NEA: 2012 DA14 Passing Earth in Feb. Risk of impact in 2020.

[American Patriot]

Massive asteroid will buzz by Earth in early February, risk of impact in 2020

By Sarah Rich, The Space Reporter
Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Another massive asteroid is set to buzz past Earth, according to the U.S. space agency NASA.
According to NASA, a massive asteroid will be visible in Earth’s skies next month and, fortunately, the asteroid is not predicted to impact Earth.


On February 15, a giant asteroid will buzz by the Earth, according to NASA. Named 2012 DA14, the asteroid is half the size of a football field (148 feet long) and is estimated to weigh a whopping 143,000 tons. NASA scientists say there is not a risk of impact with this giant space rock. The asteroid will remain at a safe distance of 17,200 miles away from the Earth.


While 17,200 miles may sound like a comfortable distance, it is a relatively close shave when compared with other familiar objects that make their way around the Earth each day. The moon, for example, is about 240,000 miles away, making 2012 DA14′s trajectory closer than the moon’s orbit. Satellites that sync up with the Earth’s rotation, called geosynchronous satellites, orbit at approximately 26,000 miles away from the Earth, putting 2012 DA14′s path even closer than these satellites. These satellites orbits (both Earth’s natural satellite, the moon, and a class of our human-made ones) puts 2012 DA14′s trajectory into a more familiar perspective, and illustrates that, although Earth’s skies are visited by many asteroids each year, many of these space rocks, like 2012 DA14, travel more closely to the Earth than one might assume. It remains unclear whether any of the satellites are at risk of collision with the asteroid as it passes.


While there was a remote risk that 2012 DA14 could collide with the Earth in 2020, the possibility of an impact in 17 years has largely been ruled out, according to NASA. Even if an asteroid like 2012 DA14 were on course for Earth, with 70 percent of the Earth covered by water, it’s likely an impact would occur in the ocean, and not a populated city.


Although this asteroid will only make a brief appearance in Earth’s skies next month, a similarly-sized asteroid is believed to have hit the Earth in 1908. During what is known as the “Tunguska Event,” it appears an asteroid or comet crushed hundreds of square miles of Siberian forest, according to NASA asteroid expert Don Yeoman, although no crater was ever found. While Earth will avoid impact during 2012 DA14′s visit this time, these kinds of asteroids hit the Earth about once every 1200 years. Collisions like the one believed to cause the Tunguska Event make irrevocable changes to the Earth’s landscape.


The latest asteroid buzz-by follows in the wake of a near miss from Apophis, a much larger asteroid that gave Earth a close shave in mid-January. That asteroid catapulted to fame in 2004 when a study predicted a 2.7 percent chance of Earth impact in April 2029. Since then, the threat level has been downgraded and it is largely expected to miss Earth.


Stargazers equipped with telescopes on the day after Valentine’s Day might be able to catch a glimpse of the fast-moving asteroid if they watch carefully. NASA scientists say it’ll be a challenge to track 2012 DA14 from an Earth-bound perspective, however. For every minute the asteroid is visible, it will be traveling twice the width of the moon, so best of luck.

[American Patriot]

NASA: Asteroid to give Earth close shave

6:00 AM, Jan 30, 2013 | comments



(USATODAY.com) - Close but not too close, a fast-moving asteroid will pass 17,200 miles above Earth on Feb. 15, NASA reports. The asteroid, 2012 DA14, is a space rock weighing roughly 143,000 tons and measuring 148 feet long, about half the size of a football field. NASA asteroid expert Don Yeomans, author of Near-Earth Objects: Finding Them Before They Find Us, compares the asteroid to the one that leveled hundreds of square miles of Siberian forest in the "Tunguska Event" in 1908.


Only this time Earth won't be hit, the space agencysays. Sky watchers might want to keep their eyes peeled that evening as the asteroid should be visible with a backyard telescope. The only problem will be tracking the space rock. It will sail twice the width of the moon across the sky for every minute that it is visible, making it tough to track.

[American Patriot]

Asteroid 2012 DA14 Will Just Barely Miss The Earth On February 15th, Destructive Potential Of An H-Bomb

Asteroid 2012 DA14 is going to just miss the Earth on February 15th. It will pass by at a distance of just 14,913 miles, which is closer than many satellites orbit. If it did strike the Earth, which it may in the future, the 164ft long asteroid has about as much destructive potential as an H-bomb. So if it hit an urban area the damage would be enormous, and that’s not even including side effects such as changes in the weather, and possible tsunamis.







