Comments on: Jaime Neutron: 13-Year-Old Kid Corrects NASA’s Calculation on Earth Destroying Asteroid Hit

By: deeply worried

deeply worried — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 19:11:24 +0000

“The agency says it has received no contact from Mr Marquardt”

I have it on good authority that Treasury hired him to recalculate the national deficit numbers…it may be that we only are in the hole 450 dollars!

By: Patty C

Patty C — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 09:37:49 +0000

Crisis averted – easy as ‘pi’…

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/04/17/2220084.htm?section=justin

NASA dismisses schoolboy asteroid claims

An artist’s impression of an asteroid crashing into Earth. (Reuters: NASA)

NASA has refuted claims that it has revised its asteroid predictions based on a correction made to them by a 13-year-old German student.

The student, Nico Marquardt, claims there is a 1 in 450 chance the asteroid Apophis will hit the earth, not 1 in 45,000 as NASA calculates.

The student’s claim was based on the the likelihood of the asteroid hitting one of a bank of satellites orbiting the earth.

NASA says there is no chance of this happening and their estimates remain 1 in 45,000, uninfluenced by the student’s claims.

“The asteroid will not pass near the main belt of geosynchronous satellites in 2029, and the chance of a collision with a satellite is exceedingly remote,” NASA said in a statement.

The agency says it has received no contact from Mr Marquardt.

By: J&G

J&G — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 05:34:34 +0000

As cute as this story is, NASA released a statement today in response, saying in part: “Contrary to recent press reports, NASA offices involved in near-Earth object research were not contacted and have had no correspondence with a young German student, who claims the Apophis impact probability is far higher than the current estimate.

“This student’s conclusion reportedly is based on the possibility of a collision with an artificial satellite during the asteroid’s close approach in April 2029. However, the asteroid will not pass near the main belt of geosynchronous satellites in 2029, and the chance of a collision with a satellite is exceedingly remote.”

Still, we are going to get hit by something big someday. And the chilling double-edged sword that Carl Sagan pointed out is that anyone with the technology to deflect an asteroid away from the Earth, automatically has the technology to deflect an asteroid toward the Earth.

By: deeply worried

deeply worried — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 22:47:07 +0000

“Nothing strange there. We all spent our teenage years crunching the math on asteroid path data.”

I used to recite Pi to 20 places or so to my dates in high school. Thought it showed how cool I was. Needless to say, I had a lot of one-shots.

My high school science fair project was titled: “The Algebra of Rotations in N Dimensions.” Seriously.

Now, I can’t even balance my checkbook or remember my cell phone number…..

By: deeply worried

deeply worried — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 21:12:17 +0000

At the rate we’re going, there won’t be much left to destroy by 2036 anyway! A sea full of floating garbage. A deforested globe, melted off icecaps, earthquakes, toxic plagues and pandemics, desertification, free-marketeers, mass starvations, Republicans…….

Jeepers, too bad it can’t get here earlier! That way we get a head start on the clean up effort!

DW
always looking on the bright side of mass cataclysms.