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Asteroid will zip close by Earth Thursday

Sookie

WELL KNOWN MEMBER
A newly discovered asteroid will zip close by Earth Thursday, but poses no threat of crashing into our planet even though it is passing within the orbit of the moon. The asteroid, called 2010 GA6, is a relatively small space rock about 71 feet (22 meters) wide and was discovered by astronomers with the Catalina Sky Survey in Tucson, Az. The space rock will fly when it passes Earth Thursday at 7:06 p.m. EDT (2306 GMT), but NASA astronomers said not to worry...the planet is safe. Fly bys of near-Earth objects within the moon's orbit occur every few weeks, said Don Yeomans of NASA 's Near-Earth Object Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., in a statement. At the time of its closest pass, asteroid 2010 GA6 will be about 223,000 miles (359,000 km) from the Earth. That's about nine-tenths the distance between Earth and the moon []. The space rock is not the first asteroid to swing close by Earth this year. In January, the small asteroid 2010 AL30 passed within 80,000 miles (130,000 km) when it zipped by. Other space rocks have flown past Earth at more comfortable distances greater than several hundred thousand miles. NASA routinely tracks asteroids and comets that may fly near the Earth with a network of telescopes on the ground and in space. The agency's Near-Earth Object Observations program, more commonly known as Spaceguard , is responsible for finding potentially dangerous asteroids and studying their orbits to determine if they pose a risk of hitting the Earth. NASA's latest space telescope, the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) launched in December, has been given the task of hunting that were previously undetectable because they shine only in the infrared range of the light spectrum. So far, the WISE telescope has been discovering every day. Some of those space rocks have been tagged for closer analysis since they may be potentially hazardous to Earth, WISE mission scientists have said. , Original Story:
 
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mixx

Banned
I wonder what they will do if they find out an astroid will collide with the earth. Probably won't even tell us til the last minute. They should let us know at least a few hours in advance. That way I could start RUNNING!!!
 

Mben

No Deposit Forum Administrator
Staff member
Catalina Sky Survey in Tucson, Az. That's right here where I live. We have another nationally known observatory which is the Kitt Peak National Observatory. Astronomers have found some pretty cool stuff fom that observatory also. "
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Yeah, I agree mixx. We need time to get our Nikes on! LOL
 

Mben

No Deposit Forum Administrator
Staff member
Catalina Sky Survey in Tucson, Az. That's right here where I live. We have another nationally known observatory which is the Kitt Peak National Observatory. Astronomers have found some pretty cool stuff fom that observatory also. "
"
Yeah, I agree mixx. We need time to get our Nikes on! LOL No wait, the government would just call on Bruce Willis! We're saved!
 

Mben

No Deposit Forum Administrator
Staff member
I don't know but I do know he blew himself up in Armageddon saving us from an asteroid!  
biggrin.gif
 
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