Re: “NASA is hiding crucial details about asteroids that could THREATEN Earth, warns senior SETI Institute astronomer”

On 12/14/2024 8:08 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:

On 12/14/2024 11:54 AM, Cryptoengineer wrote:

On 12/14/2024 12:31 AM, Lynn McGuire wrote:

“NASA is hiding crucial details about asteroids that could THREATEN Earth, warns senior SETI Institute astronomer”
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https://www.naturalnews.com/2024-12-12-nasa-hiding-details-about- asteroids-threatening-earth.html
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“On Dec. 3, the small asteroid COWECP5 streaked into Earth's atmosphere and exploded in a fiery display above Siberia. While the event was dramatic, it was ultimately harmless because the space rock was only 70 centimeters across and disintegrated before it could cause any damage.”
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"If the asteroid had been larger, it could have caused significant damage on the ground. And if it had been a true "city killer," like the 400-meter-wide asteroid that astronomers feared would hit Earth on Christmas Day in 2004, seven hours would not have been enough time to evacuate millions of people or devise a defense strategy."
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"Every day, Earth is bombarded by an estimated 100 tons of space debris, most of which burns up harmlessly in the atmosphere. But every now and then, something much larger and more dangerous appears."
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"Astronomers have identified 36,765 NEOs, including more than 11,000 that are over 140 meters across and 868 that are larger than a kilometer. Out of those NEOs, 1,714 are considered potentially hazardous, meaning there's a non-zero chance they could collide with Earth."
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Um, 400 meter diameter is a quarter mile diameter.   That would have left a big mark somewhere.

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NASA isn't 'hiding' a damn thing. This is just another example of the
crap style of 'journalism' found on the internet - the success of a
journalist is measured by how clickworthy the title is.
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pt

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People think that NASA is watching all of the skies.  NASA does not discourage this but they are watching only a portion of the skies. Maybe some day NASA will have enough money to watch all of the skies like we think that they are.
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IIRC they depend on the large numbers of "amateur" astronomers to watch most of the sky.