Asteroid could possibly destroy geo satellites

shizz

A 150-foot-wide, 140,000 tonne asteroid may come so close to Earth early next year that it might destroy communications satellites.

The asteroid, DA14, discovered by astronomers at LaSagra Observatory in Spain, is estimated to come near enough to Earth on February 15, 2013, that it could disrupt geosynchronous satellites.

While NASA have said the chance of the asteroid hitting Earth is 0.031 per cent, if it did it would hit with the force of a 2.4 megaton explosion, similar to the mysterious Tunguska event of 1908 which levelled hundreds of square miles of Siberian forest, Daily Mail reported.
The asteroid's exact orbital path is being determined by NASA and astronomers are erring on the side of caution in case it does come in contact with a satellite.
"That's very unlikely, but we can't rule it out," said Paul Chodas, a planetary astronomer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena California.

While the the asteroid is currently a 'fuzzy little blob', as seen through telescopes, 2012 DA14 may eventually come to pass 21,000 miles away from the Earth putting synchronous satellites in the firing line, the paper said.

"The orbit for 2012 DA14 is currently very Earth-like, which means it will be very close to Earth on a regular basis," said Chodas.

In the preceding months to February, NASA will try to form a fuller picture of where and how close the satellite will get, the paper reported.

"We don't know exactly where it is, and that uncertainty maps through to an uncertainty in the orbit and predictions," said Steven Chesley, who also works at JPL.
ut for now, no one at NASA is worried that the asteroid will hit but say that 2012 DA14 might be visible from Earth as it flies past.

"It might be visible to people with good binoculars or a small telescope," said Chodas, adding that, "For such a small object, that's really unusual."

While astronomers examine their initial estimate of a 0.031 percent chance of 2012 DA14 hitting earth, they cannot rule out the possibility of it hitting in 2020 on its next fly-pass.

That is because they will have to see how close 2012 DA14 gets to Earth in February and how much our gravitational pull affects its course for its next fly by in 2020.

If it does hit, scientist believe that its south-bound approach mean that it will hit Antarctica or the Southern Ocean.

The detonation of the 140,000 tonne rock would not end civilisation, but would potentially cause massive loss of life if it hit a populated centre.

Hopefully they can track this and if possible move stuff out of the way. The last thing we need is more space junk.

linky

thecommander

They're using the Daily Mail as a source. The quotes are probably out of context.

shizz

I found another article here

It shows the asteroids trajectory passing within the geosynchronous plane. Still unlikely that it will hit something I guess but still a threat to them.

Myrddin

A 150-foot-wide, 140,000 tonne asteroid may come so close to Earth early next year that it might destroy communications satellites.

The asteroid, DA14, discovered by astronomers at LaSagra Observatory in Spain, is estimated to come near enough to Earth on February 15, 2013, that it could disrupt geosynchronous satellites.

So which is it?

shizz

Well I presume if it hits one it would destroy it. if they have to move them it would disrupt? Nothings definite it seems.

Myrddin

shizz wrote: »

Well I presume if it hits one it would destroy it. if they have to move them it would disrupt? Nothings definite it seems.

I suppose the headline is more sensational if it includes the work destroy

shizz

Maybe it should read "Starcruisers to be deployed in attempt to save geosynchronous satellites from Asteroid destruction"?

Myrddin

shizz wrote: »

Maybe it should read "Starcruisers to be deployed in attempt to save geosynchronous satellites from Asteroid destruction"?

:pac::pac::pac:

Ellis Dee

It makes very little difference whether the object that smacks into a communications satellite is 150 feet wide or the size of your fist - the satellite will be destroyed in any case.:)

In fact, hundreds, maybe thousands of small objects are hurtling through space and burning up in our atmosphere every day. The fact that they don't hit satellites - although it is always a possibility - is just a reflection of how big space is and how few satellites there are. Even if one satellite gets knocked out, it will hardly be the end of the world as we know it, and the chances of the same meteor hitting more than one are - well - astronomical.:D

What we should be far more worried about is an object 50 metres in diameter hitting us - or at least airbursting at an altitude of several kilometres as happened in the Tunguska event.:eek:

It felled tens of millions of trees and killed thousands of animals, but almost certainly no people because it happened to hit a vast area of uninhabited taiga. However, the way the Earth turns, it would have hit London if it had arrived seven hours after it actually did. That would have more than disrupted the Olympics then in progress in the city.:cool:

shizz

Granted the odds are very low of anything happening but that doesn't mean it should be over looked. It's interesting to realise that there are a lot of NEO's out there that pose some sort of threat but, like you said, space is so vast that Near Earth actually means bleedin' ages away (to put it scientifically).