Lonan3 Posted April 16, 2008 Share Posted April 16, 2008 And not only that....he's a bloody German (so don't mention the war!) Nasa has been outsmarted by a German schoolboy who corrected its estimates of the chances of an asteroid colliding with Earth, it was reported today. The German Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten newspaper said 13-year-old Nico Marquardt came across the Nasa miscalculation after conducting a study as part of a regional science competition. The schoolboy used telescopic findings from the Institute of Astrophysics, in Potsdam, to calculate there was a one in 450 chance that the Apophis asteroid would collide with Earth. Nasa had previously estimated that the chances were one in 45,000, but told its sister organisation, the European Space Agency (ESA), that the teenager's findings showed the correct calculations. Nico took into consideration the risk of Apophis running into one or more of the 40,000 satellites orbiting Earth during its path close to the planet on April 13 2029. Those satellites travel at 3.07km per second at up to 35,880km above Earth, and Apophis will pass the planet at a distance of 32,500km. If the asteroid strikes a satellite in 2029, this would change its trajectory, making it hit Earth on its next orbit in 2036. Both Nasa and Nico agreed that the asteroid would create a ball of iron and iridium 320 metres wide and weighing 200bn tonnes, which would crash into the Atlantic, if it collided with Earth. The impact would create huge tsunami waves, destroying coastlines and inland areas while creating a thick cloud of dust that would darken the skies indefinitely. NICE, EH? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minxie Posted April 16, 2008 Share Posted April 16, 2008 If the asteroid strikes a satellite in 2029, this would change its trajectory, making it hit Earth on its next orbit in 2036. At least they would have 7 years to recruit Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck to fly into space and blow it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ai_Droid Posted April 16, 2008 Share Posted April 16, 2008 2036? Will Bruce Willis even be alive then to save us? Edit: damn you fast fingered Minx! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alph3 Posted April 16, 2008 Share Posted April 16, 2008 Yer wrong....yer wrong....yer wrong (not you in particular, the little German dude) http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/16/es...apophis_denial/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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