An asteroid could collide with the Earth in 2029, a Sergey Smirnov, a senior researcher at the Pulkovo Space Observatory, told a press conference in Moscow on Thursday, Interfax news agency reports.
On April 13, 2029 the asteroid Apofiz-99942 will be at its closest distance to the Earth for 200 years, Smirnov said.
The asteroid will pass the Earth at a distance of 30,000 to 40,000 km. “This crosses the geo-stationary orbit, where all the telecommunications and a lot of military satellites are,†he said.
Whatever happens, the Earth will feel the effect of the asteroid, and in the worst case, it will collide with the Earth, and at best it will damage equipment in space in the geo-stationary orbit.
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November 2, 2006
Russia is prepared to repel asteroids to save Earth “if necessary,†deputy head of the Russian space agency Viktor Remishevsky reportedly said.
“If necessary, Russia’s rocket-manufacturing complex can create the means in space to repulse asteroids threatening Earth,†Remishevsky told the Itar-Tass news agency, without giving further details.
The official stressed that saving Earth from the threat of asteroids demanded international cooperation, AFP said.
“Above all, space research institutions, telescopes, and the infrastructure of the Russian Academy of Sciences should warn about the threat of asteroids falling to Earth,†Remishevsky said.
According to Russia’s Institute of Applied Astronomy, about 400 asteroids and over 30 comets currently present a potential threat to the planet.
The institute’s specialists are particularly concerned about an asteroid known as Number 2907, a kilometer-wide chunk of space rock that they believe “with a large degree of certainty†will strike the Earth on December 16, 2880, AFP added.
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October 27, 2006
Scientists from the main observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences say that an asteroid can crash into the Earth in 2035 causing a global disaster, the RIA-Novosti news agency reported on Friday.
“We cannot exclude the possibility that the asteroid which is now orbiting the Sun will collide with the Earth in 2035,†the agency quoted the observatory spokesman Sergei Smirnov as saying. “But it will be only in 2028 that we will be able to determine the danger level,†the scientist added.
According to him, in 2028 the asteroid’s orbit will change significantly in 2028, as it approaches the Earth. “If the change is considerable, the possibility cannot be excluded that during the next approach to the Earth in 2035 the asteroid would crash into our planet,†Smirnov said.
The scientist said that such a collision may cause a global catastrophe. The asteroid is about 1000 meters in diameter and all astronomical bodies over 100 meters in diameter are considered dangerous.
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October 20, 2006
