asteroid
Liputan6.com, Jakarta: Badan Intelijen Negara (BIN) mensinyalir adanya agenda tersembunyi dalam misi kemanusiaan pihak asing di wilayah bencana Tsunami, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam. Demikian diungkapkan Kepala BIN Syamsir Siregar dalam rapat kerja dengan Komisi I DPR di Gedung MPR/DPR, Senayan, Jakarta Pusat, Kamis (20/1). Hadir pula Panglima TNI Jenderal Endriartono Sutarto, Menteri Pertahanan Juwono Sudarsono.
Syamsir mengatakan, pihak asing pasti akan memanfaatkan setiap aktivitas untuk tujuan tertentu, seperti mencari tahu kondisi geografis Indonesia. Amerika Serikat, misalnya. Menurut Syamsir, pihak AS sudah lama meminta supaya Selat Malaka dikontrol oleh mereka. Dan kini ada kesempatan. Syamsir yakin sekarang AS telah memiliki foto-foto Selat Malaka dan wilayah NAD, sebelum dan sesudah diterjang gelombang Tsunami. "Saya sudah ada data mereka," tambah Syamsir.
Dengan alasan itulah, BIN sependapat dengan pembatasan waktu tiga bulan bagi militer asing di Aceh oleh pemerintah [baca: Kehadiran Militer Asing Dibatasi Hingga Maret 2005]. Dengan jangka waktu itu, Syamsir yakin Indonesia sudah mampu mengambil alih penanganan Aceh pasca-Tsunami.
Berdasarkan data yang dihimpun www.liputan6.com, BIN telah menempatkan 15 stafnya di NAD. Data BIN menunjukkan militer asing mencapai 19 ribu personel, sedangkan ribuan lainnya termasuk dalam daftar relawan. Sementara data lain menyebutkan, pascabencana gempa dan Tsunami, ada sekitar tiga ribu personel pasukan dari 11 negara yang beroperasi di daratan Aceh. Adapun belasan ribu personel militer asing berada di kapal-kapal perang.(DEN/Frans Ambudi dan Julianus Kriswanto)
On the first day of January 1801, Giuseppe Piazzi discovered an object which he first thought was a new comet. But after its orbit was better determined it was clear that it was not a comet but more like a small planet. Piazzi named it Ceres, after the Sicilian goddess of grain. Three other small bodies were discovered in the next few years (Pallas, Vesta, and Juno). By the end of the 19th century there were several hundred.
Several hundred thousand asteroids have been discovered and given provisional designations so far. Thousands more are discovered each year. There are undoubtedly hundreds of thousands more that are too small to be seen from the Earth. There are 26 known asteroids larger than 200 km in diameter. Our census of the largest ones is now fairly complete: we probably know 99% of the asteroids larger than 100 km in diameter. Of those in the 10 to 100 km range we have cataloged about half. But we know very few of the smaller ones; there are probably considerably more than a million asteroids in the 1 km range.
The total mass of all the asteroids is less than that of the Moon.
11 comets and asteroids have been explored by spacecraft so far, as follows: ICE flyby of Comet Giacobini-Zinner. Multiple flyby missions to Comet Halley. Giotto (retarget) to Comet Grigg-Skellerup. Galileo flybys of asteroids Gaspra and Ida (and Ida satellite Dactyl). NEAR-Shoemaker flyby of asteroid Mathilde on the way to orbit and land on Eros. DS-1 flybys of asteroid Braille and Comet Borrelly. Stardust flyby of asteroid Annefrank and recent sample collection from Comet Wild 2. For future we can expect: Hayabusa (MUSES-C) to asteroid Itokawa, Rosetta to Comet Churyumov-Gerasmenko, Deep Impact to Comet Tempel 1, and Dawn to orbit asteroids Vesta and Ceres.
243 Ida and 951 Gaspra were photographed by the Galileo spacecraft on its way to Jupiter. The NEAR mission flew by 253 Mathilde (left) on 1997 June 27 returning many images. 
