http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g6fIS_34_CxE8-vcC5GvbjD4MIOQ
German schoolboy, 13, corrects NASA's asteroid figures: paper
10 hours ago
BERLIN (AFP) - A 13-year-old German schoolboy corrected NASA's estimates
on
the chances of an asteroid colliding with Earth, a German newspaper
re****ted
Tuesday, after spotting the boffins had miscalculated.
Nico Marquardt used telescopic findings from the Institute of Astrophysics
in Potsdam (AIP) to calculate that there was a 1 in 450 chance that the
Apophis asteroid will collide with Earth, the Potsdamer Neuerster
Nachrichten re****ted.
NASA had previously estimated the chances at only 1 in 45,000 but told its
sister organisation, the European Space Agency (ESA), that the young
whizzkid had got it right.
The schoolboy took into consideration the risk of Apophis running into one
or more of the 40,000 satellites orbiting Earth during its path close to
the
planet on April 13 2029.
Those satellites travel at 3.07 kilometres a second (1.9 miles), at up to
35,880 kilometres above earth -- and the Apophis asteroid will pass by
earth
at a distance of 32,500 kilometres.
If the asteroid strikes a satellite in 2029, that will change its
trajectory
making it hit earth on its next orbit in 2036.
Both NASA and Marquardt agree that if the asteroid does collide with
earth,
it will create a ball of iron and iridium 320 metres (1049 feet) wide and
weighing 200 billion tonnes, which will crash into the Atlantic Ocean.
The shockwaves from that would create huge tsunami waves, destroying both
coastlines and inland areas, whilst creating a thick cloud of dust that
would darken the skies indefinitely.
The 13-year old made his discovery as part of a regional science
competition
for which he submitted a project entitled: "Apophis -- The Killer
Astroid."
Better start developing some survival plan and counter measurements plan,
just in case ! ;)
Bye,
Skybuck.
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