Earth Could Face Another Asteroid

Another could soon be coming.

NASA Wants to Lasso an Asteroid?

Have a look at this plan...

http://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/can-nasa-s-new-xenon-ion-engine-help-lasso-an-asteroid-1.1300054

Is an Asteroid Heading to Earth?

An asteroid called 2011 AG5 could hit Earth in February 2040.  it's not "set in stone" to say, but if it follows one possible course, it could happen.

Astronomers, who have been following the asteroid since January 2011, say it is in an elliptical orbit that could bring it somewhere near Earth in 2040. Earth is about 8,000 miles in diameter; the asteroid appears to be about 450 feet wide.  That is bigger that football field.

NASA's Near Earth Object Program says the odds are about one in 625 that it could hit us in that still-distant future.

"We have a good opportunity to observe it next year and again in 2016," said Donald Yoemans, who heads the program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "We fully expect that the odds will go way down, most likely to zero, by then."

Scientists have discussed all sorts of far-out plans in case a future asteroid truly does turn out to be coming our way. If they have enough lead time, they might send a probe with thruster rockets, or even explosives, to nudge an asteroid into a slightly different orbit. A very small course change, years in advance, could make a big difference by 2040, they say. Even if the asteroid misses Earth by less than a hundred miles, its passing will be a non-event.

Following asteroids is nothing new to scientists around the globe.

One particular asteroid called 2005 YU55, passed within 201,000 miles of Earth in November, closer than the moon is to us.

Getting back to 2011 AG5,  scientists cannot say whether it is a solid hunk of rock or a loose jumble of debris flying together in space. All they know is that it's in a long, elliptical orbit that takes it almost twice as far from the sun as we are.