An asteroid will whizz by Earth on Oct. 12 without incident and NASA intends to keep it that way. <\/p>\n
The asteroid, dubbed 2012 TC4, measures between 30 and 100 feet across potentially making it larger than the 65-foot space rock that blew up over Chelyabinsk, Russia, in February 2013. <\/p>\n
This latest rock is estimated to pass within 4,200 miles of Earth, although scientists say it could end up as far away at 170,000 miles two-thirds of the distance from Earth to the moon. <\/p>\n
Either way, the asteroid will be used as a trial for NASAs planetary defense system. The system is meant to be an early detector of a possible calamitous asteroid or comet, potentially allowing NASA enough time to divert it, weaken its impact or warn us of our doom. <\/p>\n
The question is: How prepared are we for the next cosmic threat? Vishnu Reddy, a professor at the University of Arizona whos leading the asteroid observation campaign, told uanews.arizon.edu. <\/p>\n
So we proposed an observational campaign to exercise the network and test how ready we are for a potential impact by a hazardous asteroid. <\/p>\n
Details on what this system actually entails are unclear, but it will test precise orbit determination and international communications, according to NASA. <\/p>\n
The effort involves more than a dozen observatories and labs around the world that have teamed up to collectively learn the strengths and limitations of our near-Earth object observation capabilities, Reddy said. <\/p>\n
The asteroid last whipped by Earth in 2012 at about one-fourth the distance to the moon. NASA has stressed that 2012 TC4 poses zero threat to Earth. <\/p>\n
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NASA will soon test its asteroid defense system - New York Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" An asteroid will whizz by Earth on Oct. Continue reading