Approaching Space Object 'Artificial, Not Asteroid' says NASA

[Stretch]

Approaching Space Object 'Artificial, Not Asteroid' says NASA


Tuesday, 01 June 2010 08:39

'NASA boffins report that an unknown object approaching the Earth from deep space is almost certainly artificial in origin rather than being an asteroid.
Object 2010 KQ was detected by the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona earlier this month, and subsequently tracked by NASA's asteroid-watching service, the Near-Earth Object Program headquartered at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.'
Read: Approaching Space Object 'Artificial, Not Asteroid' says NASA

 

[CDNBear]

The experts believe that the object must be a spacecraft, or more accurately part of one - sadly not an alien visitor, though. Rather it's likely to be a booster stage from an interplanetary mission of the past, now drifting back in to Earth and out again. The next visit will probably be 2036, at which time there's a small chance that 2010 KQ will crash into the atmosphere and burn up. ®

Enough said.

 

[Machjo]

Space rubbish.

 

[AnnaG]

It's a medical conspiracy. It contains anti-viral vaccines designed to protect us from pseudo-conspiracies. Better run for the hills, Stretch.

 

[Machjo]

Don't let the space junk hit you over the head when it falls. But no worries, it' not big and will be vaporized before it even reaches the maximum flying altitude of typical passenger planes, falling to the ground as harmless dust.

 

[lone wolf]

On that harmless dust may exist entire colonies of heat-resistant mutant bacillus seeking human hosts for their war with Rigel 6

 

[darkbeaver]

The junk tracking isn't up to snuff I guess or they'd have an idea about what interplanetary mission this chunk originated on. There hasn't been that many, has there?

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

I saw on TV today on the National Geographic channel that an asteroid moves through space at 12 miles per second, a rifle shot only moves at 2/3 of a mile per second. That pretty fast.

But it takes fairly basic technology to set up solar stations to slowly divert the asteroid as flies toward Earth. That is, if we find it in time.

 

[AnnaG]

I saw on TV today on the National Geographic channel that an asteroid moves through space at 12 miles per second, a rifle shot only moves at 2/3 of a mile per second. That pretty fast.

But it takes fairly basic technology to set up solar stations to slowly divert the asteroid as flies toward Earth. That is, if we find it in time.

Solar stations to divert asteroids? Are asteroids like moths that they are attracted to bright things?

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

Solar stations to divert asteroids? Are asteroids like moths that they are attracted to bright things?

A space ship, which looks like a badminton birdie, sends a beam of energy into the asteroid and slowly diverts it away from Earth. Simple and fairly cheap.