The asteroid boasts an estimated diameter of up to 320m. To put that in perspective, NF23 is bigger than China’s famous Bird Nest Stadium” from the recent Olympics. NF23 asteroid is hurtling rapidly at a speed of around 20,000 mph. That’s about 15 times faster than the 1,354 mph the retired Concorde travelled at. Despite it being set to speed past us at a distance of 2400 km, the asteroid’s distance and size are still enough to expect problems with our tides.
(TA News, Beijing 8 Feb. 2019)
中国航天局 (The Chinese Space Agency) has released a frightening image taken from the other side of the moon. The ‘potentially hazardous’
asteroid, bigger than this year’s Super Bowl Stadium is hurtling towards Earth but the NASA Director is reassuring.
The asteroid, previously known as “2010 WC9”
was lost by astronomers at NASA when the agency’s efforts to survey near space were defunded as part of the Trump administration’s decision to end NASA’s Global Warming Initiative. China’s discovery was made possible by Yutu, the white pet rabbit of Chang’e, the moon goddess. Several hours after touchdown, the rover separated from the lander on the moon’s surface and began its mission. In order to send images back, Yutu relays its data to the Chinese lunar orbiter, Chang-e. The image of NF23 was made from Chang-2 on the first of February.
The space rock, named ‘2016 NF23’, boasts an estimated diameter of up to 320m. That is among the largest asteroids to ever approach the Earth. As any asteroid that is within 4,650,000 miles from our planet with a diameter larger than 500 feet, NF23is registered as “potentially hazardous”. If the orbit were to change this asteroid would still be big enough to destroy an entire city, potentially killing millions of people.
The NASA Director, Jim Bridenstine was reassuring. The Director said “Any panic over 2016 NF23 is misplaced. As a former Navy Pilot and Director of the Air and Space Museum in Tulsa I have never seen an asteroid that might hit the Earth. I am also a Christian and do not imagine Jesus taking such an action against his people.” During his confirmation hearing in November, Bridenstine made it clear that human activity can not be the primary cause of climate change in our Christian world.