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Three "huge" asteroids are expected to pass close to Earth this weekend, at such a near cosmic distance that some NASA administrators are slightly uncomfortable. Daily Star reports.
Asteroids
The first of three asteroids, the 2018 VS1 asteroid, will pass near Earth on Saturday morning around 9:03 am EST. This will be the fastest displacement of the three, sweeping the planet at about 6.59 miles per second, according to The sun, or about 23,724 miles per hour.
Sixteen minutes later, the 2018 VR1 will move to a slightly slower speed of 20,772 km / h.
Then at 1:26 pm Eastern time, the last and slowest of the three will skate. The 201X VX1 will move at a relatively modest speed of 13,572 miles at the hour.
Their size
Asteroids roam the Earth all the time, literally thousands a day, though most of them are barely bigger than a grain of sand and burn in the rare case they would enter the planet. # 39; s atmosphere.
These three, in comparison, are humdors. The second of the trio, VR1, is the largest, estimated at about 100 feet in diameter. Next is VS1, which should be slightly smaller, measuring about 65 feet. The smaller of the three, VX1, is "only" estimated between 26 and 59 feet wide.
You may not think it's unusually large, since the asteroid supposed to have wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago was about 6.2 to 9 miles wide. But consider this: the asteroid that exploded a few years ago above Chelyabinsk, Russia, would have been about 60 feet wide. This asteroid – which exploded in the atmosphere and did not even hit the ground – caused millions of dollars in damage and injured more than a thousand people.
Three huge asteroids up to 100 feet wide will fly over the Earth THIS WEEKEND, warns NASA https://t.co/gtLYi4eCBZ
– Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) November 8, 2018
Their approach
In addition to their size, the proximity to which they are supposed to pass near the Earth is also worrying.
Astronomers measure the approach of an asteroid on Earth in so-called lunar distance (LD) – distance between the Earth and the Moon (about 246,000 miles). And according to NASA, any asteroid that drops below 20 LD is considered a "close call".
The farthest of the three, VR1, goes to 12.8 LD. VS1 patina at about 3.51 LD. And the VX1 will go to a level close to 0.85 LD.
It's close.
But you are probably safe
Still, NASA says there is nothing to worry about. Even if one of their scientists searched their calculations somewhere, and one of these rocks in space actually had to enter the atmosphere, it would probably burn before it was close enough to cause damage. And even if it survived, there would be three chances out of four to land safely in the ocean, knowing that three quarters of the Earth's surface are oceans. And even if he hit lands, he was in danger of falling into a populated area.
So sleep well Friday night.
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