Record Setting Asteroid Flyby

[Amaterasu]

Some have attributed Tunguska to a Tesla experiment that pushed energy through the planet and "popped" it there.  [shrug]  Quien sabe?

[thorfourwinds]

Earth-buzzing asteroid worth $195 billion, space miners say | Fox News

The space rock set to give Earth a historically close shave this Friday, Feb. 15, may be worth nearly $200 billion, prospective asteroid miners say.

The 150-foot-wide asteroid 2012 DA14 — which will zoom within 17,200 miles of Earth on Friday, marking the closest approach by such a large space rock that astronomers have ever known about in advance

— may harbor $65 billion of recoverable water

and $130 billion in metals,

say officials with celestial mining firm Deep Space Industries.







'While this week's visitor isn't going the right way for us to harvest it, there will be others that are.'
- Deep Space chairman Rick Tumlinson


That's just a guess, they stressed, since 2012 DA14's composition is not well known and its size is an estimate based on the asteroid's brightness.

The company has no plans to go after 2012 DA14; the asteroid's orbit is highly tilted relative to Earth, making it too difficult to chase down. But the space rock's close flyby serves to illustrate the wealth of asteroid resources just waiting to be extracted and used, Deep Space officials said. Deep Space Industries' Asteroid-Mining Vision in Photos

"While this week's visitor isn't going the right way for us to harvest it, there will be others that are, and we want to be ready when they arrive," Deep Space chairman Rick Tumlinson said in a statement Tuesday.

Deep Space Industries wants to use asteroid resources to help humanity expand its footprint out into the solar system. The company plans to convert space rock water into rocket fuel, which would be used to top up the tanks of off-Earth satellites and spaceships cheaply and efficiently.

Asteroidal metals such as iron and nickel, for their part, would form the basis of a space-based manufacturing industry that could build spaceships, human habitats and other structures off the planet.

The idea is to dramatically reduce the amount of material that needs to be launched from Earth, since it currently costs at least $10 million to send 1 ton of material to high-Earth orbit, officials said.

"Getting these supplies to serve communications satellites and coming crewed missions to Mars from in-space sources like asteroids is key if we are going to explore and settle space," Tumlinson said.

Deep Space Industries is just one of two asteroid-mining firms that have revealed their existence and intentions in the past 10 months. The other is Planetary Resources, which has financial backing from billionaires such as Google execs Larry Page and Eric Schmidt.

Deep Space aims to launch a phalanx of small, robotic prospecting probes called Fireflies in 2015. Sample-return missions to potential targets would occur shortly thereafter, with space mining operations possibly beginning around 2020.

Planetary Resources also hopes its activities open the solar system up for further and more efficient exploration. The company may launch its first low-cost prospecting space telescopes within the next year or so.

[thorfourwinds]

Asteroid 2012 DA14: 5 Surprising Facts About Friday's Earth Flyby

While there is no chance that asteroid 2012 DA14 will hit Earth this Friday, the asteroid's flyby is history-making for several other reasons.

1) This is asteroid 2012 DA14's closest pass ever.

Using intricate mapping techniques, researchers have already plotted the 150-foot space rock's trajectory far out into the future. When the asteroid flies by Earth, the planet's gravity will force the asteroid into a new orbit that won't bring it this close to the Earth for years to come.

2) Asteroids like 2012 DA14 have hit Earth before

Scientists think the "Tunguska Event" over Siberia in 1908 was caused by a 100-foot asteroid. This space rock exploded in midair, leveling trees across 825 square miles in the region.?If 2012 DA14 did enter Earth's atmosphere, it probably would react similarly — exploding above the ground and causing destruction over a wide area, but not endangering human civilization or causing other major global problems.

3) 2012 DA14 was discovered by amateur astronomers

Asteroid 2012 DA14 was discovered by a team of amateur astronomers affiliated with the La Sagra Sky Survey at the Astronomical Observatory of Mallorca in southern Spain on Feb. 23, 2012.?At the time, the asteroid was about 2.7 million miles away from Earth. After the group reported the finding, NASA and other space agency scientists began tracking the asteroid to track its path and make sure it posed no threat to the planet.

4) Its closest approach point will be over Sumatra

On Friday, when asteroid 2012 DA14 approaches within 17,200 miles of Earth, it will be over Sumatra, Indonesia at its closest point while zipping by the planet. That's just one-thirteenth the average distance from Earth to the moon.?

