1.0Drishtikonehttps://www.patheos.com/blogs/drishtikoneDesh Kapoorhttps://www.patheos.com/blogs/drishtikone/author/drishtikone/rich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="E2UrGcjqZ9"><a href="https://www.patheos.com/blogs/drishtikone/2008/01/large-asteroid-headed-earths-direction/">Large Asteroid headed in Earth's Direction!</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://www.patheos.com/blogs/drishtikone/2008/01/large-asteroid-headed-earths-direction/embed/#?secret=E2UrGcjqZ9" width="600" height="338" title="“Large Asteroid headed in Earth's Direction!” — Drishtikone" data-secret="E2UrGcjqZ9" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script type="text/javascript"> /* <![CDATA[ */ /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(d,l){"use strict";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),c=new RegExp("^https?:$","i"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display="none";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):"link"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute("src")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener("message",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute("data-secret"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+="#?secret="+t,e.setAttribute("data-secret",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:t},"*")},!1)))}(window,document); /* ]]> */ </script> All those Star Trek acts of deflecting an asteroids and large bodies in space may come in handy when this new guy on the block comes after our planet. The space scientists may need their skills to get him off our back! For now, unlike earlier predictions, it is likely to miss Mars and fly right past it, making Earth its next target. Designated 2007 WD5, the 160-foot wide asteroid was originally identified as a possible risk to Earth, though later analysis showed that it actually might be on a collision course with Mars. According to a report in Discovery News, Donald Yeomans, a planetary scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, has said that the odds are that the asteroid is going to fly right past Mars. In the long run, that may not be good news for Earth, which could find itself in the asteroid's path at some point in the future. "Something of this size could take out a fairly large metropolitan area," said Yeomans. In 1908, a meteroid had blasted over Siberia in what is known as Tunguska event. The explosion was strong enough to destroy a large metropolitan area had it happened over a city. Many other such incidents have happened in the recent past, but were smaller in strength, so did not create any issues.http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/Tunguska.png