Rocks In Space

Asteroid 2012D214 Copyright 2013 Courtesy of NASA, Public Domain

It isn't a manufactured crisis bolstered by the socialist-loving mainstream media designed to distract the public from planned thefts of liberty and property.

Also, despite the statements made by certain socialism lovers who masquerade as journalists in the mainstream media, it isn't a product of any of the yet unproven hypotheses collectively called "global warming" which was re-branded as "climate change".

No, drinking from a Styrofoam cup while grilling with charcoal in your back yard isn't to blame. Some did, laughably, suggest that it is the fault of those of us who enjoy our second amendment rights and enjoy the flavor of flesh freshly seared over burning wood (or propane, a fossil fuel).

Early this morning, a 10-ton meteor struck the Earth in Russia, wounding as many as 500 people. It was not an attack from North Korea. It wasn't a CIA mission. It wasn't Mike, the computer on the moon, lobbing rocks at the Earth in a libertarian protest. (You may want to read  The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress   by R. A.Heinlein to understand that reference).


 The origin of the meteor and the forces that caused it to fall into Siberia are under investigation by the scientific community. Hopefully, unlike with "global warming", they will look at all of the empirical data and apply some epistemic skepticism so they can find the actual cause. We don't want Greenpeace protesting Sprint and AT&T claiming that a cellular satellite was  responsible. A more realistic answer could be its trajectory changed due to Asteroid 2012D14.  At this time, it is considered a completely unrelated event unless a direct correlation is proven by scientific data.

"According to NASA scientists, the trajectory of the Russian meteorite was significantly different than the trajectory of the asteroid 2012 DA14, making it a completely unrelated object. Information is still being collected about the Russian meteorite and analysis is preliminary at this point. In videos of the meteor, it is seen to pass from left to right in front of the rising sun, which means it was traveling from north to south. Asteroid DA14's trajectory is in the opposite direction, from south to north."

Asteroid 2012D14 will be the first object its size (or larger) in known history to breach the geosynchronous ring and the Moon's orbit. There are theories that an object may have impacted with the Earth in prehistoric times to cause the ice age. (I blame "climate change". Dinosaurs farted too much methane which caused clouds to blot out the sun.)

Copyright 2013 P. Chodas, Courtesy of NASA, Public Domain

Star gazers should take some time tonight and tomorrow to pull out their telescopes and look at this once-in-a-lifetime event. Asteroid 2012D214 will come to its point closest to the Earth (17,200 miles/27,700 kilometers) at approximately 14:24 (2:24pm) EST/13:24CST(1:24pm)/12:24MST/11:24PST. At that time it is predicted to be more or less directly over Samoa (so look west).

Apocalypse alarmists can sit down, according to the experts at NASA. All known data has been computed and extrapolated. This rock shouldn't hit the Earth or the Moon. That, however, doesn't mean it won't run into other things. There is a high potential Asteroid 2012D214 will knock out a few communication and navigation satellites. That may bring some disruptions in service depending on the time of day, your location on the planet, and which carrier you subscribe to.

Is it possible the rock will knock a few more meteors down to Earth. That is possible as well.

Those science geeks who will be looking at the big floating rock, do me a favor. I am curious. See if there is a little glass dome on the Asteroid that is housing a single, pretty flower.

Yes, another literary reference. The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery.