On Apr 16, 3:45=A0am, "Skybuck Flying" <BloodySh...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> 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
o=
n
> the chances of an asteroid colliding with Earth, a German newspaper
re****t=
ed
> 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
t=
he
> 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
ear=
th
> at a distance of 32,500 kilometres.
> If the asteroid strikes a satellite in 2029, that will change its
trajecto=
ry
> 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
competiti=
on
> 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,
> =A0 Skybuck.
This could be the solution to the social security crisis.
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