As Don Yeomans, of NASA’s Near Earth Object Program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, says: it will be a “record-setting close approach. 2012 DA14 will definitely not hit Earth. The orbit of the asteroid is known well enough to rule out an impact.”


Researchers have estimated that if a strike did occur, that it would level an area larger than all of Greater London. Just back in 1908 there was an asteroid impact of similar size, the Tunguska event. The (estimated) 131ft asteroid completely flattened over 772 square miles of Siberian forest.


“That is an area the size of Greater London,” said Dr. Gerhard Drolshagen, a near-Earth object observer from the European Space Agency’s Space Situational Awareness (SSA) office. “This asteroid is a little bigger.”


Dr Yeomans continued: “Since regular sky surveys began in the 1990s, we’ve never seen an object this big get so close to Earth.”


“The rock in question is believed to be made of stone, rather than metal or ice and Yeomans estimates an asteroid of that sort flies past Earth on average every 40 years, but is only likely to strike the planet ever 1,200 years or so. An estimated 500,000 near-Earth objects measuring up to 98ft are believed to be undiscovered.”


Dr Detlef Koschny, also from the SSA, said: “We are developing a system of automated optical telescopes that can detect asteroids just like this one, with the goal of being able to spot them at least three weeks before closest approach to Earth.”


Unfortunately, even though it will be passing very close to the Earth it will not be visible with the naked eye. It will peak around an apparent magnitude of 7.4.


The asteroid’s orbit will likely be changed to some degree by its very close pass-by, but isn’t expected to pass any closer than 0.0004 AU from the center-point of the Earth on its next pass-by in 2046.




Read more at http://planetsave.com/2013/01/31/ast...cQLyiG56uQI.99

[American Patriot]

Asteroid 2012 DA14 will break records as it passes Earth in near miss


Science Recorder | Cameron English | Thursday, January 31, 2013

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On February 15, an asteroid is expected to race past Earth, according to NASA.


The asteroid will pass at a distance of 27,000 kilometers (17,000 miles), coming closer to Earth’s surface than the satellites used to record weather data. According to NASA, an object this size has never been recorded passing so close to Earth before, making it a historic opportunity for stargazers.


If the asteroid were to collide with Earth (astronomers say there is not a chance of impact), estimates suggest it could produce the equivalent of 2.4 megatons of TNT, enough to flatten a city. But given that 70 percent of Earth’s surface is covered by water, it is highly unlikely an impact would result in too much destuction.



The good news, however, is that 2012 DA14 (as the asteroid is known) will not impact Earth, according to NASA. The space agency noted that the asteroid will zip across the night sky, leaving a small window to observe it.


“The asteroid will travel rapidly from the southern evening sky into the northern morning sky with its closest Earth approach occurring about 19:26 UTC … About 4 minutes after its Earth close approach, there is a good chance it will pass into the Earth’s shadow for about 18 minutes or so before reappearing from the eclipse,” the agency noted in a statement released on Wednesday. “When traveling rapidly into the northern morning sky, 2012 DA14 will quickly fade in brightness.”


2012 DA14, which was discovered last February, weighs approximately 130,000 metric tons and has an estimated diameter of 45 meters (148 feet), according to NASA’s Near Earth Object Program. It has an orbit similar to that of Earth. The asteroid approaches Earth about every six months, though usually at much greater distances. When it passed on February 16 of last year, it did so at a distance of 2.5 million kilometers (1.5 million miles), about six times the distance to the moon, says astronomer and science writer Phil Plait.


After its discovery early last year, a handful of news reports claimed the asteroid could very likely hit Earth at some point; Some projections note the possibility of an impact in 2020, although many astronomers say there is a small likelihood. The longer astronomers observe 2012 DA14, the more accurately they can predict its path, though there will always be uncertainties about the measurements.


Plait estimated last year that after its close pass this year, we won’t see the asteroid again until February 2020, and placed the likelihood of an impact with earth at a very low 1 in 100,000. Other experts have since ruled out even that unlikely possibility of a collision.


Astronomers say asteroids the size of 2012 DA14 pass Earth roughly every 40 years. They make impact once every 1,200 years. A comparably-sized asteroid may have exploded over Siberia in 1908, known as the Tunguska event.

