

You might not be too far off. Hear me out for just a minute please.

Life on Earth was supposedly brought here by meteors bearing the building blocks of life. Our governments have screwed this world up beyond repair. Resources are becoming more scarce. Overpopulation, famine, drought, pollution, wars,,,,and so on and so on.

Now here's a thought.

Our gov't is close to (If not already) being able to send people to Mars, but Mars cannot sustain life. Perhaps they think by crashing meteors, comets or asteroids onto the surface of Mars they can cause a chain of events that can create an atmosphere on the planet that would make it habitable for Human life???

That would be when they load up their ships with the Elite (The same ones that ruined Earth) and set sail to Mars, Leaving all of us here to die in the mess that they created.

I can hear their first words spoken on the new world now,,,, " Welcome to our new world! Let's Start DRILLING!

Originally posted by Twisted1

ou might not be too far off. Hear me out for just a minute please.

Life on Earth was supposedly brought here by meteors bearing the building blocks of life. Our governments have screwed this world up beyond repair. Resources are becoming more scarce. Overpopulation, famine, drought, pollution, wars,,,,and so on and so on.

Now here's a thought.

Our gov't is close to (If not already) being able to send people to Mars, but Mars cannot sustain life. Perhaps they think by crashing meteors, comets or asteroids onto the surface of Mars they can cause a chain of events that can create an atmosphere on the planet that would make it habitable for Human life???

That would be when they load up their ships with the Elite (The same ones that ruined Earth) and set sail to Mars, Leaving all of us here to die in the mess that they created.

I can hear their first words spoken on the new world now,,,, " Welcome to our new world! Let's Start DRILLING!

Ill tell you a secret, They destroyed Mars and came here...

It seems like there might have been a bit of misinterpretation here.

First, they aren't doing anything to Apophis...the target for this mission is currently not specified, but the most-likely candidates are 2002 AT4 or 1989 ML.

This mission is a fact-finding endeavor. They are sending a pair of probes out to a small asteroid. The first will monitor the asteroid as it's pulling into orbit to calculate how much of an effect its mass has on it. The second will be a 500kg impactor that comes in after so that the one in orbit can see how much of a change happens then and monitor it after to see just how effective this could potentially be. The probes are called Hidalgo (impactor) and Sancho.

Essentially they're doing something that we need to know, Can we save our planet if one of the countless objects flying around our solar system was going to hit it. This isn't even designed to cause a major alteration

Earth -will be- in danger of getting hit at some point. It's not a possibility, it's a certainty that something will hit us somewhere down the road...perhaps not until after we've wiped ourselves out or let the sun cook us to death, but it will happen. It doesn't mean they know of one that is going to, though we do know of one currently that might - Apophis. If they knew of one already that was coming now, then chances are it would be too late to try and test like this.

They won't know for certain until after the 2029 pass how much of a chance there is for Apophis because it will pass close enough to Earth in 2029 as to make calculating its path now rather uncertain. If it hits a certain 'keyhole' on that pass, then it will have a strong chance of hitting us in 2036.

Here is a bit more information that people may find useful from the ESA itself, it might be a little more informative than the Dailyfail.
The Don QuijoteSancho concept is quite an old one dating back to at least 2003.
www.esa.int...


www.esa.int...

ESA's Don Quijote is an asteroid deflection precursor mission concept, assessed by the General Studies Programme in the Future and Strategic Studies Office. It is designed to demonstrate and validate the technology that one day could be used to deflect an asteroid threatening the Earth.

en.wikipedia.org...(spacecraft)

Originally, the ESA identified two near-Earth asteroids as possible targets: 2002 AT4 and (10302) 1989 ML. Neither asteroid represents a threat to Earth.[2] In a subsequent study, two different possibilities were selected: the Amor asteroid 2003 SM84 and 99942 Apophis; the latter is of particular significance to Earth as it will make a close approach in 2029 and 2036

Apophis has been considered.
To be honest I don't see why anyone would have an issue with this or think anybody is hiding anything. The ESA should be applauded as no one else seems overly concerned by this.