Happy Near Miss Day!
Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico |
19 years ago, March 23, 1989, Apollo asteroid 4581 Asclepius passed within 700,000 km (400,000 miles) of Earth, passing through the exact position the Earth was only six hours before.
Had it impacted, it would have generated an explosion thousands of times more powerful than the most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated. So let’s not forget the importance of projects like the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, which search the skies, keeping an eye on the Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) that could reset the human race back to the Stone Age in the blink of an eye.
Wow. That is pretty damn close. I wonder what Gene Ray of TimeCube.com would say about that, because 6 divides into 24 4 times. You are educated evil.
Comment by Clint — March 23, 2008 @ 8:58 pm
Holy Shit! I had no idea there was such a close call. When did we actually notice it?
Comment by Sour Swinger — March 23, 2008 @ 9:56 pm
And then the next day?
I was born.
Behold. Your savior.
Comment by Nick Hamden — March 23, 2008 @ 10:24 pm
It sounds like they noticed it almost immediately and over estimated how close it came originally. Unfortunately, the asteroids that are heading right for us are the hardest to see.
Comment by ideonexus — March 24, 2008 @ 11:37 pm
Darn it ryan, why didnt you just also acknowledge my birthday? bah :P (3-24-89, woo youngins)
Comment by Nick Hamden — March 25, 2008 @ 12:18 am
Whoa, I feel old.
Comment by Carolyn — March 25, 2008 @ 5:04 pm
Happy Belated Birthday Nicko! : )
Comment by ideonexus — March 25, 2008 @ 9:21 pm