[American Patriot]

How Asteroid 2012 DA14 Will Give Earth Close Shave (Infographic)

by Karl Tate
Date: 07 February 2013 Time: 07:00 AM ET





At 2:26 p.m. EST (1926 GMT) on Feb. 15, the asteroid 2012 DA14 will fly within 17,200 miles (27,680 kilo- meters) of Earth. This is lower than the communications satellites that orbit 22,000 miles (35,800 km) above the equator.
The asteroid will not hit the Earth on this orbital pass, but asteroid 2012 DA14 is about the size of the object that hit Siberia in 1908 (the "Tunguska Event"). The asteroid was discovered on Feb. 23, 2012, by the La Sagra Sky Survey. [Asteroid 2012 DA14 Flyby: Fact vs. Fiction (Video)]
At 150 feet wide (49 meters), the asteroid is less than half the length of the International Space Station (356 feet wide, or 109 meters). It is about half the size of a football field.
From Earth's Northern Hemisphere, the asteroid will be below the horizon for most of its approach, but will be well-placed for observing after closest approach. The asteroid passes at a sharp angle to the path of the satellites and is not expected to hit any of them. [Asteroid 2012 DA14 Photos: Earth Flyby of Feb. 15, 2013]
The asteroid's current orbit is similar to the Earth's, but tilted. Asteroid 2012 DA14 passes Earth twice per orbit, but February’s pass is the closest approach for many decades. As it whips by at a relative velocity of 4.8 miles per second (7.82 kilometers per second), the Earth’s gravity will slingshot the asteroid into a slightly different orbit.



Source SPACE.com: All about our solar system, outer space and exploration

[Ryan Ruck]

I post this video without comment. Please watch it all the way through...

[American Patriot]

Oh lol. Saw that last night. LMAO.

[American Patriot]

Asteroid that could do as much damage as 1,000 atomic bombs will whizz past tomorrow (and could knock out your TV signal)

• Asteroid 2012 DA14 will quickly pass Earth at 7:24pm on Friday
  
• NASA say 'no earth impact is possible' but it will cut through satellites' orbit
  
• Scientists said there is a small chance television signals could be affected
• It was discovered last year by a Spanish dentist turned amateur astronomer

By Fiona Macrae



PUBLISHED: 19:30 EST, 13 February 2013 | UPDATED: 22:23 EST, 13 February 2013

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s an asteroid that will almost hit Earth – relatively speaking.
Just before 7.30pm tomorrow, a 150ft wide chunk of space rock will whizz past us in the closest shave since records began.
If it hit the planet, it could wipe out a city the size of London and do as much damage as 1,000 of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima.



Scroll down for video
Close shave: Although it will come uncomfortably close to the Earth, NASA said that 'no earth impact is possible'


Nasa has stressed that ‘no Earth impact is possible’ – but scientists say there is a small chance that TV signals may be affected.
The asteroid will cut through the orbit of some satellites used for weather forecasting and for satellite phones and television.
Mobile phones won’t be affected as they rely on land-based masts and cables.

More...

• Now they've found the GECKO nebula: ESO releases new image of strange dark lizard-shaped cloud lurking in Sagittarius
• Asteroid due to fly by Earth contains natural resources worth billions, says 'celestial mining' firm (if they could get hold of them, that is)

Asteroid 2012 DA14 was discovered last year by a Spanish dentist turned amateur astronomer and has been closely tracked ever since.
Hurtling through space at speeds of five miles a minute, eight times as fast as a speeding bullet, it will come within 17,000 miles of Earth at 7.24pm tomorrow.
Disturbance: This graphic depicts the trajectory of asteroid 2012 DA14 on Feb 15, 2013. This view looks down from above Earth's north pole and shows how the rock will hurtle past inside the ring of geo-stationary satellites




Approach: The trajectory of the asteroid as seen from horizontally from the Earth's equatorial plane. It will come within 17,000 miles of earth


Astronomy expert Daniel Brown, of Nottingham Trent University, said: ‘In astronomical terms, that’s very close.’
Too close to home: Picture shows the predicted orbit of asteroid 2012 DA 14

