Asteroid set to narrowly miss Earth, may smash satellites

London: A newly found 150-foot-wide asteroid may pass so close to the Earth that it might destroy communications satellites, researchers say.

Discovered by astronomers at the LaSagra Observatory in Spain, 2012 DA14 is estimated to veer near enough to Earth to potentially disrupt geosynchronous satellites on February 15, 2013, a newspaper reported.

While the asteroid is currently a ‘fuzzy little blob’, as seen through telescopes, 2012 DA14 may eventually come to pass 21,000 miles away from the Earth putting synchronous satellites in the firing line.

Although NASA have asserted that the chance of the asteroid hitting Earth is 0.031 percent, if it did it would strike with the force of a 2.4 megaton explosion, similar to the mysterious Tunguska event of 1908 which levelled hundreds of square miles of Siberian forest.


http://zeenews.india.com/news/space/asteroid-set-to-narrowly-miss-earth-may-smash-satellites_776494.html


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