NEAR (now renamed "NEAR-Shoemaker") entered orbit around 433 Eros
(right) in January 1999 and returned a wealth of images and
data. At the end of its mission it actually landed on Eros. The largest asteroid by far is 1 Ceres. It is 933 km in diameter and contains about 25% of the mass of all the asteroids combined. The next largest are 2 Pallas, 4 Vesta and 10 Hygiea which are between 400 and 525 km in diameter. All other known asteroids are less than 340 km across.
There is some debate as to the classification of asteroids, comets and moons. There are many planetary satellites that are probably better thought of as captured asteroids. Mars's tiny moons Deimos and Phobos, Jupiter's outer eight moons, Saturn's outermost moon, Phoebe, and perhaps some of the newly discovered moons of Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are all more similar to asteroids than to the larger moons. (The composite image at the top of this page shows Ida, Gaspra, Deimos and Phobos approximately to scale.)
Asteroids are classified into a number of types according to their spectra (and hence their chemical composition) and albedo:
- C-type, includes more than 75% of known asteroids: extremely dark (albedo 0.03); similar to carbonaceous chondrite meteorites; approximately the same chemical composition as the Sun minus hydrogen, helium and other volatiles;
- S-type, 17%: relatively bright (albedo .10-.22); metallic nickel-iron mixed with iron- and magnesium-silicates;
- M-type, most of the rest: bright (albedo .10-.18); pure nickel-iron.
- There are also a dozen or so other rare types.
Asteroids are also categorized by their position in the solar system:
- Main Belt: located between Mars and Jupiter roughly 2 - 4 AU from the Sun; further divided into subgroups: Hungarias, Floras, Phocaea, Koronis, Eos, Themis, Cybeles and Hildas (which are named after the main asteroid in the group).
- Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs): ones that closely approach the Earth
- Trojans: located near Jupiter's Lagrange points (60 degrees ahead and behind Jupiter in its orbit). Several hundred such asteroids are now known; it is estimated that there may be a thousand or more altogether. Curiously, there are many more in the leading Lagrange point (L4) than in the trailing one (L5). (There may also be a few small asteroids in the Lagrange points of Venus and Earth (see Earth's Second Moon) that are also sometimes known as Trojans; 5261 Eureka is a "Mars Trojan".)
4 Vesta
has been studied recently with HST
(left). It is a particularly interesting asteroid in that
it seems to have been differentiated into layers like the terrestrial
planets. This implies some internal heat source in addition
to the heat released by long-lived radio-isotopes which alone would be
insufficient to melt such a small object. There is also a
gigantic impact basin so deep that it exposes the mantle beneath
Vesta's outer crust. Though they are never visible with the unaided eye, many asteroids are visible with binoculars or a small telescope.
Asteroid table
A few asteroids and comets are listed below for comparison. (distance is the mean distance to the Sun in thousands of kilometers; masses in kilograms).No. Name Distance Radius Mass Discoverer Date ---- --------- -------- ------ ------- ---------- ----- 2062 Aten 144514 0.5 ? Helin 1976 3554 Amun 145710 ? ? Shoemaker 1986 1566 Icarus 161269 0.7 ? Baade 1949 433 Eros 172800 33x13x13 Witt 1898 1862 Apollo 220061 0.7 ? Reinmuth 1932 2212 Hephaistos 323884 4.4 ? Chernykh 1978 951 Gaspra 330000 8 ? Neujmin 1916 4 Vesta 353400 265 3.0e20 Olbers 1807 3 Juno 399400 123 ? Harding 1804 15 Eunomia 395500 136 8.3e18 De Gasparis 1851 1 Ceres 413900 466 8.7e20 Piazzi 1801 2 Pallas 414500 261 3.18e20 Olbers 1802 243 Ida 428000 35 ? ? 1880? 52 Europa 463300 156 ? Goldschmidt 1858 10 Hygiea 470300 215 9.3e19 De Gasparis 1849 511 Davida 475400 168 ? Dugan 1903 911 Agamemnon 778100 88 ? Reinmuth 1919 2060 Chiron 2051900 85 ? Kowal 1977
NASA CLAIMS BUDGET CUTBACKS DAMNING EARTH TO FIERY HELL
August 23 2009
Washington, D.C. – The first fifteen years of human space exploration involved some of the most remarkable engineering and engaged some of the greatest of human dreams. From Sputnik to the Moon landings the exploration of space gripped the
world’s fascination and elicited the hopes and dreams of the entire species. Since then our exploration of the heavens have been limited, at least in respect to people’s fascination. The Space Shuttle, the Hubble telescope, and the ISS have all contributed to our scientific understanding of the universe but have done little to engage the public, which has further inhibited the progress beyond the Earth.
