[meteorite-list] Asteroid May Hit Earth In 2019 But Don't Panic Yet

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:00:09 2004
Message-ID: <200207241624.JAA20477_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/space/07/24/asteroid.encounter.ap/index.html

Asteroid may hit Earth but don't panic yet
July 24, 2002

LONDON (AP) -- Astronomers are carefully monitoring a newly discovered
1.2-mile-wide (2 km) asteroid to see whether it is on a collision course
with Earth.

Initial calculations indicate there is a chance the asteroid - known as 2002
NT7 - will hit the Earth on February 1, 2019. But scientists said Wednesday
that the calculations are preliminary and the risk to the planet is low.

"The threat is very minimal," Donald Yeomans, of NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory in Pasadena, California, told British Broadcasting Corp. radio.
"An object of this size would be expected to hit the Earth every few million
years, and as we get additional data I think this threat will go away."

The object was detected on July 9 by the Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid
Research Project in New Mexico. It orbits the sun every 837 days, and NASA
scientists predict its path could intersect with the Earth's orbit. But they
say more observations over the coming months will help them plot its course
more accurately.

NASA's Near Earth Object program gives the asteroid a rating of "0" on the
Torino impact hazard scale - within a range of "events meriting careful
monitoring," but not concern.

However, the discovery has provided more ammunition for those who say humans
should take the risk posed by space objects more seriously.

"There's a good chance this particular object won't hit us, but we know that
a large object will hit us sooner or later," said British lawmaker Lembit
Opik, who has long warned of the danger posed by asteroids.

NASA estimates that asteroids big enough to cause catastrophic destruction
could theoretically hit Earth every million years, or at longer intervals.

Last month an asteroid the size of a soccer field missed the Earth by 75,000
miles - less than one-third of the distance to the moon in one of the
closest known approaches by objects of its size. Scientists said if it had
hit a populated area, it would have released as much energy as a large
nuclear weapon.
Received on Wed 24 Jul 2002 12:24:43 PM PDT