Although the asteroid won’t be visible with the naked eye, it should be possible to see it with binoculars.
Dr Brown recommends looking towards the north-east horizon around two hours after sunset.
He added: ‘This will give us the ideal opportunity to learn more about asteroids.’
‘If we want to protect ourselves from possible impacts in the future, we need to understand how we can manipulate them.
‘That wouldn’t be through the Hollywood option of blowing them out of the sky but by nudging them slightly out of the way.
‘We can also find out what sort of resources are in there. There are at least two projects now talking about trying to mine asteroids for precious metals and rocket fuels.’
He added asteroids the size of 2012 DA14 race past the Earth around once in every 40 years – but there is only an impact every 100,000 to 200,000 years.
‘Humanity and civilisations have survived these over and over,’ he said.
Celestial mining firm Deep Space Industries (DSI) has calculated that the massive asteroid, could contain resources worth £125billion.

Flying by: NASA image depicting the passage of asteroid 2012 DA14 on February 15



Close: An artist's rendition of the nearest approach of asteroid 2012 DA14 as it passes Earth
VIDEO: HOW CLOSE ASTEROID 2012 DA14 WILL COME TO EARTH

Play Video

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencete...#ixzz2KsmmIV7h
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[American Patriot]

February 14th, 2013
12:39 PM ET


Will the asteroid affect cell-phone service?

The likely answer to all of your doomsday-ish questions about the asteroid is NO.


NASA scientists have repeatedly said that it is not possible for the asteroid approaching Friday to hit the Earth. But what about communication satellites?


On the asteroid's approach it will "enter and exit a ring of satellites approximately 22,300 miles above the Earth," said CNN meteorologist Sean Morris. According to current modeling of the asteroid's path, it will probably not affect the satellites.


These satellites include those used by television networks, cell phone services and weather services.


"Scientists have determined that it is very unlikely – but not impossible – that television signals, any other form of communication, or any weather data will be impacted by the asteroid," Morris said.


As for global positioning satellites, which communicate with the GPS function on smartphones, the asteroid will pass about 5,000 miles above them and probably won't interfere with navigational systems.


Objects as large as basketballs, with paths even more difficult to track than the asteroid approaching Friday, pass through the same area every day and don't cause a disturbance.


The asteroid, measuring 150 feet across and weighing 130,000 metric tons, will be 17,200 miles from Earth at its closest proximity. Its speed will be about 4.8 miles per second.


The Space Data Association has said that none of the spacecraft it monitors will be impacted, Morris said.

[American Patriot]

Are these asteroids the result of Global Warming? Why, yes, yes they are. And the sun was ignited because of Global Warming as well. Also, don't forget that Mars, Saturn, Jupiter and the rest of the outer planets have been heated up as a result of global warming.

Obviously global warming is responsible for the complete extinction of ice on Earth, Polar bears and pythons in the Everglades as well.

Global warming causes guns to jump up and kill people.

Or course... asteroids too, will soon be extinct as well because of global warming.

[Phil Fiord]

I plan to take a break from work at approx 14:25 and look up. I will light a cigarette and puff away. Haters gonna hate.

[American Patriot]

is it even supposed to go over us?

I am getting a much more positive feeling it will hit DC lol

[American Patriot]

Phil Plait - an astronomer with whom I used to correspond often - until I realized he was a complete dufus and in the bucket for Obama, Global Warming and Bullshit....

From Phil Plait of Slate

Phil Plait of Slate published this article on his Bad Astronomy blog on Monday:

On Friday, Feb. 15, the Earth is going to get a very close shave by an asteroid*. Called 2012 DA14, this 50 meter (160 foot) rock will pass just over 27,000 kilometers (17,000 miles) from the Earth’s surface. This is closer than our geosynchronous satellites, so this really is a close pass!
But, to be very clear: This asteroid poses no threat to us right now, nor in the foreseeable future. Friday’s miss is just that: a miss. And, in fact, this is a good thing, since any time an asteroid gets close (but misses), we learn a lot, including how to find them, how to track them, and even how to talk about them to the public.

Plait responds to the news:

I don’t *think* this meteor is related to #2012DA14; a solid 12+ hours ahead; DA14 is still pretty far out. Coincidence?
— Phil Plait (@BadAstronomer) February 15, 2013

Plait continues to dismiss a connection to DA14. See his feed for more.

http://www.russianmachineneverbreaks...n-chelyabinsk/

[American Patriot]

I personally think there's a connection.

