BERLIN (AFP) - A 13-year-old German schoolboy corrected NASA's estimates on the chances of an asteroid colliding with Earth, a German newspaper reported Tuesday, after spotting the boffins had miscalculated. Nico Marquardt used telescopic findings from the Institute of Astrophysics in Potsdam (AIP) to calculate that there was a 1 in 450 chance that the Apophis asteroid will collide with Earth, the Potsdamer Neuerster Nachrichten reported. NASA had previously estimated the chances at only 1 in 45,000 but told its sister organisation, the European Space Agency (ESA), that the young whizzkid had got it right. The schoolboy took into consideration the risk of Apophis running into one or more of the 40,000 satellites orbiting Earth during its path close to the planet on April 13 2029. Those satellites travel at 3.07 kilometres a second (1.9 miles), at up to 35,880 kilometres above earth -- and the Apophis asteroid will pass by earth at a distance of 32,500 kilometres. If the asteroid strikes a satellite in 2029, that will change its trajectory making it hit earth on its next orbit in 2036. Both NASA and Marquardt agree that if the asteroid does collide with earth, it will create a ball of iron and iridium 320 metres (1049 feet) wide and weighing 200 billion tonnes, which will crash into the Atlantic Ocean. The shockwaves from that would create huge tsunami waves, destroying both coastlines and inland areas, whilst creating a thick cloud of dust that would darken the skies indefinitely. The 13-year old made his discovery as part of a regional science competition for which he submitted a project entitled: "Apophis -- The Killer Astroid."
Re: German schoolboy, 13, corrects NASA's asteroid figures: Well I wonder what else they are not telling us?
Re: German schoolboy, 13, corrects NASA's asteroid figures: Hmmm . . . so I'll be 79 when the end comes. If I'm still kicking by then.
Re: German schoolboy, 13, corrects NASA's asteroid figures: eh 1 in 450, 1 in 45,000 plausible deniability( So we left off a few zeros by accident?) Wanna be around for the end of the world???goin out with a bang ( "THE bang")...
Re: German schoolboy, 13, corrects NASA's asteroid figures: Well, we could always have the asteroid blamed for racism, and maybe it will go away?
Re: German schoolboy, 13, corrects NASA's asteroid figures: nasa says its a lie and this was a net rampage made up story
Re: German schoolboy, 13, corrects NASA's asteroid figures: Now, I don't know, I don't know... I don't know where I'm a gonna go when the asteroid hits... Let me say it now, I don't know, I don't know ... I don't know where I'm a gonna go.. when the asteroid hits.... Ground, she movin' under me. Tidal waves out on the sea. Sulphur smoke up in the sky. Pretty soon we learn to fly ... No time to count what I'm worth, cause I just left the planet Earth. Where I go I hope there's rhum. Not to worry , mon soon come. http://au.news.yahoo.com/080417/21/16ikw.html Thursday April 17, 04:23 PM NASA dismisses schoolboy asteroid claims NASA has refuted claims that it has revised its asteroid predictions based on a correction made to them by a 13-year-old German student. The student, Nico Marquardt, claims there is a 1 in 450 chance the asteroid Apophis will hit the earth, not 1 in 45,000 as NASA calculates. The student's claim was based on the the likelihood of the asteroid hitting one of a bank of satellites orbiting the earth. NASA says there is no chance of this happening and their estimates remain 1 in 45,000, uninfluenced by the student's claims. "The asteroid will not pass near the main belt of geosynchronous satellites in 2029, and the chance of a collision with a satellite is exceedingly remote," NASA said in a statement. The agency says it has received no contact from Mr Marquardt.
Re: German schoolboy, 13, corrects NASA's asteroid figures: I really doubt a hit on a satellite would alter it's orbit anyway. To great a difference in mass - like Mount Everest hitting a BB. Or an 18-wheeler hitting a mouse.
Re: German schoolboy, 13, corrects NASA's asteroid figures: This kid??: 302 Moved Dissed by the geeks at nasa;no wonder he's so pissed. Agree other wise we could just hit it with Rosie O'donnell and change its orbit to miss forever...