Phew! Asteroid's passing was a cosmic near-miss
I guess I have this unrealistic expectation that the night sky is being watched for asteroids. And apparently for the really big ones, like a kilometer or bigger, we are. We would see this coming for several years. What we would do about it is another story, but at least we'd see it coming.
We saw this one coming on Friday. And it was closest to the Earth on Monday. No time to send Bruce Willis to save us in that time. It came within 45,000 miles which sounds like a lot, but that is about twice as high as our satellites. Five times closer than the Moon to Earth. Too close.
And a curious thought comes to mind. Why did we not hear about this?? You would think this would be a great story. Another fear mongering and sensationalistic story that typifies current media.
What damage might this have done?? This is a 20-30 yard hunk of rock. We're probably not talking mass extinction, but we are talking serious aftermath. We could very well have had a catastrophe on our hands, depending on where it hit.
More eyes on the skies please.
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