Tag Archives: asteroids

Asteroid Mining

Picture of Asteroid With the current rise of privatized space travel, one industry that may very well likely be popularized within our lifetimes is asteroid mining. However the initial investment cost of getting to a profitable asteroid will be enormous, the payoff of mining and bringing back the metals that these asteroids contain would be …

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Nuclear Weapons, Asteroids, and PHOs

Both nuclear weapons and asteroids are incredibly powerful and potentially dangerous objects with capabilities for mass destruction. The impact of the Chicxulub Asteriod about 65 million years ago had an explosive force about two million times greater than the Tsar Bomba, the most powerful man-made nuclear weapon ever deployed, which had an explosive power ofContinue reading “Nuclear Weapons, Asteroids, and PHOs” Continue reading

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Blog Post 4 Chicxulub Impact

The Chicxulub Impact happened approximately 66 million years ago, defining the end of the Cretaceous Period and the beginning of the Paleocene, as well as the end of the Mesozoic Era and the beginning of the Cenozoic Era. This impact not only managed to eradicate the dinosaurs as the dominant lifeform on the planet but […] Continue reading

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Making our Earth

New findings by the AKARI space telescope, coupled with surface modeling at the Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) at Tokyo Institute of Technology present new evidence that the asteroid matter which composes Earth was located much further out in the solar system than initially thought. Their study involved computer modeling to develop reflective spectra of hypothetical […] Continue reading

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Han Solo Is Working Too Hard

While science-fiction flicks like Star Wars produce some exhilarating and high-stakes chase scenes with the help of treacherous asteroid fields/belts, in reality, you could probably navigate these asteroid belts blind-folded. With all due respect to Han Solo’s piloting skills and his less than twelve parsecs Kessel run, he would not actually have needed to utilizeContinue reading “Han Solo Is Working Too Hard” Continue reading

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Deflecting Asteroids Headed to Earth

While the chances of a deadly asteroid hitting Earth are low, the damage that one could produce could result in a cataclysmic event. While it may seem that stopping an asteroid en route to Earth is impossible, there are actually certain technologies that could possibility lessen the damage. The most important thing to do isContinue reading “Deflecting Asteroids Headed to Earth” Continue reading

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1950 DA, The (not so) Friendly Neighborhood Asteroid

1950 DA is an asteroid that was discovered in 1950 (hence the name) by Carl A. Wirtanen. After it was first discovered, it was lost after 17 days of observation because the period was too short to determine the asteroid’s future location. It was rediscovered in December 2000 and recognized as 1950 DA in January … Continue reading 1950 DA, The (not so) Friendly Neighborhood Asteroid Continue reading

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Never Tell Me The Odds

One of the best getaway scenes in movie history is in The Empire Strikes Back, when Han Solo navigates the Millennium Falcon through an asteroid field, with TIE Fighters in hot pursuit. The scene starts with the Falcon getting hit by two asteroids. The asteroid field appears to have thousands of asteroids all flying around … Continue reading Never Tell Me The Odds Continue reading

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Asteroid Defense Systems

As it currently stands, Earth has no recourse if a large asteroid decides to strike. Something on the scale of the Cretaceous-Paleogene event would devastate humanity. So, how do we protect ourselves against such an impact? Enter NASA and the “National Near-Earth Object Preparedness and Strategy Plan.” According to them, five steps need to be … Continue reading Asteroid Defense Systems Continue reading

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Expanding a Trillion Dollar Industry

Many are familiar with mining on Earth to obtain resources that we use for all sorts of things on the planet. What many don’t know is that this process can be, and most likely will be, expanded beyond the planet. Asteroids contain many of the resources found on Earth since they are basically leftover material … Continue reading Expanding a Trillion Dollar Industry Continue reading

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