Thursday, December 23, 2004

Asteroid May Hit Earth On Friday, April 13, 2029,

Origionally observed at Kitt Peak, near Tucson, Arizona, the Asteriod should have better odds then stated since it would hit on Friday the 13th. [Isn't that how things like this work... we're all doomed!]
ABC News: Scientist: Asteroid May Hit Earth in 2029LOS ANGELES Dec 23, 2004 — There's a 1-in-300 chance that a recently discovered asteroid, believed to be about 1,300 feet long, could hit Earth in 2029, a NASA scientist said Thursday, but he added that the perceived risk probably will be eliminated once astronomers get more detail about its orbit. There have been only a limited number of sightings of Asteroid 2004 MN4, which has been given an initial rating of 2 on the 10-point Torino Impact Hazard Scale used by astronomers to predict asteroid or comet impacts, said Donald Yeomans, manager of the Near Earth Object Program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. No previously observed asteroid has been graded higher than 1. On Friday, April 13, 2029, "we can't yet rule out an Earth impact," Yeomans said. "But the impact probability, as we call it, is 300-to-1 against an impact."

No comments: