Shutdown, Obamacare, Syria... who cares—while Humanity wastes time in political shitslinging and unnecessary wars, a team of Ukranian astronomers have discovered a massive asteroid that has a real chance of hitting Earth in 2032 with apocalyptical consequences. It's the second time in history that an asteroid makes it to the top of NASA's space danger list as a potential danger.
Named 2013 TV135, this giant 1,350-foot-wide minor planet will reach Earth on August 26, 2032. It has a Torino Scale rating of 1, which means that it "merits careful monitoring."
Scientists don't know if this asteroid will hit our planet yet. Most probably it will not, but they will have to keep monitoring it until they have a more precise calculation of its trajectory. If it hits Earth, it would unleash an energy of 2,500 megatons of TNT—"50 times greater than the biggest nuclear bomb ever detonated." That's enough to destroy a state like New York and change the climate all around the world.
Only another much-smaller asteroid—2007 VK184—has the same Torino scale rating. But that doesn't mean there may not be others. Even if none of these two asteroids hit Earth, there are many more lurking out there, undetected because governments are not putting enough resources in early alert systems. If there's a space program that needs to be funded worldwide—and in a big way—is the one that may be able to prevent an extinction event at one point in the future. If we don't, we will not have a second chance.
Mark August 26th, 2032 on your calendar, folks. Ukrainian astronomers have just detected a 1,350-foot-wide (410 meter) minor planet that’s headed our way. The impact risk is minimal, but it’s now the most serious near-term celestial threat to face our planet.
I tend to shrug off this sort of stuff when I encounter it, but the sheer size of this asteroid, along with its near-term potential, made me curious. So I headed over to NASA’S Near Earth Object Program website to see if it was added it to its Torino Scale — a regularly updated chart that designates asteroid impact risk by category.
Not only was it there, it was at the top of the recently observed list — and all lit up in green, which is not a happy color in this case.
More at link...
http://io9.com/astronomers-discover-a-massive-asteroid-that-could-hit-1447068835/1447145949
