OMG THERE'S AN ASTEROID FLYING BY THE EArrr…
I have just been informed that happened on Monday.
But it's STILL COOL!
astro girls and astro boys
Last Monday 2004 BL86 made a spectacular flyby of our planet; it was the closest object to
pass until 2027 when 1999 AN10 passes inside the moon's orbit.
We know this because NASA's Near Earth Object office has a list of everything that's HAS
or WILL pass close to the Earth from 1900 to 2200.
And just because BL86 was the closest in a while, doesn't mean it's the only one.
Asteroids ranging in size pass us all the time.
Most asteroids are not necessarily discovered by NASA, but by organizations and astronomers
the world over.
BL86 was discovered in 2004 by MIT's Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research lab or LINEAR.
When a Near Earth Object or NEO is discovered, the discovery is sent to the International
Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center; and if they confirm it, they give it a designation
of a year, and alphanumeric combo.
They measure closeness of these orbits in two ways, by AU -- or astronomical units,
or LD lunar distances.
An AU is the average distance from the center of the sun to the center of the Earth, and
LD is average from Earth to the Moon.
BL86 was .0080 astronomical units or 3.1 lunar distances.
This sounds close, but 2015 BE92 will only pass .0083 AUs or 3.2 lunar distances TOMORROW
-- and as you might have guessed from the designation, 2015 BE92 was only DISCOVERED
THIS YEAR.
But let's not get into fear-mongering; YES, there are MILLIONS of asteroids flying around
out there, and some COULD end our existence.
Through hearty international efforts we've catalogued 95-percent of all human-extinction
asteroids -- which are those more than 1 kilometer wide -- and none of them are going to hit
us.
None.
But just for fun… what if in that last five percent we find one that IS going to hit.
What could we do?
It all depends on WHEN we discover it.
The sooner the better.
The more lead-time NASA and other space agencies have, the better.
As Scott Hubbard said last week, "The reason dinosaurs went extinct is, they didn't have
a space program!"
Aside from sending Bruce Willis, Batman, and a she-Elf to blow it up; which wouldn't work
anyway.
You'd have to blow up many bombs over decades to deflect a massive asteroid.
But there is another way…
My favorite plan is the gravity tractor...
With lead time of 20 years, NASA scientists could construct and launch a craft which then
parks near an asteroid; then they physics does the rest.
The gravity of that man-made satellite will slowly pull the asteroid off it's collision
course over the period of a year.
And BOOM!
We're saved!!
There are no daring men and women risking their lives, but there is SCIENCE!
I know, it doesn't sound exciting, but it is!
We HAVE A PLANNNNN!
Of course, the bigger the asteroid, the larger the craft or the more lead time we'd need,
right?
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What would you do to deflect an incoming asteroid?