Wednesday, May 03, 2006

What if?

A newly discovered asteroid (NEO, near-earth object) has stirred up some concern today that the earth could be struck by an 800-meter piece of space debris on June 21, 2008.

The odds are very low, 1 in 6 million right now, but new info aquired in the next day or two will either raise or lower the odds of 2006 HZ51 hitting home. I know people who have won the lottery at less-likely odds.

If it hits us, there will be next to nothing we can do about it. Neither the technology, nor the procedure, is in place to deal with such an event as early as 2008. It's not nearly as big as the dinosaur-killer 65 million years ago (which was 6-8 miles in diameter) but a tsunami formed by an ocean impact could obliterate coastal cities worldwide.

So my question is, if after further study, they find that the object is LIKELY to strike the earth, will we even be told? Imagine the world-wide hysteria.

Happy Wednesday!

6 comments:

Blogarita said...

I can always count on you to brighten my day and calm my inner turmoil. Thanks.

Holly {ArtistMotherTeacher} said...

This is why I'm glad I don't live on the coast.

Bob said...

What? They can't just send up some oil drilling guys to destroy it??

Fantastagirl said...

and I was having such a good day...thanks!

Chris Cope said...

One can only hope that it will hit Detroit.

StringMan said...

Two words: Jack Bauer.