10/31/2011

Aircraft-carrier sized asteroid to pass near Earth

NASA says an asteroid about 1,300 feet across and traveling at almost 31,000 miles an hour will pass within 201,000 miles of Earth on Nov. 8 – that is closer than the moon. Space.com says an object that big getting that close ought to catch our attention. "Its upcoming flyby is another wake-up call -- an express mail reminder that humanity resides on a sitting duck of a planet." But Discover Magazine says "observations have shown it won’t be a danger to Earth for at least a century, and probably much more. There’s been some scare-mongering about it over the past few months, but as usual that’s all baloney."

■Class discussion: Does the thought of a large asteroid traveling near the Earth concern you? Do you think anything could be done to protect Earth if such an object were on a collision course with us? Do you know if anything is being done now to investigate the possibility of such a collision? If you don't know, do some research and find out.