Asteroid To Pass Within 17,000 Miles of Earth

Somebody check my math, but I have that as 15 minutes, 17 seconds of earth orbit...that's pretty close.

Originally posted by sasquatch672
Somebody check my math, but I have that as 15 minutes, 17 seconds of earth orbit...that's pretty close.

NASA say it will fly within the satellite orbit range, but it is not a prob.

If they say that, I'm happy enough.

-m. 😉

Originally posted by mikelom
NASA say it will fly within the satellite orbit range, but it is not a prob.

If they say that, I'm happy enough.

-m. 😉

I'm just saying - on astronomical scales, that's not even a whisker.

Originally posted by sasquatch672
I'm just saying - on astronomical scales, that's not even a whisker.

How about if it hits a satellite?

A large one?

-m. 😉

Originally posted by mikelom
How about if it hits a satellite?

A large one?

-m. 😉

Exceedingly improbable.

Originally posted by sasquatch672
Exceedingly improbable.

I think Mikelom is trying to ascertain what kind of weapon would be
powerful enough to dislodge such a rock. Would a big gun be accurate
enough? or would you have to employ some kind of drilling device to split
it in two?

Originally posted by sasquatch672
Somebody check my math, but I have that as 15 minutes, 17 seconds of earth orbit...that's pretty close.

Wikipedia gives the earths orbital speed as 29.7 km/s and 17 miles is about 27 km thats a bit under 1000s which is about 17 minutes. So allowing for the 10% error in my 1000s I think you got your maths right.

But unless the thing gets trapped by the atmosphere it really doesn't matter how close it gets. The Earth has a diameter of 12,600 km so it's 2 and a bit times the diameter of the earth away. Which means we shouldn't get a problem even if it hits a satellite. If it does hit a satellite then the satellite's had it, but it won't affect us other than losing the satellite. Could be spectacular to watch though.

Tomorrow's the day 😀