Russia going to save us all?

[Jaaa!&]

MOSCOW – Russia's space agency chief said Wednesday a spacecraft may be dispatched to knock a large asteroid off course and reduce the chances of earth impact, even though U.S. scientists say such a scenario is unlikely.

 

Anatoly Perminov told Golos Rossii radio the space agency would hold a meeting soon to assess a mission to Apophis. He said his agency might eventually invite NASA, the European Space Agency, the Chinese space agency and others to join the project.

 

When the 270-meter (885-foot) asteroid was first discovered in 2004, astronomers estimated its chances of smashing into Earth in its first flyby, in 2029, at 1-in-37.

 

Further studies have ruled out the possibility of an impact in 2029, when the asteroid is expected to come no closer than 18,300 miles (29,450 kilometers) from Earth's surface, but they indicated a small possibility of a hit on subsequent encounters.

[=FIA=Chaotic]

MOSCOW – Russia's space agency chief said Wednesday a spacecraft may be dispatched to knock a large asteroid off course and reduce the chances of earth impact, even though U.S. scientists say such a scenario is unlikely.

 

Anatoly Perminov told Golos Rossii radio the space agency would hold a meeting soon to assess a mission to Apophis. He said his agency might eventually invite NASA, the European Space Agency, the Chinese space agency and others to join the project.

 

When the 270-meter (885-foot) asteroid was first discovered in 2004, astronomers estimated its chances of smashing into Earth in its first flyby, in 2029, at 1-in-37.

 

Further studies have ruled out the possibility of an impact in 2029, when the asteroid is expected to come no closer than 18,300 miles (29,450 kilometers) from Earth's surface, but they indicated a small possibility of a hit on subsequent encounters.

 

 

 

Not too worried about it... when the time comes we'll see a massive fireball streak across the sky for a good couple of days or maybe even a week (like the tiny hale bop comet back in, oh 97-99?) but there really isn't much one can do to prepare for it in case it did hit. The sun would be blotted out by the dust cloud for months, maybe a couple of years.... maybe if you lived in an underground nuke bunker with around five years worth of dried provisions you might be ok. If I knew it were going to hit, I would hope it would land on me rofl.... because trying to survive the aftermath would really suck beyond comprehension.

 

Ridiculous as it sounds there are groups of people already preparing for the possibility... heck there's a group of people convinced that the end will happen in 2012 in some manner and they're holding a lottery to see who will be 'saved' http://www.instituteforhumancontinuity.org/#/about

 

However, a buddy once told me on another forum 'Enjoy your day in the sun & stop worrying about when it will end' - rock on!

[PHANTASM]

Interesting...

 

The Russian Space Agency is notoriously secretive (like NASA), so there may be other details we don't know about. Hard to say. The Russians take space very seriously. 18000 miles is not far at all, that's less than the circumference of the earth. If we got hit everything would die.

 

 

I wish them luck. Hope they bring Bruce Willis along.

[Connection]

most of the articles i found were simple repeats of the briep AP release, some with an added dash of catch-phrases and 2012ish buzz words.

 

at least at space.com they talked to an expert in the field before posting news:

 

space.com story on Apophis vs. Russia

 

good for russia. they have been the real world leaders in this - oh sure NASA's NEO survey is great, but as far as actual plans to do anything, well, there's the ESA's upcoming don quixote mission..

 

http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/NEO/SEMZRZNVGJE_0.html

 

but not much else. as the guy in the space.com article suggested, i think it's about time we sent a craft out and started studying what really works and what doesn't to deflect an asteroid.

 

too bad the US is too busy starting wars to pay attention to the climate or the solar system =\

[Desu]

asteoid? isnt it a comet named apophis...

[kobajagi]

pics or it didnt happend

[PHANTASM]

This asteroid is a good practice run to defend earth in the future. I support the Russians in their endeavor, I wish my country had different priorities. We give hundreds of billions to mismanaged corporations but cut funding for schools, hospitals, and space programs.

[Connection]

asteoid? isnt it a comet named apophis...

 

no, definitely an asteroid.

 

although there really isn't alot of difference between an asteroid and a comet, come to think of it. we're just picking different names for chunks of stuff floating around space, according to their orbits and relative concentrations of different types of matter.

 

definitions vary, but for the most part if it's mainly ice, it's a comet. if it's mainly rock/metal, it's an asteroid.

 

HERE is a pretty good comparison.