Half-Asteroid Emergency Calls for Half-Panic
OK, how can I put this gently.
Run for your lives we're all going to die!
Well, that might be going a little overboard.
If you are reading this on Monday, July 3, 2006 you are no doubt aware that an asteroid, a quarter-mile wide is at this moment headed for Earth.
Happy Independence Day America.
It seems Asteroids, too, hate our freedoms.
But, the same scientists who said "no one could have imagined a levee breaking" during a major hurricane in New Orleans now say that 2004 XP14 (as the little fellow is known among scientist) will miss the earth by about the distance between earth and moon.
That's a pretty close call. Chances are the asteroid will be visible in parts of the earth. Here on the West Coast, we're told it will be visible in the night sky.
Already we have been frantically preparing for 2004XP14, holding surfing parties from Malibu to Nome . Should the asteroid get a little closer and perhaps fall into the Pacific, the surf should be up.
Those who haven't prepared for the asteroid may want to get their X10 surveillance cameras ready to shoot the arrival of a 400-meter object as it enters the neighborhood. X10 guarantees that the object will be detected if you attach the low-cost motion detector to the camera.
If you live on the West Coast, and scientists back down from their previous statements that the asteroid will stay several hundred thousand miles away, you might also want to take advantage of the X10 video sender, which will let you observe the impact from a distance through an Internet connection. This might be a time to reconnect with family and friends far away… say Antarctica. (Unless the asteroid has an inherently poor sense of direction)
Even if this whole thing passes as the scientists say, you might remember this as the half-asteroid event. Whatever preparations you make for this one will be a great rehearsal for the major event, strangely enough scheduled for Friday, April 13, 2029. Some Scientists (many of whom do not wear aluminum foil protective gear on their head) are predicting a serious asteroid impact on that day.
I will go out on a limb and say if the asteroid hits in New Orleans, there IS a chance that the levees will break.