Here's why. When a meteor shower occurs there was at one time either a comet or some other space body that was originally associated with it. The comet or asteroid had been broken up, perhaps by hitting another rock etc.

So you have this vast cloud of rocks scattered across a large swatch of sky traveling in the same direction in a nice, straight line that happens to pass over the path of the Earth. We have literally about 100 meteor showers per year.

Now... picture this, we have an asteroid that was just discovered, don't know from whence it came and not too sure where it's going... we have no idea how it got "aimed" in our general direction but we can surmise that there's a really good chance that it was smacked by another rock. And broke into pieces.

Those pieces are all still traveling in roughly the same path as before only now there's a lot more of them. So this thing is zipping in at 17,500 mph across our bow. Other, SMALLER rocks might have been blasted off in FRONT of the path of this asteroid and got here before the other one will by a few hours.

That means there's probably other rocks headed in our direction too, probably all small stuff, little pieces, dust, debris etc.

I would NOT be surprised if there are a few more meteors zipping in even now.

Now imagine that they calculated all this and the slight pull of the Earth has moved it ever so slightly closer and closer, and it suddenly goes into close orbit around the planet.

Worse, it gets yanked, HARD over and swings around the Earth but is caught in the pull. Since it's going so fast it whips around, speeds up and heads back into space, but the damage is done... it has hit "the keyhole" and it's center of mass and Earth's Center of mass are now locked in a deadly dance.... that asteroid WILL hit us on the second of third pass. We won't know for sure precisely where it will hit until a few days before, but we will KNOW it is going to hit.

It's not THAT difficult to calculate the paths.

They are claiming there's no chance it will hit this time - and they are probably right. But pieces of it probably HAS already.

This is a Popcorn moment folks.

[American Patriot]

Asteroid's Spin Intrigues Astronomers




A simulation of asteroid 2012 DA14 approaching from the south as it passes through the Earth-moon system on Feb. 15, 2013. (/NASA/JPL-Caltech)



Suzanne Presto
February 14, 2013

Astronomers hope to learn more aboutAsteroid 2012 DA14's features and composition as it flies past Earth at about 7.8 kilometers per second - far faster than a speeding bullet. But that's not all they hope to discern when the object comes within 28,000 kilometers of our planet on February 15.

Spin

Michael Busch is a planetary astronomer at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in the southwestern U.S. state of New Mexico. He says the direction of DA14's spin is important in predicting the way its orbit will change over time.

"One of the interesting things about DA14 is we expect its spin state will change as it flies by the Earth," said Busch. "The Earth's gravity will pull slightly more on one side of the asteroid than on the other, and that will change its spin."

Speckles

The U.S. space agency's Goldstone antenna in the western state of California will beam radio waves toward the asteroid. Busch and his team will be about 1,000 kilometers away in New Mexico, where the National Radio Astronomy Observatory operates a pair of antennas, about 400 kilometers apart. The two antennas will receive the waves reflected off the asteroid's uneven surface.

Busch explains parts of the asteroid will reflect the signal differently, allowing astronomers to observe so-called "speckles."

"That pattern is random, but it moves across the Earth as the asteroid spins, so by tracking the time difference in when a different speckle arrives at a given antenna, I can figure out how fast and in what direction the asteroid is spinning," he said.

Changes in Orbit

Busch also explains that the part of the asteroid that is in view of the sun develops a hot spot that radiates heat. This exerts a gentle, jet-like push that can speed up or slow down the asteroid. Over time, this can significantly alter its orbit.

Astronomers with NASA, the U.S. space agency, say 2012 DA14's next notable close approach to our planet will be in 2046, and even then, it won't strike the Earth.
Busch notes that while scientists can - for the most part - precisely predict DA14's orbit for the next century, this space rock will yield important insights into the behavior of other asteroids.

"With the radar observations that we'll get this weekend after the close approach and the optical infrared data that is also coming in, we will be able to much better predict where DA14 in particular is going and run that orbit out much further into the future," said Busch. "But this also lets us begin to understand the properties of the near-Earth asteroids as a population."

The U.S. space agency says, on average, an asteroid the size of 2012 DA14 gets close every 40 years and hits every 1,200 years.

