Meteor

[dtel]

I knew they didn't really have a clue about things flying around out there like they claim ! []

http://news.yahoo.com/russian-meteor-blast-bigger-thought-nasa-says-234920189.html

The meteor that exploded over Russia Friday was slightly larger than previously thought and more powerful, too, NASA scientists say.

The Russian meteor explosion over the city of Chelyabinsk, on Friday (Feb. 15), injured more than 1,000 people and blew out windows across the region in a massive blast captured on cameras by frightened witnesses. Friday afternoon, NASA scientists estimated the meteor was space rock about 50 feet (15 meters) and sparked a blast equivalent of a 300-kiloton explosion. The energy estimate was later increased to 470 kilotons.

But late Friday, NASA revised its estimates on the size and power of the devastating meteor explosion. The meteor's size is now thought to be slightly larger — about 55 feet (17 m) wide — with the power of the blast estimate of about 500 kilotons, 30 kilotons higher than before, NASA officials said in a statement. [See video of the intense meteor explosion]

The meteor was also substantially more massive than thought as well. Initial estimated pegged the space rock's mass at about 7,000 tons. Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., now say the meteor weighed about 10,000 tons and was travelling 40,000 mph (64,373 km/h) when it exploded.

"These new estimates were generated using new data that had been collected by five additional infrasound stations located around the world - the first recording of the event being in Alaska, over 6,500 kilometers away from Chelyabinsk," JPL officials explained in the statement. The infrasound stations detect low-frequency sound waves that accompany exploding meteors, known as bolides.

The meteor entered Earth's atmosphere and blew apart over Chelyabinsk at 10:20 p.m. EST on Feb. 14 (03:20:26 GMT on Feb. 15). The meteor briefly outshined the sun during the event, which occurred just hours before a larger space rock — the 150-foot-wide (45 meters) asteroid 2012 DA14 — zoomed by Earth in an extremely close flyby.

Asteroid 2012 DA14 approached within 17,200 miles (27,000 kilometers) of Earth Friday, but never posed an impact threat to the planet. The asteroid flyby and Russian meteor explosion had significantly different trajectories, showing that they were completely unrelated events, NASA officials said.

Late Friday, another fireball was spotted over the San Francisco Bay Area in California. That event, also unrelated, occurred at about 7:45 p.m. PST (10:45 p.m. EST/0345 Feb. 16 GMT) and lit up the nighttime sky. Aside from the unexpected light show, the fireball over San Francisco had little other effect.

NASA scientists said the Russian meteor event, however, is a rare occurrence. Not since 1908, when a space rock exploded over Russia's Tunguska River in Siberia and flattened 825 square miles (2,137 square km) of uninhabited forest land, has a meteor event been so devastating.

"We would expect an event of this magnitude to occur once every 100 years on average," Paul Chodas of NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office at JPL said. "When you have a fireball of this size we would expect a large number of meteorites to reach the surface and in this case there were probably some large ones."

According to the Associated Press, search teams have recovered small objects that might be meteorite fragments and divers are searching the bottom of a lake where a meteorite is thought to have landed.

[oscarsear]

If this same rock had come in perpendicular to the planet it would have been a lot worse. It would have traversed less atmosphere and it would have increased its velocity due to gravity. Less resistance and more speed and a brick wall to hit head-on. If something like that hit the deep ocean - yikes.

[derrickdj1]

We may need these people:

[oldmako]

Last I read said 45 feet across traveling at 40,000mph.

Imagine two SOLID semi trailers side by side at 40,000 mph. That's a hell of a lot of energy!

[sunburnwilly]

Rivernuggets, that is awesome!!! what is up with the dashboard cams???

Link to an Autoblog article .

http://www.autoblog.com/2013/02/19/why-do-russian-drivers-have-so-many-dash-cams/#continued

[Mallette]

Read yesterday in the Houston Communist that the Russians are proposing to spend several billion on a deep space tracking network. IMHO, this should be an international project with resources provided as required to ensure WAY early warning of all but those rocks whose detection represent diminished returns.

We all have a lot to lose sitting here with blinders on knowing more are on the way and doing nothing. We have the technology and should not have to face that question of "Why didn't we do anything?"

Dave

[ZAKO]

Mallette,,,,We do not have the technoligy to stop a meteor OF THAT SIZE moving at 40,000 mph

[Mallette]

Please state your sources, Maron. I've read none who have any real credibility or knowledge who say that.

The scientists at the Lunar and Planetary Institute here in Houston where my wife works beg to differ, and that is precisely the target size the Planetary Resources group plans to bring into orbit within a decade for mining. A half century ago the total liftoff weight of an Apollo ship was 2300 tons. That's liftoff FROM EARTH. Those engines would have been enough to vector a planetoid many times larger than this little 7,000 ton rock if strapped on far enough out in space. Do the math...

