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02/15/2013 09:08:14 AM · #26
whoa -- 725 injured from the shock wave!
02/15/2013 09:55:43 AM · #27
Originally posted by kirbic:

Originally posted by Spork99:

If NASA/JPL/Lockheed can screw up and miss an entire planet, I'm not 100% convinced they can predict a miss this time.


That's a ridiculous comparison, and I think you know it. While the loss of the Mars Climate Orbiter shone a (needed) light on project management at NASA, it bears no relation to the tracking of NEAs. The orbits of these objects are determined with incredible accuracy; the uncertainties in the orbits are well quantified, and are continually reduced by follow-up observations. By your reckoning, I suppose that the incredible precision of the Curiosity landing was a fluke.


Of course it's ridiculous.

At the same time, no one saw the meteor that fell in Russia coming.
02/15/2013 10:19:37 AM · #28
Scientists study the data. Politicians make quick press releases designed to calm the huddled masses.

Update at 9:50 a.m. ET. NASA Scientist Concurs; No Connection To Asteroid:

"The meteor explosion over Russia ... was not caused by an asteroid zooming close by the Earth today (Feb.15), a NASA scientist says. NASA asteroid expert Don Yeomans, head of the agency's Near-Earth Object Program Office, told SPACE.com that the object which exploded over a thinly inhabited stretch of eastern Europe today was most likely an exploding fireball known as a bolide."


Okay, I think it's safe to say the approaching asteroid did not CAUSE this morning's meteor explosion over Russia's Ural Mountains. But, it's too early to say the meteor was unrelated to the asteroid. Maybe the meteor was part of a swarm of rocks associated with the asteroid. Might be some behind the asteroid, too. I do understand that politicians need to calm panic. I think NASA fell into the trap of a political press release designed to calm the population. After all, it might be rational to extrapolate other meteor events, but nevermind... carry on.
02/15/2013 10:21:15 AM · #29
Originally posted by Spork99:

Originally posted by kirbic:

Originally posted by Spork99:

If NASA/JPL/Lockheed can screw up and miss an entire planet, I'm not 100% convinced they can predict a miss this time.


That's a ridiculous comparison, and I think you know it. While the loss of the Mars Climate Orbiter shone a (needed) light on project management at NASA, it bears no relation to the tracking of NEAs. The orbits of these objects are determined with incredible accuracy; the uncertainties in the orbits are well quantified, and are continually reduced by follow-up observations. By your reckoning, I suppose that the incredible precision of the Curiosity landing was a fluke.


Of course it's ridiculous.

At the same time, no one saw the meteor that fell in Russia coming.


Because it was pretty small in the scheme of things. They don't bother tracking things that small.
02/15/2013 10:39:43 AM · #30
Meteorites are small asteroids that fall through the earth's atmosphere. Like the one that hit Russia.

Asteroids are the larger rocks like the one that's going to pass close-by later this evening. And generally there's so much space between the asteroids in the main belt that I find it remarkable that a smaller rock hits earth a matter of hours before a much larger rock passes close by.

Was it just coincidence that the smaller rock happened to be on roughly the same orbit as the larger rock, but was otherwise totally unrelated to it. Or could it be the case that the smaller rock was a fragment of the larger rock that had been pulled away from it by earth's gravity?

Surely it won't cause mass panic, I mean we know the larger rock won't hit us - But if there are smaller rocks accompanying it it would be at least worth researching for any future events.
02/15/2013 10:53:01 AM · #31
From what (little) I currently know of this event, the meteor over Russia today was not in the same or similar orbit as 2012 DA14. The 2012 DA14 object is approaching from the south, and the Russian meteor crossed the far northern hemisphere. I'm sure we'll hear more regarding the Russian meteor's track. they have so much video that its direction of entry into the atmosphere will be known with some confidence.
02/15/2013 11:17:43 AM · #32
This is the best compilation I've seen which edits together a number of sources in an almost movie fashion, but it shows some of the blast effect.
02/15/2013 11:29:56 AM · #33
Originally posted by spiritualspatula:

Originally posted by vawendy:

Originally posted by JH:

I'm surprised I haven't read about a possible link between the Russian meteorites and the nearby asteroid. I mean, surely it's possible that the meteorites in Russia were small pieces of rock from the asteroid that were in the same orbit?


NASA says no.


Tinfoil hats say yes. :)

If by "Yes" you mean North Korea.
02/15/2013 11:33:42 AM · #34
Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the nationalist leader noted for vehement statements, said "It's not meteors falling, it's the test of a new weapon by the Americans," the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

I love how that is the last sentence of the article. I almost missed it... link
02/15/2013 11:36:51 AM · #35
Originally posted by bohemka:

Originally posted by spiritualspatula:

Originally posted by vawendy:

Originally posted by JH:

I'm surprised I haven't read about a possible link between the Russian meteorites and the nearby asteroid. I mean, surely it's possible that the meteorites in Russia were small pieces of rock from the asteroid that were in the same orbit?


NASA says no.


Tinfoil hats say yes. :)

If by "Yes" you mean North Korea.


