 |
 |
| Reference Material |
| Soccer field-sized asteroid in �close shave� with Earth By Thomas Wagner, The Associated Press June 22, 2002, Today LONDON � An asteroid the size of a soccer field narrowly missed the Earth by 120,000 kms � less than a third of the distance to the moon and one of the closest known approaches by objects of this size, scientists say. �In the unlikely event the asteroid had struck Earth in a populated area, it would have caused considerable loss of life,� scientist Grant Stokes said Thursday. �The energy release would be of the magnitude of a large nuclear weapon.� Stokes is the principal investigator for the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research Project, whose New Mexico observatory spotted the object last week���. The asteroid was not detected until three days after it came close to the Earth on June 14. When such asteroids are detected, they are usually spotted well out in space when they are approaching or departing Earth. The asteroid, provisionally named 2002 MN, was traveling at more than 23,000 mph when it was spotted., Stokes said in a phone interview from Lexington, Massachusetts, where he is associate head of the aerospace division of MIT Lincoln Laboratory. With a diameter of between 50 and 120 meters, the asteroid was about the size of a soccer field, which tend to be about 105 meters by 75 meters. Stokes said. The size of asteroids is estimated by measuring their brightness, without knowing their composition���. |