Nasa will cover today’s asteroid flyby live on NASA-TV. Probably around 11:24 a.m. our time.
- ITEM 1 – ASTEROID 2012 DA14 TO WHIZ PAST EARTH SAFELY — UPDATE
The small near-Earth asteroid 2012 DA14 will pass very close to Earth on Feb. 15, 2013. Asteroid 2012 DA14 will be closest to Earth at about 11:24 a.m. PST (2:24 p.m. EST and 1924 UTC), on Feb. 15, when it will be at a distance of about 27,700 kilometers (17,200 miles) above Earth’s surface. NASA’s Near-Earth Object Program Office can accurately predict the asteroid’s path with the observations obtained, and it is therefore known that there is no chance that the asteroid might be on a collision course with Earth. Nevertheless, the flyby will provide a unique opportunity for researchers to study a near-Earth object up close.
Yesterday in Siberia, what probably was a small, 10 ton piece of the same chunk of matter as the much larger DA14 slammed into the atmosphere and blew out windows all over Russia. NASA assures us DA14 will “safely” pass us. Apparently, no such guarantee applies to the evident meteoric bits and pieces that accompany the big rock on its dark journey. It’s easy to forget. Space rocks fly past our home rock all the time. A big one is going to hurt. Dance on.
Image courtesy of NASA