That decline in public interest has also caused a decline in public monies being used in the advance of space exploration. NASA, the chief proponent of space travel, has for years suffered with ever declining budgets which has further inhibited their ability to inspire the kind of awe once associated with the space program. Those budgetary restrictions have also caused other issues for
NASA, specifically their efforts to track potentially deadly asteroids and comets coming into Earth’s realm, bodies which could destroy all life on Earth. With only one-third of the bodies currently being tracked, NASA has become frustrated with the budgetary problems and has indicated that they may give up entirely, dooming humanity to extinction.
“It shows we have a problem we're not addressing. The program is a little bit of a lame duck. There is not a big enough group pushing for the money,” said space advocate Louis Friedman. “It’s a continual source of frustration for many people within the organization and many of them are just sick of wasting their breath fighting for the necessary dollars. There has been a growing movement within NASA to just ditch the whole project and let the politicians burn with the rest of us when a comet finally comes hurtling into Earth. Of course that puts us all in a tough spot.”
NASA will continue to track two rocks in particular, at least for the time being. One in particular is believed to have a 1 in 3000 chance of slamming into the planet in 2048, an event that would likely obliterate all life on the planet and render it a lifeless rock.
“I think there’s a bit of bluffing going on to be completely honest. NASA often uses threats like this to try and extract more dollars out of the government, to mixed effect, and are likely doing the same thing here. The one advantage they do have here is the nature of the
event. Getting people behind studies on growth rates of raspberries in space is a tough task, but getting them to buy into a global apocalypse? Much easier,” said Scrape TV Science analyst Dr. Howard Poe. “Luckily for NASA Hollywood has been preparing the people for such an event. Movies like ‘Armageddon’ and ‘Deep Impact’ have gotten the people concerned about such an event so they are now able to capitalize on that fear. Ultimately that could mean more dollars for NASA and potentially the salvation of all life as we know it.”
Many scientists have been warning for years that an impact, much like the one that likely doomed the dinosaurs, could end human life on Earth and possibly send the planet into nuclear winter which would eventually destroy all life permanently.
“Preserving life on Earth should of course be of significant interest to all people even if it means a slight increase in tax dollars. Of course the principal complaint will be why Americans should be footing the bill for the rest of the planet but sometimes that’s the price you pay for being the wealthiest country,” continued Poe. “What we can’t get caught up in is a kind of fear-mongering from NASA. Yes we know the danger is real and potentially devastating but there are only so many dollars to go around and not all of them can be allocated to one division. Any future dollars should also directed towards stopping a collision and not just spotting one, otherwise it’s really just a waste of money.”
Many critics of the NASA initiative have pointed to the relative lack of comet strikes against the planet, noting that Earth has survived for at least 65 million years previous to the space agencies efforts.