Well, that's okay. Those kind North Koreans were just testing their anti-asteroid defense system a few days ago, so we should be fine. All we need is that, Aerosmith, and Bruce Willis and we'll totally be fine.
02/15/2013 12:51:43 PM · #36
Originally posted by vawendy:

Originally posted by Spork99:

Originally posted by kirbic:

Originally posted by Spork99:

If NASA/JPL/Lockheed can screw up and miss an entire planet, I'm not 100% convinced they can predict a miss this time.


That's a ridiculous comparison, and I think you know it. While the loss of the Mars Climate Orbiter shone a (needed) light on project management at NASA, it bears no relation to the tracking of NEAs. The orbits of these objects are determined with incredible accuracy; the uncertainties in the orbits are well quantified, and are continually reduced by follow-up observations. By your reckoning, I suppose that the incredible precision of the Curiosity landing was a fluke.


Of course it's ridiculous.

At the same time, no one saw the meteor that fell in Russia coming.


Because it was pretty small in the scheme of things. They don't bother tracking things that small.


They track orbiting junk that's much smaller.

If it scared the crap out of you and blew out your windows, you wouldn't be saying it's small.
02/15/2013 01:44:25 PM · #37
Originally posted by vawendy:

whoa -- 725 injured from the shock wave!

Mostly because when they heard the explosion people rushed outside to see what was going on, and were hit by flying glass. Haven't these people heard of "duck and cover" ...?
02/15/2013 02:00:05 PM · #38
Watch the livestream flyby! NASA
02/15/2013 02:02:07 PM · #39
Originally posted by colorcarnival:

Watch the livestream flyby! NASA


haha!!! I was just coming to post it!!
02/15/2013 02:28:04 PM · #40
hmmm -- this morning's meteor was a nice little chunk:

nice little chunk

Message edited by author 2013-02-15 14:28:29.
02/15/2013 03:40:56 PM · #41
Originally posted by vawendy:

Originally posted by colorcarnival:

Watch the livestream flyby! NASA


haha!!! I was just coming to post it!!


They didn't do too bad. It was good for NASA to get some PR.
02/15/2013 04:29:26 PM · #42
A miss by 17500 miles sounds like a lot, but relative to the scale of things, this is like getting shot at, missed and finding a hole in the loose part of your shirt after getting home.
02/15/2013 04:54:37 PM · #43
Originally posted by Spork99:

A miss by 17500 miles sounds like a lot, but relative to the scale of things, this is like getting shot at, missed and finding a hole in the loose part of your shirt after getting home.


That's a darn good analogy! When we consider that that it skimmed well within the orbits of the satellites we use for communications (in geostationary orbits at an altitude of about 22,300 miles), it's a very near miss.
02/15/2013 05:21:45 PM · #44
Originally posted by vawendy:

hmmm -- this morning's meteor was a nice little chunk:

nice little chunk

Some other places which appear to be at the same latitude as the meteorite impact (as they say, timing is everything):
Moscow (Russia, not Idaho)
Riga, Latvia
Copenhagen, Denmark
Glasgow, Scotland
Juneau, Alaska
02/28/2013 01:52:07 PM · #45
Got this email today:

Originally posted by NASA Earth Observatory:


Thirty-two will vie for the title, but only one can be the winner. They are the best Earth images of the year, the top 32 from 2012. But which ones will be good enough to survive head-to-head competition? From March 4 through April 5, Earth Observatory readers can vote for their favorite images of the year, whittling the total from 32 to 16 to 8 to 4 to 2 in a tournament of remote sensing science. The competition will be stiff in the four brackets — Earth at Night, Events, Data, and True-Color — so it is up to you to separate the winners from the losers. Come back each week to vote in the next round and help us choose a winner.

It's Earth Madness.

Voting starts Monday, March 4, so print a copy of the bracket, fill it out, and get that workplace pool going. Come back every Monday to vote and watch the results.

//earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Madness/?src=eoa-ann

--
Kevin Ward
NASA's Earth Observatory
kevin.a.ward@nasa.gov

//earthobservatory.nasa.gov/
//neo.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/


Message edited by author 2013-02-28 13:52:32.
03/06/2013 05:02:40 PM · #46
Check out the new remote-controlled camera on the ISS.

Voting is open for the photo-of-the-year contest (see previous post).
03/07/2013 12:24:06 PM · #47
Comet Pan-STARR visible tonight with naked eye
03/08/2013 02:09:22 PM · #48
Solar Wind Energy Source Discovered
Originally posted by Linked Article:

The answer, it turns out, has been hiding in a dataset from one of NASA's oldest active spacecraft, a solar probe named Wind.

Launched in 1994, Wind is so old that it uses magnetic tapes similar to old-fashioned 8-track tapes to record and play back its data.
03/08/2013 02:30:03 PM · #49
Originally posted by GeneralE:

Solar Wind Energy Source Discovered
Originally posted by Linked Article:

The answer, it turns out, has been hiding in a dataset from one of NASA's oldest active spacecraft, a solar probe named Wind.

Launched in 1994, Wind is so old that it uses magnetic tapes similar to old-fashioned 8-track tapes to record and play back its data.


Interesting article, thanks for sharing
03/21/2013 01:50:43 PM · #50
Last day to vote for the Final Four for satellite photo of the year ...
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