Crime & Safety

Asteroid to Miss Earth by 15 Minutes on Feb. 15 — But Will It Mess Up Cell Phone Service?

Weather and telecom satellites are within range, and bemused wags from the UK to India have seized a British professor observations. Bill Nye, a.k.a. "The Science Guy," meanwhile, explains the affect and impact could have on Earth.

 

On Friday, Feb. 15, asteroid 2012 DA14 will pass within 17,200 miles—or 15 minutes—of Earth, according to scientist Bill Nye.

While the asteroid, which Nye said is comparable in size to the one responsible for the 1908 Tunguska event, is expected to pass harmlessly by, Nye said it is a very close shave, relatively speaking.

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"This one will miss us by about 15 minutes," said Nye, a former Boeing mechanical engineer who became famous as on PBS Kids through "Bill Nye, the Science Guy." Locally, Nye is known for the Chabot Space and Scienc Center permanent exhibit, Bill Nye's Climate Lab.

"Fifteen minutes difference and that's it."

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If it were not for those 15 minutes, life for millions of people could end, the stuff of more than a few movies.

"If such a meteor were to hit Atlanta or New York City or Boston, that would be it for those municipalities," Nye said. As much as 1,200 square miles would be destroyed, Nye added.

According to Nye, there are approximately 100,000 "Earth-crossing" asteroids and, for the first time in human history, the possibility exists that something could be done should one threaten Earth.

"It is something that we as humans all over the world ought to get involved in," he said.

It bears watching. Some 500,000 objects about the size of "asteroid 2012 DA14" regularly cross Earth's path, according to scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. At least one object that size flies close to Earth about every 40 years and one hits every 1,200 years. 

The asteroid's close path, which brings it through the orbits of telecommunications satellites, has bemused the press in the U.K. and India, which have run headlines such as "'Record Close' Asteroid May Miss Earth, But Could Take Out Your Phone," in the Telegraph.

"There are loads of them but you’re talking about a very big area," The Telegraph quoted Nottingham Trent University Dan Brown about geostationary satellites. "It would be very unlucky if a satellite was hit." 

Brown also said it was a remote chance. 

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