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Tag: asteroid da 14

  • NASA: Asteroid 2012 Da14 Will Not be Hitting the Earth Today

    NASA: Asteroid 2012 Da14 Will Not be Hitting the Earth Today

    Today at around 2:20 pm EST an asteroid named 2012 da14 will come within 17,200 miles of the surface of Earth. Almost one year ago NASA was able to determine that the asteroid definitely does not pose a danger to the planet, at least not on this approach.

    With the asteroid’s approach so near and the public’s growing awareness of the event, NASA has released another video to try and reassure people that doomsday is not on the way. It’s similar to the “Why the World Didn’t End Yesterday” video the agency released more than a week before the Maya Apocalypse doomsday scenarios predictably fell flat. Besides the obvious duty to assuage public fears, it’s clear NASA finds it valuable to have a record of using science to make predictions that actually come true.

    The new video features James Green, director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division, and Dante Lauretta, principal investigator for the OSIRIS-REx mission, describing just how scientists know da14 isn’t a danger (hint: they use math) and what an exciting event today’s record-setting close flyby is for astronomers. The OSIRIS-REx mission is scheduled to launch a probe in 2016 that will visit an asteroid that actually might hit the Earth in the late 22nd century.

    NASA will be streaming live commentary of the asteroid’s approach starting at 2 pm EST.

  • Asteroid Flyby to be Live-Streamed by NASA

    Asteroid Flyby to be Live-Streamed by NASA

    On February 15, tomorrow, an asteroid named 2012 DA14 will fly within several thousand miles of the surface of the Earth. At its closest approach the asteroid will come within 17,200 miles of the Earth’s surface – a harrowingly close miss that comes well within the ring of man-made geosynchronous satellites that orbit the Earth. The flyby will set a record for closest approach by an object of DA14’s size.

    Though researchers have determined there is no danger posed by the object, the event will be a spectacle for astronomers around the world. Though the asteroid won’t be bright enough to see with the naked eye, those with a telescope or even a good pair of binoculars will be able to spot it.

    For those who can’t observe the asteroid on their own, NASA announced this week that it will be live-streaming coverage of the object’s approach. The broadcast will provide commentary from scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and real-time animation to demonstrate exactly where the asteroid is. A Live view of the asteroid itself will also be featured, assuming the weather over observatories isn’t cloudy.

    The half-hour live-stream will begin tomorrow at 2 pm EST, and can be seen on NASA TV or on the JPL Ustream page. The JPL Ustream will also begin showing footage of the asteroid from Australian and European observatories starting at 12 pm EST. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center will stream footage of the asteroid from one of its telescopes starting at 9 pm EST, and researchers there will be taking questions via Twitter.

    (Image courtesy LCOGT/Faulkes)

  • Asteroid Worth $195B to Swing By Earth on February 15

    On February 15 an asteroid named 2012 DA14 will pass very close to the Earth. It will swing within just 17,200 miles of the planet’s surface, which is well within the orbit of the man-made geosynchronous satellites that orbit the Earth. By coming within just one-thirteenth the distance from the Earth to the moon, the asteroid will set a record for close approach by an object of its size.

    This week Deep Space Industries (DSI), a company that wants to develop the technology to mine asteroids, made the somewhat melancholic estimate that DA14 could contain metals and propellant worth as much as $195 billion. Since the asteroid will fly by the Earth traveling at 17,400 miles per hour, however, it isn’t practical to mine.

    “While this week’s visitor isn’t going the right way for us to harvest it, there will be others that are, and we want to be ready when they arrive,” said Rick Tumlinson, Chairman of DSI. “Even with conservative estimates of the potential value of any given asteroid, if we begin to utilize them in space they are all the equivalent of a space oasis for refueling and resupply.”

    NASA has estimated that DA14 is only about 150 feet across, but DSI believes that is still big enough to be worth billions. DSI “experts” estimate that if 10% of the asteroid were made of minable metals, they could be worth $130 billion. If another 5% of the asteroid could be mined for water, it could be used as $65 billion worth of rocket fuel in space.

    DSI is hoping to begin space mining around the year 2020. In the meantime, the company will be sending “FireFly” probes to examine asteroids, and later “DragonFly” probes that will take samples of the asteroid.

    NASA will also be sending probes to investigate asteroids before 2020. In 2016, the agency will launch the OSIRIS-REx probe, which will visit the Earth-threatening asteroid 1999 RQ36.

  • Asteroid to Give Earth a Near Miss on February 15

    Asteroid to Give Earth a Near Miss on February 15

    NASA this weekend revealed that an asteroid named 2012 DA14 will come very close to Earth on February 15. The object will swing within 27,700 kilometers (17,200 miles) of the Earth’s surface – close enough to pass within the geosynchronous satellites that orbit the planet, and only around one-thirteenth the distance from the Earth to the moon.

    NASA researchers stated that, according to their observations, there is no chance the asteroid will collide with the Earth. It will cruise by at around 7.8 kilometers per second (17,400 miles per hour). The flyby will set a record for a close approach of an object of such size. Astronomers estimate that such an event occurs an average of every 40 years. A collision with an object the size of 2012 DA14 is expected an average of every 1,200 years.

    According to observations of the asteroid’s brightness, object itself is not large. It is estimated to be only 45 meters (150 feet) across. When it passes closest to Earth on February 15, it will appear only as a point of light. Though it will be too faint to see with the naked eye, it should be visible with binoculars or a small telescope. Though the best viewing can be seen in Indonesia, Eastern Europe, Asia, and Australia will get a good view during the object’s closest approach.

    2012 DA14 has only been known of for one year. In February 2012 astronomers at the La Sagra Sky Survey discovered the asteroid, which had just made a distant passage of Earth. The object’s orbital period (or, “year”) is 368 days, which very close to the Earth’s orbital period of 365 days. This year’s near-miss of Earth will alter the asteroid’s orbital period, shortening it to around 317 days.

    (Image courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech)

  • Asteroid DA14 Misses Earth In Animated, Data-Backed Video

    For those of you still fretting that Earth will get smacked with a 40 meter-wide asteroid next year even though reliable experts have said that these fears are overstated, here’s a computer-animated rendering of how exactly Earth won’t be in any danger.

    Well, at least as far as asteroid 2012 DA 14 goes.

    The video, which was uploaded by YouTube user CelestiaDev, is daringly accurate with its measured time estimates of the asteroid’s trajectory. Several different vantages are presented that all show the asteroid, while at times looking to collide with earth, completely missing our planet. What’s more is that you’ll see how it does in fact get closer to Earth than many of our own satellites hanging around in orbit.

    The video isn’t just compiled by somebody’s inventive imagination, either: the depiction was constructed using the calculations of Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s HORIZONS solar system data and ephemeris computation service.

    Honestly, though, I’m really not sure if this animation will allay any of the concerns people have about our planet getting hit with an asteroid or if it will actually make them worse because, as the video shows, that asteroid looks to pass frighteningly close to Earth.

    Still. It’s going to miss us by over 13,000 miles. Gravity is the weakest of the four fundamental forces in nature. We break this force every single day of our lives and we are not 25-mile-wide space rocks. If we can have our way with Earth’s gravitational force anytime we like, you really think our planet’s gravitational pull is gonna be enough to suck in asteroid DA 14?

    It’s seriously not going to happen, people.