February 5, 2013 -- Updated
Read more: updatallnews
It is heading toward
Earth at 17,450 miles per hour, according to NASA, and the tug of our
planet's gravitational field will cause it to accelerate when it gets
here.
But it's not going to strike us, when it passes by on February 15. NASA is adamant about this.
"Its orbit is very
well-known," said Dr. Don Yeomans, NASA specialist for near-Earth
objects. "We know exactly where it's going to go, and it cannot hit the
Earth."
But it will give the Blue
Planet the closest shave by any object its size in known history,
Yeomans said. Gravity will cause it to fly a curved path, tugging it
closer to Earth's surface than most GPS or television satellites.
While the asteroid is
moving at a good clip, space rockets have to accelerate to an even
higher speed to escape Earth's gravity and make it into space. Though
2012 DA14 will be flying more slowly, its trajectory will keep it from
falling to Earth.
Getting a look at 2012 DA14
Asteroid to fly between Earth, moon
The Number: hazardous asteroids
Star gazers in Eastern
Europe, Asia or Australia might be able to see it with binoculars or
consumer telescopes. It will not be visible to the naked eye, because
it's small, "about half the size of a football field," Yeomans said.
There are millions of
asteroids in our solar system, and they come in all dimensions -- from
the size of a beach ball to a large mountain, NASA said.
Researchers are looking
forward to getting such a close look at an asteroid, as it flies from
south to north past Earth, coming as close as 17,200 miles to our
planet's surface. NASA will ping it with a signal from a satellite dish
for a few days to get a better idea of its makeup.
Astronomers think there
are about half a million asteroids the size this one near Earth, NASA
said, but less than one percent have been detected.
Twenty years ago, no one
would likely have discovered 2012 DA14, Yeomans said. Scientists
spotted it nearly a year ago from an observatory in the south of Spain.
Today, specialists track asteroids' paths 100 years into future.
They do so less to
assess any possible threat of impact with Earth and more to explore what
opportunities they offer. "These objects are important for science.
They're important for our future resources," Yeomans said.
Asteroids are potential gold mines
Asteroids can be chock full of metals and other materials, which could be mined for use on earth or on space stations NASA has discussed the possibility of capturing near-Earth asteroids and placing them into Earth's orbit NASA to study them and extract their resources.
At least two start-up companies, Planetary Resources and Deep Space Industries, plan to mine asteroids and sell the acquired bounty on Earth and in space.
Being able to exploit
asteroids' resources would allow humans to fly farther out into the
solar system, build stations a long way from Earth and supply them with
materials gathered out in space.
Some asteroids, for example, are made of ice, NASA said, which could be used as drinking water for a distant space platform.
What if one like this did hit us?
An asteroid this size passes this close to Earth only every 40 years and collides with it only once every 1,200 years.
If NASA turns out to be
wrong about this one not hitting the planet -- and they won't be -- then
Asteroid 2012 DA14 would not destroy the world in any case, Yeomans
said.
An asteroid made of
metal that was about the same size collided with Earth 50,000 years ago,
creating the mile wide "Meteor Crater" in Arizona and obliterating
everything for 50 miles around, he said.
2012 DA14 is likely made of stone, which would do much less damage.
In 1908 a similar type
asteroid entered the atmosphere and exploded over Tunguska, Russia,
leveling trees over an area of 820 square miles -- about two thirds the
size of Rhode Island.
Not Earth shattering, but you still wouldn't want to live nearby.Read more: updatallnews
No comments:
Post a Comment