tagged w/ asteroids
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I love stuff like this.
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Nettle
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added this
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3 years ago
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Asteroids sort of helped furnish life on the Red Planet.
Mars has no magnetism today, but over 4 billion years ago researchers believe its molten core churned with such energy that a dynamo was formed. This then created a type of magnetic “protective shield” around the planet, guarding it from the rest of the planets, and the radiation that currently ravages the planet. During this time life would have been possible, but then the magnetic field suddenly disappeared.
Researchers believe that one, or a combination of four asteroids captured in Mars’ orbit at the time may have powered the magnetic field. These asteroids were huge, almost 1% the size of the Moon, and their pull on Mars’ core would have been plenty powerful to generate this mysterious dynamo.
As an example, Jafar Arkani-Hamed of the University of Toronto brought up the idea of the Moon changing its orbit around the Earth. If it happened to start orbiting against the Earth’s natural rotation the dynamo may have been excited, which makes the Mars theory seem perfectly practical.
The asteroids would not have been able to keep going like this around Mars forever though, and after orbiting Mars in highly irregular paths for almost 500 years their destruction was imminent. At the end of their lifespan, the asteroids would have broken up into many pieces, each piece slamming into the Red Planet. Since the asteroids stopped pulling on Mars’ core, the magnetic field would have disappeared abruptly.
The theory all fits together, besides the age differences in the basins formed on Mars’ surface. Not all the impacts were made at the same time, or even similar times, which makes it hard to justify the asteroid theory. Even then, the explanation behind Mars’ mysterious magnetic field may bring researchers closer to finally finding the real answer behind the mystery.Asteroids sort of helped furnish life on the Red Planet.
Mars has no magnetism... more
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1983: Fifteen-year-old Scott Safran of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, sets the world record score in the arcade game Asteroids — the longest-standing videogame high score in history.
Safran, who had been practicing nonstop at the game for the previous two years, agreed to play a marathon session of Atari's popular outer-space shooting game as part of a charity event in Pennsylvania. His mother drove him to the event and lent him a quarter, which he dropped into the machine Nov. 13.
Some three days later, having taken only brief bathroom and food breaks, Safran finished his game with 41,336,440 points, nudging out the previous world record held by famous old-school gamer and actor Leo Daniels.
What makes Safran's score so momentous, however, is that it has gone 25 years without being broken, giving it the longevity record for a videogame high score, according to the authoritative game-record keepers at Twin Galaxies.
Asteroids is a very difficult game. Players have to contend not only with the eponymous giant rocks that veer at their spaceships and with enemy laser fire, but also with the touchy control scheme. You have to rotate your ship and fire a single thruster to move anywhere, and momentum can carry you right into disaster if you don't have nimble fingers.
Setting a high score on any videogame requires exceptional skill, as illustrated in the recent documentary The King of Kong. But setting an Asteroids record also requires superhuman endurance, because it literally takes days to do.1983: Fifteen-year-old Scott Safran of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, sets the world record... more
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NASA issued a statement last year expressing that nuclear weapons were the best defense against asteroids threatening to collide with Earth, but some aren't so sure. Rear-ending, or towing, a heavenly body with an unmanned spacecraft might be the safest solution.
So the question remains, was NASA pressured politically to opt for nuclear answers to this problem?
Also, what happened to the guy from the Atari game?NASA issued a statement last year expressing that nuclear weapons were the best... more
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Beyond global warming, fiery chunks of massive celestial bodies rocketing towards earth may be our final impact and completely out of our control.Beyond global warming, fiery chunks of massive celestial bodies rocketing towards... more
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Overview
All House Republicans voted NO/NAY on bringing H. Res. 1257 to the floor. Why was that bad? The H. Res. brings bill number HR 6063 to the floor. HR 6063 authorizes NASA to spend more money on studying a very dangerous 1000 ft wide asteroid that will barely miss the planet by 17,000 to 22,000 miles (2-3% chance to hit). If it actually hits the planet, it could destroy a land mass the size of Texas, cause millions of deaths, plus billions in damages.
Strangely, when HR 6063 finally came to the floor due to a unanimous Democratic Yes/Aye vote, all but 15 Republican voted Yes/Aye. Thus, why the hell did the Republicans in the House originally vote against this bill, and why did 15 Republicans vote No/Nay in the final vote?
NASA & Asteroid 2004 MN4
NASA discovered Asteroid 2004 MN4 on Dec. 24, 2004, which is a 320 to 400 meters wide (1000 to 1200 ft wide) object that will come dangerously close to the Earth on April 13, 2029 (a Friday).
After 2029 they cannot tell accurately where it will go due to the Earth’s gravity altering the the asteroid’s orbit in 2029. However, to track Asteroid 2004 MN4 accurately, NASA needs congressional funding to use the giant Arecibo radar in Puerto Rico and to land a probe on the asteroid.
Final Comments
Now here is the real rub on this possible planet saving venture. Why would the GOP refuse to bring this bill to the floor for a vote? It seems that the GOP does not want to spend money on the possibility that this asteroid might hit the planet. Based on the GOP’s past history of corporate collusion and cronyism, it seems that the GOP would have sent HR 6063 directly to the floor if some corporate lobbyist would have directly made money off NASA project. So GOP, is the planet only worth saving if you can make money off it?
References/Sources
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/asteroid_risk_041224.html
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005/13may_2004mn4.htm
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/3309856.html?showAll=y&c=y
http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/missions/nearlanding_preview_010212.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6751433/
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/12/28/tech/main663624.shtml
http://en.rian.ru/science/20071001/81860323.htmlOverview
All House Republicans voted NO/NAY on bringing H. Res. 1257 to the floor.... more
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The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Thursday ruled out the possibility of an impact between an asteroid and the Earth. The asteroid, believed to be between 500 and 2,000 feet wide, is expected to pass within 334,000 miles of Earth next Tuesday, said scientists at the JPL in Pasadena, Los Angeles.The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Thursday ruled out the possibility of an impact... more
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