We have the technology to vector or capture (some would be valuable to capture for the resources) rocks several times that size with adequate warning, what we don't have is the hardware since we abandoned space.

However, it's readily re-developed for a variety of profitable purposes aside from this and several companies are doing so as we speak. This just happens to be one where it should be a governmental effort. We spend trillions on defense for a nuclear holocaust that may or may not happen.

Why shouldn't we spend money to prevent a catastrophe we KNOW will happen? Why is it one hears so much "It can't be done..." without evidence? Whatever happened to the American attitude of "There is NOTHING we can't do?"

Dave

[oldtimer]

The Houston Communist? lmao. I agree with you the technology is available to protect ourselves from extinction by outside interference. Where are the Russians getting the money? Far thinking for sure but pity the populace in the meantime.

Read yesterday in the Houston Communist that the Russians are proposing to spend several billion on a deep space tracking network. IMHO, this should be an international project with resources provided as required to ensure WAY early warning of all but those rocks whose detection represent diminished returns.

We all have a lot to lose sitting here with blinders on knowing more are on the way and doing nothing. We have the technology and should not have to face that question of "Why didn't we do anything?"

Dave

[oldtimer]

We have a chronicle here too but I call it the Chronic Record...

Nothing beats Jenkins calling the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram the "light and shopper" though.

[Boxx]

We have a chronicle here too but I call it the Chronic Record...

Nothing beats Jenkins calling the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram the "light and shopper" though.

We generally refer to the Ft. Worth paper as the Fort Worth "Startlegram."

[oldtimer]

Yeah I know but Dan Jenkins' light and shopper sums it up so much better and from a ft. worth native, TCU grad.

[oldtimer]

Don't forget the Dallas Morning Snooze either.

[Mallette]

Houston Communist is a fond cut. They do lean a bit left of most Texans, but I love a real, paper newspaper and realize that day is almost done. I've started my day with coffee and paper for decades and "Today" or the Faux News Channel just doesn't cut it for me.

Hope they last my time.

I hope we've laid to rest the "We don't have the technology..." myth. If we could lift 2300 tons of dead weight to orbit half a century ago, seems reasonble we could push 10 times or more that wait around in zero g pretty much at will.

If there is a problem, it's the "will." We'll probably weight until a few million souls are lost and trillions in damage done to the world economy before anybody asks "Why did we do NOTHING?"

Dave

[ZAKO]

A few million souls here,,A few million souls there,,,Crap !!!! Hitler and Stahlin did better than that,,

[Zen Traveler]

...If there is a problem, it's the "will." We'll probably weight until a few million souls are lost and trillions in damage done to the world economy before anybody asks "Why did we do NOTHING?"

I dunno...In the whole scheme of thing which is going to cost us more Climate Change or the chance of being hit by a meteor and which party in government wants to spend more on these issues? [^o)]

Our Congress seems to have problems on what is important NOW in the budget and maybe the answer is we should be like the Russians and all get dash-cams [li]...[~] [au].

[oldtimer]

Dash cams with guns mounted to them. Dash cam-guns.

[ZAKO]

We shouldnt be worried about if the SKY is FALLING,,and worry about whos got a target pinned to our kids back in school..

[Mallette]

We shouldnt be worried about if the SKY is FALLING,,and worry about whos got a target pinned to our kids back in school..

A well placed meteor will cure that problem...

Dave

[Mallette]

I posted this today to the Chris Lewicki and PRInc, blog:

Whole thing looks like a HUGE opportunity for PRInc. The technology you guys are working towards is very much related to the need for planetary defense. In another forum, in response to a post I made about the need for a unified international program to monitor deep space and develop technology to intercept and redirect these rocks when required (NERVA would be perfect for this...) one average skeptic said "What we really need to do is do something about the big targets painted on our school children's back." I responded: "Don't worry about it. One good sized asteroid hit in the right place would solve all our problems, including that one."

Do I lay awake nights worrying over such things. No. However, as our HSE VP is prone to say "If it CAN happen, it WILL happen."

Since there is so much collateral gain to be made from that which we, as a species, should and can address, I'd hope you guys use "enlightened self interest" to be a part of this clear and present need.

Instead of waiting in our cave for the saber tooth tiger to come and devour us, we should make and sharpen our spears to intercept and make it useful in the form of meat and clothing. No telling what resources of value were in that Russian rock which we might have simply intercepted as a "target of opportunity" and nudged into orbit for exploiting.

Dave