NASA Rules Out Earth Impact in 2036 for Asteroid Apophis

[james_davis_nicoll]

"With the new data provided by the Magdalena Ridge [New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology] and the Pan-STARRS [Univ. of Hawaii] optical observatories, along with very recent data provided by the Goldstone Solar System Radar, we have effectively ruled out the possibility of an Earth impact by Apophis in 2036," said Don Yeomans, manager of NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office at JPL. "The impact odds as they stand now are less than one in a million, which makes us comfortable saying we can effectively rule out an Earth impact in 2036.

A million to one? Where have I heard that?

Comments

[mishalak]

I feel mildly disappointed by this. It would have been the perfect doom for me. Rather selfish, but it would have come just as I was getting old and would have been a prefect reason not to prepare a retirement.

[james_davis_nicoll]

It wouldn't have been a world-ender, anyway. A gigaton explosion, more or less.

[mishalak]

Regionally devastating enough that it would make saving pointless though. 200 meter waves from what I remember. Which does not end the world, but it would end LA and probably bring down the world economy. I would probably have gone to the beach so as to be one of the ones the living would envy.