Tag: asteroid

  • The hypothetical humanity killer

    The hypothetical humanity killer

    I have been following this NASA website recently: http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/pdc15/ .. if you fear a life-ending asteroid, maybe you should too.

    The first and most important thing to realize about the page: It is all imagined. The asteroid and work to stop it from hitting Earth is all hypothetical.  But with each pretend statement about the asteroid and the would be trajectory, it seems very real. That is because the words on http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/pdc15/, though now unreal, could be accurate one day soon.  We could be facing a mass extinction event. Something bigger than Chelyabinsk, something mightier. It may hit land and cause an impact zone crater on Earth. Or it could hit water and flood coastlines with a massive wave never seen during our lifetime.

    The Planetary Defense Conference is a meeting of scientists, engineers, policy-makers, and people in Italy. They are playing an asteroid pre-war-game. Mapping out the possibilities and speculating on the impact aftermath.

    http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/pdc15/ is where people could follow online to the games.

    The games..
    But on the topic of the site itself, there is rampant speculation about the ‘game’.. and the chances it could all be a diversion meant to keep our mind believing it’s unreal and really, in the end, “they” know something is coming. The conspiracy minded folk, of which I join in now and then, think that there is a killer stalking this planet.. lurking not too far from our existence. And NASA knows it. They are so aware of it that they are going to great lengths to post this ‘war game’ on the internet, along with bringing the biggest and brightest minds together. Because the reality, some would say, is that they ARE INDEED planning a course of action over a real event.

    My take is a little less paranoid, at least about this game. I think the simulation is that: A simulation. But I think sooner rather than later, we will be hit with something on this planet. It is my hope that we have simulated long enough to get the reason response.

    And I pray to whatever gods of life exist that we will have years, and not months, to prep. And maybe decades–not days.

    Chelyabinsk should have been a wake up call to the planet. Instead it became a “and finally tonight” segment on local newscasts around the world. Science is regulated too often to the “in other news” portion after sports and weather.  But if Chelyabinsk would have hit NYC, or D.C., and would have been just a little bit lower in orbit, we may have been playing a whole new REAL game right about now…….

     

  • Sky Fall

    Sky Fall

    The big asteroid sailed past earth today. We were told no worries.. no dangers.. no damage. It may be huge, but it would be safely far enough away from earth that nothing memorable will happen..

    And then this: 

    A mysterious explosion that rocked Nicaragua’s crowded capital Managua, creating a large crater, appears to have been caused by a meteorite, officials said Sunday.

    Amazingly, in a sprawling city of 1.2 million people, the impact near the international airport did not cause any known injuries, but it did leave a crater measuring 12 meters (39 feet) across.

    “We are convinced that this was a meteorite. We have seen the crater from the impact,” said Wilfredo Strauss of the Seismic Institute.

    Let’s take a breather.. and wonder.

    Remember when Cherlyabinsk happened?
    We were all watching the wrong part of the sky—a big close flyby that day was happening, and NASA hadn’t been tracking anything that could hit the planet.. as a matter of fact, Cherlyabinsk caught us all off guard.

    And now today, apparently, it happened again. 

    While we were watching New Zealand, Nicaragua’s crater happened.

    I wonder, and have wondered, if some of these large objects travel in pairs, or at least have a trail of friends that come with them.

    Cherlyabinsk scared me a bit, especially with how unexpected and sudden it all was.

    And now today, a near miss and a slam to the planet.. all at once.

    History repeats itself..

    But at least this was one “small.” In the scheme of things..

    image

    But either way, we should be a little concerned about our overall well being.

    Consider this: The asteroid was discovered August 31. And we were told it would safely pass by earth. And then maybe now a piece of it broke off and hit earth—or it was traveling with a friend. 

    And this is just one of the many many space rocks to worry about.

    We are sitting ducks.
    Hopefully we stay quacking.

  • Another newly found asteroid. Another near earth miss

    Another newly found asteroid. Another near earth miss

    Every time we see news that another asteroid is going to have a ‘close shave’ or a ‘nearby run’ at the planet Earth, we also note this: The asteroid was typically discovered just days (or in some cases mere hours) prior to the collision that will not be.

    The scenario is no different than the one playing out concerning asteroid 2014 RC.. It will pass ‘very close’ to the planet this coming Sunday. It will not be visible by the naked eye but those aware of it will be able to scope it with their equipment..

    Oh, and it was just discovered on August 31 by the Catalini Sky Survey in Tuscon, Arizona..

    This particular space rock is 60 feet .. it is expected to fly over New Zealand around 2:18 PM EDT..

    A near miss, though.
    Far enough away .. not to worry.

    But we should worry–we should also be acting on these worries with fixes. There are tons of space rocks looming out there. Some are distant.. some are close. And often time, as we see with 2014 RC, we discover them only a short time before they may come close to the planet—or hit. That’s the scary part.. the knowing of the unknowing..

    Chelyabinsk  was no different. Recall, when Chelyabinsk happened, the world was fixated on another part of the world as a close by asteroid was ‘safely’ missing the planet. Just then, a boom occurred and the news broke about a big Chelyabinsk  explosion. But not by NASA, or other scientists.. instead on Twitter resulting from the use of dashcams that caught the flying ball of fire in the sky..

    And that is how things happen..the ‘pink stars’ are always falling.

    Let’s just hope the sky doesn’t.

    In the mean time.. keep looking up. You never know what you’ll find.