Asteroid Defense

Hhmmm... a debate about whether spending money on armageddon asteroids is a good thing or not. Pesonally, I think Earth could do with an armageddon, and start fresh all over! But thats just me.

There is no record of anything REALLY scarey hitting this planet for the last 65 million years.And for about 30 million years before that.

Don't forget, this is just a well-postulated theory, and has only a small amount of geological evidence left behind of it ever happening - a layer of iridium in the Earth's crust thats about 65 million years old, which could only have been deposited from a space rock hitting Earth.

(The asteroid which created the Berringer crater in Arizona may have squashed a few rattlesnakes,but thats about it.)

Arizona's own geological past shows that it was once forest and swamp around that time, but I am not going to split hairs on how many rattlesnakes could have been squashed! :lol:

There are more factors to include when one tries to think about the chance of being hit. The hard 'physical' evidence is the biggest. One might be forgiven to think that the extinction event of 65 million years ago was the last 'big one', but that is only because we cannot find any others. Only in recent times after the fever about dinosaur extinction theory was the Chicxulub crater in the Yucatan Penninsula in Mexico discovered. So far (because it is a new discovery), it is believed to be about 65 million years old.

I believe there are a few more candidates yet to be discovered out there. These, and even current ones when counted up, could well warrant the search money on armageddon asteroids.

Already, we have one potential nominee for that Oscar - Asteroid 99942, codenamed Apophis! Only after its close encounter with Earth in 2029 will we know the effects Earth will have on its orbital trajectory for the following pass in 2036.

Perhaps then, we will wish we had the money to do something - who knows!

Seanie

There is no record of anything REALLY scarey hitting this planet for the last 65 million years.And for about 30 million years before that.

So statistically we are probably past due a major impact??
As our sun and solar orbits the black hole at the center of our galaxy we periodically dip in and out of the galaxies disc. A 2005 Nature study shows the number of species has dropped about every 62 million years for at least the past 542 million years.
There is a strong argument that this periodic dip causes perturbations in the orbits of asteroids and comets and may be responsible for the likes of Chicxulub. By this reckoning we are 3 million years past due - time to get out the slide rules methinks.

Already, we have one potential nominee for that Oscar - Asteroid 99942, codenamed Apophis! Only after its close encounter with Earth in 2029 will we know the effects Earth will have on its orbital trajectory for the following pass in 2036.

I believe it will pass as close as 20,000 miles (that's too close for comfort)!

Check out: www.space.com/spacewatch/060629_night_sky.html
For more info on 2004 XP 14's progress through the sky, and to add more fuel to this topic.
Some good hints here also on where to look if you're not into technical ephemeris details, or if you are then check out this link also - tinyurl.com/hqkn8

By the way, the asteroid which struck with such global destruction 65 milion years ago cleared the Dinasaurs out of the way for us mammals.
We should be grateful to it.
Say thanks to it.

By the way, the asteroid which struck with such global destruction 65 milion years ago cleared the Dinasaurs out of the way for us mammals.
We should be grateful to it.
Say thanks to it.

There's no dinosaurs left to wipe out - we are now the dominant species - i.e the ones who may well be wiped out when the next one hits. So I don't think thanks will be in order!