An asteroid big enough to wipe out a city will hurtle between Earth and the moon's orbit this weekend in a close encounter visible through binoculars and small telescopes.

 

The chunk of space rock measuring up to 300ft (90m), around the size of Westminster's Elizabeth Tower (316ft or 96m) which houses Big Ben, will fly by at about 17,500mph.

 

Passing at around 100,000 miles (168,000km) - less than half the distance between Earth and the moon - will give astronomers the chance to study the "city killer" asteroid at close quarters.

 

https://news.sky.com/story/asteroid-to-pass-between-earth-and-moon-in-17-500mph-close-encounter-12841302

 

These type of events, possibly cataclysmic in nature, are a far greater threat than climate change or nuclear war.
 

It isn't a question of 'if' one sizeable rock will hit Earth, it is 'when'. In the near future we may be able to defend against something of, say two to three meters but something of kilometre size...

14 hours ago, MarcusL said:

These type of events, possibly cataclysmic in nature, are a far greater threat than climate change or nuclear war.
 

So lets just forget about climate change and nuclear war because one day, some day, perhaps far away or not, we might get wiped out anyway.

3 minutes ago, TKDfella said:

It isn't a question of 'if' one sizeable rock will hit Earth, it is 'when'. In the near future we may be able to defend against something of, say two to three meters but something of kilometre size...

They're working on it....

NASA's DART spacecraft successfully slams into asteroid in historic test of planetary defense

 

NASA Confirms DART Mission Impact Changed Asteroid’s Motion in Space

It passed safely by allready 

5 hours ago, ozimoron said:

So lets just forget about climate change and nuclear war because one day, some day, perhaps far away or not, we might get wiped out anyway.

You can if you want....................

A troll post trolling about Trump has been removed.

19 hours ago, MarcusL said:

These type of events, possibly cataclysmic in nature, are a far greater threat than climate change or nuclear war.
 

Only if you believe frequency doesn't enter into it.

5 hours ago, Bkk Brian said:

They're working on it....

NASA's DART spacecraft successfully slams into asteroid in historic test of planetary defense

 

NASA Confirms DART Mission Impact Changed Asteroid’s Motion in Space

Yes have seen the videos a while back. But lots of problems remain. Did you notice the granular nature of the impacted asteroid? With a suitable explosive this one might disintegrate into its 'granules' which probably wouldn't present a problem. But asteroids vary in composition and makeup so a deflection would need the right type of explosive. Would we have enough time for a minor impact to relay the necessary data? A complete deflection would also be required for imagine an 'incoming' bound for, say, some western region but only partial deflection was effected...and there was an impact in an eastern region. Perhaps in the future there will S.S. 'Outposts' which could deflect at a much earlier stage.

1 hour ago, TKDfella said:

Yes have seen the videos a while back. But lots of problems remain. Did you notice the granular nature of the impacted asteroid? With a suitable explosive this one might disintegrate into its 'granules' which probably wouldn't present a problem. But asteroids vary in composition and makeup so a deflection would need the right type of explosive. Would we have enough time for a minor impact to relay the necessary data? A complete deflection would also be required for imagine an 'incoming' bound for, say, some western region but only partial deflection was effected...and there was an impact in an eastern region. Perhaps in the future there will S.S. 'Outposts' which could deflect at a much earlier stage.

Proof of concept has been achieved, more tests yet to come.

8 hours ago, ozimoron said:

So lets just forget about climate change and nuclear war because one day, some day, perhaps far away or not, we might get wiped out anyway.

Only a moron would think like that!

 

 

1 minute ago, MarcusL said:

Only a moron would think like that!

That's what was implied in the post I quoted. I do agree with you. I guess you don't do sarcasm?

1 minute ago, MarcusL said:

Only a moron would think like that!

 

 

And what kind of person wouldn't understand that he was speaking ironically?