In Egyptian myth, Apophis was the ancient spirit of evil and destruction, a demon that was determined to plunge the world into eternal darkness.
A fitting name, astronomers reasoned, for a menace now hurtling towards Earth from outerspace. Scientists are monitoring the progress of a 390-metre wide asteroid discovered last year that is potentially on a collision course with the planet, and are imploring governments to decide on a strategy for dealing with it.
It seemed logical that when it returned it would orbit in a similar trajectory and pass us fairly closely again. Now and then there is some concern over its coming two visits to our orbit. All went quiet for some time until the initial concerns.
Astronomers say a mile-wide asteroid described as “the most dangerous one we’ve found so far” may be on course for a near-miss — or even a collision — with Earth in the year 2028.
Some astronomers say the asteroid will come within 30,000 miles of the Earth, and they agree with Dr. Brian Marsden of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) who says, “Chances are it will miss” Earth.
“The chance of an actual collision is small, but one is not entirely out of the question,” says a notice filed by the IAU.
The Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams — which tracks asteroids — conducted further observations that determined 1997 XF11 should pass just under 30,000 miles from Earth on October 26, 2028.
The estimate, Maran said, has a margin of error of more than 180,000 miles. This means a collision with Earth is theoretically possible, but uncertain at this time
http://www.cnn.com/TECH/space/9803/11/asteroid/index.html
The last time this happened was around 65 million years ago and we know what happened then when 75% of species were wiped out. On further investigation some years ago I discovered that a group of astronomers had predicted a collision course but this was discredited by NASA who said “No we have been watching it longer and so have a better sample trajectory?” Bear in mind due to the distance its very difficult to plot a path until its been watched for many years. So for now its under wraps but despite this it will not be long before many amateurs are able to confirm their original suspicions. Maybe NASA bought some time
All well and good until this fairly innocuous story came out some years later
NASA scientists have discovered glycine, a fundamental building block of life, in samples of comet Wild 2 returned by NASA’s Stardust spacecraft.
“Glycine is an amino acid used by living organisms to make proteins, and this is the first time an amino acid has been found in a comet,” said Dr. Jamie Elsila of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. “Our discovery supports the theory that some of life’s ingredients formed in space and were delivered to Earth long ago by meteorite and comet impacts.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/stardust/main/index.html
Who cares about glycerine or any other space fluids because they don’t. What they really care about is that they are capable of delivering a man made device into the path of an asteroid! Get it!
Why would they do that? To prove that the planet earth has been hit by space debris. Duh yeh right well we didn’t already know that.
So Nasa have bought some time before we all realize whats going on and panic ensues. By then they may really be able to save the world if it came to it but theres one problem. They need to prove they can set off a huge explosion big enough to destroy an asteroid the size of four football fields or at least knock it off course.
Hence
A mission to drop explosives on the moon to look for signs of water beneath. If it was about blowing up asteroids it looks like we are back to the drawing board. The quote from NASA however did include the freudian slip about Bruce Willis and Deep Impact. Bit of a cringer for NASA but they got away with it
The mission was executed for “a scientific purpose, not to put on a fireworks display for the public,” said space consultant Alan Stern, a former NASA associate administrator for science.
Scientists said the public expected too much. The public groused as if NASA delivered too little.
The divide was as big as a crater.
“We’ve been brainwashed by Hollywood to expect the money shot, like ‘Deep Impact’ or when Bruce Willis saves us from a comet,” said physicist and television host Michio Kaku, who was not part of the mission. “Science is not done that way.”
But Kaku and other experts also faulted NASA for overhyping the mission, not being honest with the public about the images being a longshot. “They should have put Steven Spielberg in charge,” Kaku said.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g_WHHFPrQjvdnQhVIvx5o9a-v66AD9B7QMLO1
So if my long held theory is correct I should be in my latter years when we all get blown to kingdom come and the planet will be at peace once more. Watch this space
The UK is about to start a national swine flu vaccination program costing millions of pounds. Many health workers have expressed concern about the vaccine. We recently had the cervical cancer vaccine program too. These drugs are there to protect our health, are good for us and are fully tested or so we are told. Mike Dawson spoke at length to Janine Roberts the author of “Fear of the Invisible”. In her book she uncovers the truth behind vaccines, HIV and AIDs research. As an investigative journalist she has uncovered how what we are being given now could already be a medical time bomb related to the recent growth in cancer rates. Her work is peer reviewed and recognised by numerous scientific groups. She is credited with uncovering fraud in HIV research that has long standing implications. In her book she is able to lay out in clear layman’s terms how science discovers, proves and manufactures its vaccines. All backed by a multi million dollar pharmacutical industry. You can hear the full unedited interview below by clicking on the player.
Perrecy is one of our friends on Myspace and we have played his music once or twice of course. He is based in Bavaria and is originally from Hamburg. His band perform and record Morrissey songs. Nothing unusual there you might think but they have added a German twist. All the songs are performed and recorded in German and use the ukulele. So the familiar sound of the Smiths classics come over very different. Although we wanted to get Perrecy on the show we never expected the phone call we got just after playing his tune. A great surprise all the same to have a chat with him on air and a great excuse to play another. You can hear the interview and tune below and of course visit his website to hear more.