All scientific eyes were on Asteroid 2012 DA14 yesterday as it whizzed towards our planet at 17,500 MPH. Astronomers and space enthusiasts trembled in anticipation Friday morning, eager to watch the 190,000 metric ton space rock squeak by Earth later in the afternoon. Moms were up early making munchies for asteroid-watching parties when WHAM! A 10-ton meteor exploded into flames over Russia! The shock waves broke windows all over the Chelyabinsk region, and hundreds of people were injured by flying glass.
So now there are thousands of broken windows in the middle of Russia in the middle of February. Of course, if the asteroid hit instead of the meteor there wouldn’t be anyone left to complain about the cold.
Related:
“House committee will discuss asteroid threat,” Natasha Lennard, Salon
“Aliens Are Coming For You: Here’s What You Need to Know,” Caity Weaver, Gawker
“Russian parliament member says meteor was actually a U.S. weapons test,” Max Fisher, Washington Post blog
“What Do We Know about the Russian Meteor?” John Matson, Scientific American blog
“Is it time to start worrying about killer meteors?” Brad Plumer, Washington Post blog
“Earth-skimming DA14 asteroid contains $195 billion of minerals, if we can catch it,” Sebastian Anthony, Extreme Tech
“Asteroids and Earth – Can We Stop Them?” Kyle Maxey, Engineering.com
“More Than 1,000 Russians Injured In Freaking Coolest Event Ever,” The Onion
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Tags: asteroids, Chelyabinsk, meteorites, meteors, outer space, public safety, Russia, space
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