At its closest approach on Friday at 2:24 p.m. EST (1924 GMT), the asteroid will be 5,000 miles closer to Earth than the ring of GPS, weather and communications satellites in orbit around the planet. Still, the satellites and the planet are safe from impact, researchers say.

5) Asteroids like 2012 DA14 fly by Earth every 40 years

Based on a statistical analysis, NASA researchers have found that asteroids like 2012 DA14 only graze Earth this closely once every 40 years or so. Similar asteroids can actually hit the Earth once every 1,200 years.?Larger asteroids are even less likely to give the planet such a close shave.

NASA researchers say that their Near Earth Object Program has helped to detect and track 90 percent of the largest near-Earth asteroids, and so far none of these behemoths are known to pose an impact threat in the foreseeable future.?

NASA will also be live-streaming the flyby via a telescope at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. ET (2100 to 0200 Feb. 16 GMT) on Friday.

[thorfourwinds]

Published on Mar 7, 2012

2012 DA14 is an approximately 40 meter diameter asteroid that will make a close approach to Earth in early 2013. Contrary to some reports on the web, there is no danger of it hitting us during this encounter.

This visualization shows the trajectory of the asteroid as computed by JPL's HORIZONS ephemeris service. As more observations of the 2012 DA14 are made, the trajectory may be revised.

Space scientists at NASA have an eye on asteroid 2012 DA14. Why? The 45-meter-wide space rock is expected to come extremely close to Earth next year--on Feb. 15 to be exact--and just might take out a satellite in the process.

The asteroid will pass by satellites in geostationary orbit about 35,800 kilometers (22,245 miles) above the equator, reportedly putting a communications satellite at risk of being hit.

"That's very unlikely, but we can't rule it out," Paul Chodas, a planetary astronomer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, told National Geographic. "The orbit for 2012 DA14 is currently very Earthlike, which means it will be very close to Earth on a regular basis."

But other than the small possibility of smashing a satellite, the asteroid poses no serious threat.

It has a tiny 0.033 percent--or 1 in 3,030--chance of Earth impact, according to data on NASA's website.

[thorfourwinds]

Want to keep tabs on asteroid 2012 DA14 as it whizzes past Earth tomorrow (Feb. 15)?

NASA TV and several online astronomy outlets will be tracking this asteroid as it makes its record-setting close shave. This marks the first time there has been an asteroid of this size passing this close that we've known a year beforehand. No, there's no chance it will hit us, but it will come within 27,630 kilometers (17,168 miles) from the surface of the Earth, inside the ring of geosynchronous satellites girdling our planet Earth. It will closest to Earth at 2:25 p.m. EST (19:25 UTC).

Find out how you can watch on TV or online as this 50 meter- (164 feet-) wide space rock goes by:

NASA Television will provide commentary starting at 2 p.m. EST (11 a.m. PST, 19:00 UTC) on Friday, Feb. 15. This flyby will provide a unique opportunity for researchers to study a near-Earth object up close. You can either watch the feed below, or on your own television if you get NASA TV, or online here.

The half-hour broadcast from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., will incorporate real-time animation to show the location of the asteroid in relation to Earth, along with live or near real-time views of the asteroid from observatories in Australia, weather permitting.

If you are planning to try and observe this asteroid yourself, here's our detailed article about how to do it.


Here are other webcasts that are planned:

Virtual Telescope Project, Italy??Astronomer Gianluca Masi from the Virtual Telescope Project will provide live views of asteroid 2012 DA14 from Ceccano, Italy, beginning at 5 p.m. EST (2200 GMT). You can watch at this link.

Bareket Observatory, Israel
The Bareket Observatory in Israel will have a free live webcast of the 2012 DA14 asteroid flyby on Friday from at 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. EST (19:00 to 20:39 UTC).

Here's the link to this webcast.

"The observatory will offer a special live view of the close approach, using a remote telescope coupled with a cooled CCD camera, accessible via the Internet," said the observatory team.


Slooh Space Camera, Africa and Arizona
The Slooh Space Camera webcast will provide views of the asteroid from observatories in the Canary Islands (off the west coast of Africa) and in Arizona. They will also be viewable on iOS and Android mobile devices. Just go to the Slooh website on your device.

