So, we on Earth were apparently almost hit by an asteroid. Check the line I boldfaced in the article below. Is there really a communications satellite that is 24,400 miles long/tall???? Is this true?
Phew! Asteroid's passing was a cosmic near-miss
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) - An asteroid about the size of one that blasted Siberia a century ago just buzzed by Earth.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory reported that the asteroid zoomed past Monday morning.
The asteroid named 2009 DD45 was about 48,800 miles from Earth. That is just twice the height of some telecommunications satellites and about a fifth of the distance to the Moon.
The space ball measured between 69 ft. and 154 ft. in diameter. The Planetary Society said that made it the same size as an asteroid that exploded over Siberia in 1908 and leveled more than 800 sq. miles of forest.
Most people probably didn't notice the cosmic close call. The asteroid was only spotted two days ago and at its closest point passed over the Pacific Ocean near Tahiti.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
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- docstruke
- I use this space to share thoughts about education, media, politics, and life in general. I am an Assistant Professor in Communication at Hiram College in Ohio. I teach journalism, sports journalism, media law and other classes. Comments on this blog are subject to moderator approval before publishing.
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1 comment:
Ooops! HA! Oh my. Looks like the editor was sleeping on the job on that one. Good find, Struke! :)
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