When everyone made a big deal about the flyby of an asteroid 2012 DA14, I was not at all concerned. Yes, it flew as close as 17,000 miles to the planet, but it was far enough to cause any damage. Some people noted that it was a lot closer than our geostationary satellites but I don't understand why that matters. In fact if something flies right over the tallest point on the earth, the peak of Mount Everest, and causes no other damage, the distance does not matter (I realize I am making a rhetorical point because if something flies that low, it will generate a sonic boom and that can cause damage of all sorts, the way it broke glass windows in Russia).
Now since the meteor that exploded over Russia seemed to appear out of nowhere (it is clear that either no one knew about it or decided not to reveal the information), the conspiracy theorists have been having a field day speculating that it was a man-made object that crashed, most likely from the Iranians or North Koreans, who have no clue what they are doing with their weapons and are shooting all kinds of things into space.
Why is it that NASA did not track it or could not track it or decided not to disclose its entry into earth's atmosphere? We all know that United States have satellites in space that can track changes at the bottom of the ocean to an accuracy of one inch. We have other satellites that can even track movements of cars anywhere in the world with very precise location. How come we could not find such a massive meteor (10,000 tons with the explosion equivalent to 30 Hiroshima bombs), the largest to hit the planet in over a century?
The simple answer is that compared to the asteroid which measured approximately 160 feet at its longest point, the meteor was merely 7 feet long, smaller than my car. The reason it weighed 10,000 tons was because it was made of solid iron while the asteroid was made of other lighter materials. At this time, NASA does not track such small objects, though, there is no reason to be afraid. The probability that they can strike the earth is extremely low, and while such a strike will cause massive damage to a crowded metropolitan area, it is unlikely to happen to most of us. We are more likely to die after slipping and falling down in our own bathrooms.
Now since the meteor that exploded over Russia seemed to appear out of nowhere (it is clear that either no one knew about it or decided not to reveal the information), the conspiracy theorists have been having a field day speculating that it was a man-made object that crashed, most likely from the Iranians or North Koreans, who have no clue what they are doing with their weapons and are shooting all kinds of things into space.
Why is it that NASA did not track it or could not track it or decided not to disclose its entry into earth's atmosphere? We all know that United States have satellites in space that can track changes at the bottom of the ocean to an accuracy of one inch. We have other satellites that can even track movements of cars anywhere in the world with very precise location. How come we could not find such a massive meteor (10,000 tons with the explosion equivalent to 30 Hiroshima bombs), the largest to hit the planet in over a century?
The simple answer is that compared to the asteroid which measured approximately 160 feet at its longest point, the meteor was merely 7 feet long, smaller than my car. The reason it weighed 10,000 tons was because it was made of solid iron while the asteroid was made of other lighter materials. At this time, NASA does not track such small objects, though, there is no reason to be afraid. The probability that they can strike the earth is extremely low, and while such a strike will cause massive damage to a crowded metropolitan area, it is unlikely to happen to most of us. We are more likely to die after slipping and falling down in our own bathrooms.