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Topic: X marks the smear: If we survive 2029-04-29 then 2880-12-16 is the big one (Read 534 times) |
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Hermit
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X marks the smear: If we survive 2029-04-29 then 2880-12-16 is the big one
« on: 2006-12-01 20:53:43 » |
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Asteroid Can Collide With Earth in 2029
Source: MosNews
Authors: Not Credited (AFP)
Dated: 2006-11-02
An asteroid could collide with the Earth in 2029, a Sergey Smirnov, a senior researcher at the Pulkovo Space Observatory, told a press conference in Moscow on Thursday, Interfax news agency reports.
On April 13, 2029 the asteroid Apofiz-99942 will be at its closest distance to the Earth for 200 years, Smirnov said.
The asteroid will pass the Earth at a distance of 30,000 to 40,000 km. “This crosses the geo-stationary orbit, where all the telecommunications and a lot of military satellites are,” he said.
Whatever happens, the Earth will feel the effect of the asteroid, and in the worst case, it will collide with the Earth, and at best it will damage equipment in space in the geo-stationary orbit.
Russia Space Agency Says Can Repulse Asteroids Threatening Earth
Source: MosNews
Authors: Not Credited (AFP)
Dated: 2006-10-25
Russia is prepared to repel asteroids to save Earth “if necessary,” deputy head of the Russian space agency Viktor Remishevsky reportedly said.
“If necessary, Russia’s rocket-manufacturing complex can create the means in space to repulse asteroids threatening Earth,” Remishevsky told the Itar-Tass news agency, without giving further details.
The official stressed that saving Earth from the threat of asteroids demanded international cooperation, AFP said.
“Above all, space research institutions, telescopes, and the infrastructure of the Russian Academy of Sciences should warn about the threat of asteroids falling to Earth,” Remishevsky said.
According to Russia’s Institute of Applied Astronomy, about 400 asteroids and over 30 comets currently present a potential threat to the planet.
The institute’s specialists are particularly concerned about an asteroid known as Number 2907, a kilometer-wide chunk of space rock that they believe “with a large degree of certainty” will strike the Earth on December 16, 2880, AFP added.
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With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion. - Steven Weinberg, 1999
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Bass
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Re:X marks the smear: If we survive 2029-04-29 then 2880-12-16 is the big one
« Reply #1 on: 2006-12-03 15:02:03 » |
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Hermit,
My take here is that it's only natural for a body as large as the earth in rotation around this class of star would be presented with foriegn body collision threats. Such happenings are the occurance of the last 4 billion years of this planet's existance. Collisions are relatively commonplace when relative to the expanded picture. We, as a intellegent species must be vigilant in our approach to apocalyptic disasters. I, am relatively secure when the 2029 asteroid issue is debated. The danger according to the scientific minds that I have studied predict a minimal impact danger, although long term effects are viable. Adapting to our ever changing enviorment is a responsibility we must confront and handle adequately. 2880, you say? This has no effect on me whatsoever. It is not an imperitive issue. I believe the species will either have annihilated itself, died out, or otherwise will evaluate the situation and deal with it in an effective manner. My suggestion: Place observation on the former, misplace the latter. While this issue is a strike for worry, there are other issues that pose a much larger threat.
regards
Bass
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Hermit
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Re:X marks the smear: If we survive 2029-04-29 then 2880-12-16 is the big one
« Reply #2 on: 2006-12-03 16:56:12 » |
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[Hermit] whatever does this mean?
[Bass] We, as a intellegent species must be vigilant in our approach to apocalyptic disasters.
[Hermit] See the Hawkin thread coming right up. The difficulty is to differentiate between the urgent and the important. If we do not consider ourselves to be significant, if our genes, our hopes and our aspirations don't matter, then we don't need to be in space. Given that I think we have nearly blown the opportunity, perhaps mankind has already decided that he is too unimportant, insignificant and not worth preserving to be worth bothering about?
[Hermit] Here is one of my favorite quotes of all time:
"For surely it is folly to preach to children who will be riding rockets to the moon a morality and cosmology based on concepts of the Good Society and of man's place in nature that were coined before the harnessing of the horse! And the world is now far too small, and men's stake in sanity too great, for any more of those old games of Chosen Folk (whether of Jehovah, Allah, Wotan, Manu, or the Devil) by which tribesmen sustained themselves against their enemies in the days when the serpent could still talk." -- Joseph Campbell, from "The Masks of God: Primitive Mythology"
[Hermit] Yet guess which persists?
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With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion. - Steven Weinberg, 1999
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Bass
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Re:X marks the smear: If we survive 2029-04-29 then 2880-12-16 is the big one
« Reply #3 on: 2006-12-03 21:01:33 » |
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Quote:[Hermit] whatever does this mean?
[Bass] We, as a intellegent species must be vigilant in our approach to apocalyptic disasters.
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I was stating the disasters happen all the time in the big picture time frame. We, as an intellegent species wants to survive and to do so we must be quick in analysis, interpretation, and desicion when it comes to threatining disasters.
I will hold that we need not worry about the 2880 threat, perhasps misplace was to strong a word. File the info, and let future generations deal with future problems.
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Hermit
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Re:X marks the smear: If we survive 2029-04-29 then 2880-12-16 is the big one
« Reply #4 on: 2006-12-03 21:12:10 » |
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[Bass] We, as a intellegent species must be vigilant in our approach to apocalyptic disasters.
[Hermit] whatever does this mean?
[Bass] I was stating the disasters happen all the time in the big picture time frame. We, as an intellegent species wants to survive and to do so we must be quick in analysis, interpretation, and desicion when it comes to threatining disasters.
[Hermit] I thought so :-)
[Hermit] The trouble is that we haven't bothered to get our eggs out of the basket we are busy destroying. Neither have we planned for any of the easily forseen disasters that could overtake our planet. So even if an "apocalyptic disasters" were seen approaching at a speed when there might be some possible response had we planned for it, we have no arrows in our armory. Being vigilant is no help when no helpful response is possible.
Regards
Hermit
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With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion. - Steven Weinberg, 1999
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Bass
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Re:X marks the smear: If we survive 2029-04-29 then 2880-12-16 is the big one
« Reply #5 on: 2006-12-05 16:13:06 » |
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I was more saying that this was our responsibility as a intellegent species. I never said we would take the responsibility. I have very low expectations when it comes to the human race as you might already know.
I'm not so worried about asteroids. However, if we had a choice between the two (and if it were even possible), I'd much rather have the sun go supernova. Could you imagine what would happen if the sun actually went supernova?
http://www.nagt.org/files/nagt/jge/abstracts/Dutch_v53n1.pdf
Quote:Originally said by Atronomer Steven Dutch
Supernova explosions are so enormous that their scale is difficult to imagine. Thought experiments and simple calculations involving the Sun going supernova can help with visualization. The energy flux would be roughly equivalent to having the entire earth's nuclear arsenal detonated a kilometer away, and would be sufficient to boil away the surface at hundreds of meters per second. Even on the temporarily protected night side, scattered light in the atmosphere and light reflected from interplanetary dust would far exceed normal sunlight, and radiation reflected from the moon would heat the earth to lethal temperatures if the moon were near full. The earth would take at most a few days to vaporize. Fortunately, the sun is not massive enough to become a supernova. Supernova explosions occur only in short lived stars, so that the melancholy science fiction theme of a civilization being incinerated by its own sun is very unlikely to happen in reality.
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Interesting stuff when you think about it.
Regards
Bass
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