An Asteroid Skimmed Past Earth
By Wyatt Earp | October 14, 2010
Apparently, it occurred on Tuesday. It was considered a close miss, but not close enough to call for Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck.
I guess that’s both a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing that we weren’t struck, and a curse that we didn’t get the chance to send some Hollywood actors out there to get smashed to pieces. I’m just sayin’.
[E]xperts, who named the asteroid 2010 TD54, said that despite passing very close to the planet it would not enter the atmosphere, and that even if it did it would burn up before reaching the ground.
[A] “moderate telescope” would be required to make out the rock, which will at times be closer to Earth than some satellites, and significantly nearer than the moon. Emily Baldwin, of Astronomy Now, told The Times: “Fortunately it seems this one will miss us. But it is a reminder that the Earth is still in the middle of a cosmic shooting gallery and we need to keep constant watch for incoming asteroids.”
NASA captured a photo of the asteroid hurtling by the planet. It’s below the fold.
Whew, that was a close one!
Topics: Snarkasm | 8 Comments »
October 14th, 2010 at 7:33 am
Wow. I used to play against people for high score on asteroids for beers at the Harbour Inn in the flats in Cleveland during my college days, when I wasn’t.. cough cough.. studying of course. Thanks for the ‘Blast from the Past’ Wyatt. Hard to believe that game is over 30 years old.
October 14th, 2010 at 9:45 am
I threw up in front of an Asteroids video game in college when I had one too many Long Island Ice Teas and Special Export beer.
Does that count?
October 14th, 2010 at 9:58 am
Ok I should have saw that one coming…HA!
October 14th, 2010 at 10:36 am
Assteroids? Try some Prep-H !
October 14th, 2010 at 11:27 am
Great, now I have the song “Rocket Man” stuck in my head. lol
October 14th, 2010 at 12:54 pm
I remember when Asteroids Deluxe came out. Wow that bluish screen instead of the black and white lines was really high tech.
October 14th, 2010 at 2:07 pm
Whenever I watch the old Dawn of the Dead, and it comes to the part where they’re in the video arcade, I’m amazed at how far the gaming industry has come. btw…my favorite old arcade game was Gauntlet.
October 15th, 2010 at 1:37 am
Jon – It was the shiznit when it first came out.
Ferrell – It absolutely does!
Captain – Ba-zing!
Vince – It feels good . . . on the whole.
Ingineer66 – I liked the lines better. Classic cool.
DL474 – My favorite was .