BREAKING NEWS by Skip DeKades
January 9, 2029
— Scientists at NASA Corp. revealed this morning that they have
detected an asteroid heading straight for Earth, threatening to
annihilate civilization. The news could have dire economic consequences,
including declining consumer spending, lower advertising revenue for
the Super Bowl, and a distraction from President-elect Angelina Jolie’s
Jan. 20 inauguration.NASA officials said the asteroid, detected by deep-space probes and estimated to be two miles wide, is expected to strike Earth within the year and could have the effect of 40 million Kirstie Alleys simultaneously hitting the ground and passing wind upon impact.
“Unless we can somehow change the course of the asteroid, it will wipe out civilization as we know it,” said NASA chief science officer Armand Getton during a somber press conference. “And that could have devastating effects on the economy.”
In addition to devastating a massive swath of the area surrounding the point of impact, the asteroid strike would result in the Sun being blocked for months or years by the dust dispersed, Getton said. Much of life on Earth would perish, as it did 65 million years ago when an asteroid hit Earth and wiped out the dinosaurs.
“It’s a real bummer for the dinosaurs, since it’s only been a few years since we learned how to clone them,” he said. “Now they have to go through this end-of-the-world thing all over again.”
President George Prescott Bush, who leaves office Jan. 20, said he won’t take any responsive action to the news since space is the responsibility of NASA, which became a private enterprise in 2015. NASA officials, however, have warned that they could go bankrupt trying to stop the asteroid from hitting the planet, and may have to ask for a multi-billion-dollar federal aid package.
Lotta Prepp, head of Jolie’s transition team, said the president-elect will make a statement on the crisis over the weekend. Prepp added that Jolie is angry that NASA chose to announce the pending disaster just days before her inauguration.
“It’s just gonna bum people out at a time when we want them to be celebrating,” Prepp said. “Couldn’t this bad news have waited until after Jan. 20?”
Asteroid to Crash Into Mars. Earth Saved
Mars is in danger of being struck by an asteroid at the end of next month, astronomers have calculated.The impact, however, would be tiny in comparison to that of the asteroid that struck Chicxulub in Mexico 65 million years ago, which caused a worldwide cataclysm that is thought to have wiped out the dinosaurs. The new asteroid is 100 times smaller than the 10km diameter rock that caused that event. Nothing that the 2006 hurricane season did to the US.
The scientists, at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Canada Flintridge, put the chances that it will hit the Red Planet on Jan. 30 at about 1 in 75.
A 1-in-75 shot is “wildly unusual,” said Steve Chesley, an astronomer with the Near-Earth Object office, which routinely tracks about 5,000 objects in Earth’s neighborhood.
According to one of the researchers, typically the odds they look at for solar system strikes are a million to one. Anytime they have something that’s 100 to 1 or less, they sit up straight and tall in their chairs and take notice. And whereas normally they hope against the asteroid striking the surface (when Earth is in the cross-hairs), this time they’re totally behind the idea of it impacting upon the surface of Mars especially so with so many NASA assets ready to take front-row pictures.
Currently the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is mapping Mars, and the Spirit and Opportunity rovers are on the surface preparing for a cold winter (see previous TGDaily.com coverage on Spirit and Opportunity). This would be the first time that humans have significant assets in place to observe a potentially devastating crash. In 1908 in Siberia, Russia, a similar sized asteroid broke up in the atmosphere and rained debris over an 830 square mile area, knocking down over 80 million trees. It was the largest impact with the Earth in recent history. Now wasn’t the Space Shuttle mission STS-114 supposed to study asteroid collisions?
With the thin Martian atmosphere, the asteroid will likely make it all the way to the surface, creating an impact crater 1/2 mile wide when it strikes. NASA will likely be able to get some high-gloss 8-1/2″ x 11″ photos of the asteroid as it passes through the atmosphere and impacts upon the surface.
Tonight the largest asteroid (2007 TU24) in over 20 years will pass close to Earth
Two nights ago I watched a program on the history channel all about asteroids and comets, today we are hearing news of the largest asteroid to pass close to the Earth in 20 years…and that will happen tonight.
Astronomers are hoping for clear skies tonight so they can get a chance to catch images of 2007 TU24 Read more
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