Slooh's webcast will begin on the 15th at 6 p.m. PST / 9 p.m. EST / 02:00 UTC (2/16). The webcasts will feature real-time commentary by Slooh Space Camera's Paul Cox, astronomer Bob Berman of Astronomy Magazine, and Matt Francis, the manager of Prescott Observatory at Embry-Riddle University in Arizona.

Here's the link to the Slooh Space Camera website.

[thorfourwinds]

Australia to have grandstand view of Asteroid 2012 DA14 and its near-miss with Earth | Space, Military and Medicine | News.com.au

IT'S 50m long, weighs 200,000 tonnes and is going to whiz close by Earth at 28,000km/h - and Aussies will have one of the best views of Asteroid 2012 DA14.

And while the scientists assure us the space rock will miss the Earth and avoid a devastating impact, we would rather not take our chances.

[thorfourwinds]

[robomont]

i agree tunguska was tesla but he used the first plasma weapon as a joke and overshot into russia.the snow flash to high pressure steam and fire over a large area because tesla couldnt focus the beam that narrow of a spot over such a long distance and thats why the area has the butterfly effect where the explosion occured.

tesla had access to large quatities of electricity during his years in colorado.
i believe that is the time period of admiral byrd north pole exploration.

i am not a believer in asteroid pre explosion.some russians say they saw a ship.some say meteor.i think they are bs.

just my opinion

that rock flying buy tomorrow is too small to mine and too dangerous to blow up.now a carbon fiber net with a space chute and high altitude chute might recover it if it can reenter safely.

[burntheships]

Meteorite Alert,

This looks to be early incoming, hitting Russia now.

[burntheships]

Event into Space, recorded by RSOE...

http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/site/?pageid=event_desc&edis_id=CO-20130215-38216-RUS

Russian officials say a meteorite has fallen in the Chelyabinsk region some 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) east of Moscow. A spokesman for the Russian Interior Ministry, Vadim Kolesnikov, said the Friday morning fall caused a blast that broke windows. There were no immediate confirmed reports of injuries, but Russian news agencies cited unnamed sources as saying several people were injured at a school in a thinly populated part of the region, which is on the eastern edge of the Ural Mountains.

[burntheships]

RT on Twitter

https://twitter.com/RT_com/status/302294424002650113



BREAKING: Urals #meteorite shot down by Russian air defense - military source http://on.rt.com/qn2v57  #Russia

Meteorite crash in Russia: UFO fears spark panic in the Urals (VIDEO,...

A series of explosions in the skies of Russia's Urals region, reportedly caused by a meteorite shower, has sparked panic in three major cities. Witnesses said that houses shuddered, windows were...

[burntheships]

[zorgon]

Meteorite Shower Hits Russia, Kazakhstan

Since when does a meteorite leave a TWIN contrail?



Sonic boom loud enough to shatter windows and shake camera man

MOSCOW, February 15 (RIA Novosti) – A meteorite shower has hit three regions of Russia, and Kazakhstan, Russian Emergencies Ministry officials confirmed on Friday morning.

In one affected Russian region, Chelyabinsk, the authorities have received numerous calls reporting injuries received as a result of the meteorite shower, and 20,000 emergency response workers have been mobilized. Background radiation levels reportedly remain unchanged.

Reports vary about whether this was one larger meteorite, or many smaller ones.

"Verified information indicates that this was one meteorite which burned up as it approached Earth and disintegrated into smaller pieces" deputy head of the Russian Emergencies Ministry press office, Elena Smirnykh said.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, speaking at the economic forum held in the neighboring Krasnoyarsk region, called the meteorite fall "a symbol of the forum."

"I hope that there will be no serious consequences, but it is a demonstration that it is not only the economy that is vulnerable, but our planet as well," he said.

Russia's nuclear agency, Rosatom, issued a statement saying its facilities across affected regions were functioning normally.

http://en.ria.ru/russia/20130215/179481049/Meteorite-Shower-Hits-Russia-Kazakhstan.html

[burntheships]

Look at this orbit, this does not look like a meteorite.


#!

[burntheships]

This looks nuclear to me, maybe its just a very bright
meteorite, with twin vapor trails that the RT says the
Russian Defense has shot it down...

WTH?