Yesterday I was watching national news with Brian Williams. Right before going to a commercial, Mr. Williams said, "The Earth was almost in big trouble yesterday, more in a minute." I went from not paying much attention to biting my nails. When the commercials were over, Brian Williams explained that an asteroid dubbed 2009 DD45, came within 40,000 miles of hitting our planet. That is closer than the moon is to us right now. This asteroid is the size of a ten story building. According to the news, had it hit our planet, it would have the power of 1,000 Hiroshima size nuclear weapons.
And the story gets better. Our scientists didn't discover it until last Friday. It missed us on Monday. I'm not one of those wacky internet conspiracy theorists. I'm a big fan of science and actual rational thought. But this one makes me wonder. First, the path of these things is elliptical, meaning it will be back (and next time it will be angry). Second, what do scientists know and not tell us? What would you have done differently had you known 1,000 nuclear weapons worth of energy were heading for your house? Can we get Bruce Willis on speed-dial just in case we need his help stopping one of these things?
Fortunately for us all, the thing missed. Hopefully it will again. But just in case, I think I am going to start building a space shuttle and then get it all gassed up.
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