In 2029, the asteroid Apophis will come so close to the Earth that it will actually come between the planet and its orbiting communications satellites. While we know that it's trajectory won't cause it to collide with the Earth in 2029, there is a 1 in 15,000 chance that in passing it will enter a gravitational keyhole that will alter it's trajectory, putting it on a course where it would collide with the Earth in 2036.
Apophis is about 1000 feet wide, not big enough to cause the end of life as we know it on Earth, but certainly large enough that a collision with our ocean would set off cataclysmic tsunamis around the world which would dwarf the tsunami that hit on Christmas, 2003. It would most likely kill people in the hundreds of thousands and cause hundreds of billions of dollars worth of property damage. The good news is that we would only need to alter the asteroid's trajectory by half a mile by 2029 to completely eradicate any posibility of a planetary collision, something well within the reach of current technology. However, if we wait until 2029 and it turns out that apophis does end up on a collision course with the Earth in 2036, we would need to move the asteroid's trajectory about 8,000 miles, which basically means that we're boned.
There's no need to act right away. By 2013, we'll have more precise data about apophis' trajectory and in all likelihood once we do that we'll be able to rule out any collision scenario whatsoever. However, if 2013 comes and we can't rule out that scenario, then should NASA scrap its other priorities and focus on diverting the orbital path of apophis and potentially saving the planet from a catastrophe, even if there's only a 1 in 15,000 chance that it will hit the Earth?
Here's a link to the story.
Apophis is about 1000 feet wide, not big enough to cause the end of life as we know it on Earth, but certainly large enough that a collision with our ocean would set off cataclysmic tsunamis around the world which would dwarf the tsunami that hit on Christmas, 2003. It would most likely kill people in the hundreds of thousands and cause hundreds of billions of dollars worth of property damage. The good news is that we would only need to alter the asteroid's trajectory by half a mile by 2029 to completely eradicate any posibility of a planetary collision, something well within the reach of current technology. However, if we wait until 2029 and it turns out that apophis does end up on a collision course with the Earth in 2036, we would need to move the asteroid's trajectory about 8,000 miles, which basically means that we're boned.
There's no need to act right away. By 2013, we'll have more precise data about apophis' trajectory and in all likelihood once we do that we'll be able to rule out any collision scenario whatsoever. However, if 2013 comes and we can't rule out that scenario, then should NASA scrap its other priorities and focus on diverting the orbital path of apophis and potentially saving the planet from a catastrophe, even if there's only a 1 in 15,000 chance that it will hit the Earth?
Here's a link to the story.