[American Patriot]

South Jersey Skies: An upcoming celestial near-miss

By Keith Johnson
on February 03, 2013 at 6:00 AM, updated February 03, 2013 at 6:17 AM Print

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First let me assure you: Asteroid 2012 DA14 will NOT strike the Earth. Now, with that out of the way, let me tell you what WILL happen. Discovered nearly a year ago at the OAM Observatory in Spain, this asteroid is the size of about half a football field, a typical size. It weighs more than 140,000 tons.
Most asteroids spend their time farther from the Sun than we are, between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. But there are quite a few that come in closer, and many of those actually cross the Earth's orbit, as does DA14.
That long period of observation has allowed asteroid experts to pin down its orbit quite precisely. We know now that late in the afternoon of February 15, DA14 will pass within 17,200 miles of the Earth's surface. That's close, but it's definitely going to miss us.
However, the close passage to Earth will alter the rock's orbit. Currently DA14 takes 366 days to revolve once about the Sun. After Feb. 15, that figure will drop to 317 days.
We can project its path accurately into the future. When we do, we find there is just less than a chance of one in seven million that it will strike the Earth in the year 2110. It's a comforting thought; isn't it nice to have competent celestial mechanics on the watch for us?
View full size A map of the sky showing the position of Asteroid 2012 DA14 early in the evening of Feb. 15. Plus signs indicate the positions of the comet for three different times, though the horizon shown is correct only for 8 p.m.
On the other hand, 17,200 miles is still a small figure. It's the closest that any asteroid this size or bigger has approached our planet since the early 1990s when we began comprehensive recording of asteroids.
Near-Earth satellites orbit a few hundred miles up, but the communications satellites are only 26,200 miles above the Earth's surface. DA14 is going to “thread the needle” between these two groups of objects.
It's not currently thought that any particular satellites are at risk, but NASA and other observers will certainly be watching carefully as the object approaches.
Can we casual observers see this object as it goes by? My considered answer is “maybe.” At closest approach, DA14 will have a magnitude (brightness) of 7.2, about three times too faint to see with the unaided eye even from favorable locations.
View full size The orbit of Asteroid 2012 DA14 as seen from outside the orbit of the Earth; positions are valid for Jan. 31
But it's within the range of typical binoculars for experienced sky-watchers. A finder chart is posted on the planetarium website on the “Sky Events” page. Since DA14 is still rather dim, an observer will need to watch for a few minutes to find the “star” that's moving (you probably should use a tripod!) It will cross the field of view of typical 7x35 binoculars in about 40 to 50 minutes on the evening of Feb 15.
DA14 will probably be too low in the sky to pick out much before 7:30 p.m., so we won't see it in New Jersey until a few hours after its close pass. I invite readers to send me reports of success in spotting this asteroid.
---
Keith Johnson is the director of the Edelman Planetarium at Rowan University. Currently the full-dome public star show “Oasis in Space” is playing at 3 p.m. on Sunday afternoons. More information is available at www.rowan.edu/planetarium/.

[American Patriot]

NASA is saying these two things are not connected. The asteroid is coming from one direction and the one hitting Russia can from another direction.

/shrug

[Malsua]

Asteroid's Spin Intrigues Astronomers






A simulation of asteroid 2012 DA14 approaching from the south as it passes through the Earth-moon system on Feb. 15, 2013. (/NASA/JPL-Caltech)



The U.S. space agency says, on average, an asteroid the size of 2012 DA14 gets close every 40 years and hits every 1,200 years.

Holy shit!!! That thing is twice the size of the moon!



Oh wait, that's right, it's 150 feet across. Nothing like a picture to make you think it's a monster.

[American Patriot]

hehehehe

How We're Preparing For Meteors (CHART)

Posted: 02/15/2013 12:42 pm EST








If you woke up this morning and suddenly found your worst nightmare a reality, you're not alone. The meteor that streaked across the Russian Urals and injured nearly 1,000 has totally replaced our fears of sharks and bears joining forces.


Today's news, combined with a sobering tweet from super scientist Neil Degrasse Tyson on Wednesday...

The actual #StateOfTheUnion: Office-building-sized asteroid buzz-cuts Earth this Friday. NASA has no capacity to deflect them
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) February 13, 2013

...has pretty much convinced us to shift our priorities and focus 100% on preparing for more meteor strikes. To that end, here's what we're doing to get ready, in handy pie chart form. Take heed!

[Ryan Ruck]

Am I still alive?