[meteorite-list] Astroid Musical Chairs

[mexicodoug at aim.com]

Hi Listees,

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080415/sc_afp/spaceastronomygermany_080415214429

This is a refreshing tale of armorget'um, astroids and satlites - about 
hope and the creativity of young minds!

[Even Jason might be over the hill ... is there a 9-year old on the 
list who can tell the boffins at Yahoo News how to spell "Astroid" - or 
congratulate the kid for already writing bilingual scientific papers ;)
("Astroid" spelling at end of article as of 17:30 UT).]

German schoolboy, 13, corrects NASA's asteroid figures: paper Tue Apr 
15, 5:44 PM ET

BERLIN (AFP) - A 13-year-old German schoolboy corrected NASA's 
estimates on the chances of an asteroid colliding with Earth, a German 
newspaper reported Tuesday, after spotting the boffins had 
miscalculated.

Nico Marquardt used telescopic findings from the Institute of 
Astrophysics in Potsdam (AIP) to calculate that there was a 1 in 450 
chance that the Apophis asteroid will collide with Earth, the Potsdamer 
Neuerster Nachrichten reported.

NASA had previously estimated the chances at only 1 in 45,000 but told 
its sister organisation, the European Space Agency (ESA), that the 
young whizzkid had got it right.

The schoolboy took into consideration the risk of Apophis running into 
one or more of the 40,000 satellites orbiting Earth during its path 
close to the planet on April 13 2029.

Those satellites travel at 3.07 kilometres a second (1.9 miles), at up 
to 35,880 kilometres above earth -- and the Apophis asteroid will pass 
by earth at a distance of 32,500 kilometres.

If the asteroid strikes a satellite in 2029, that will change its 
trajectory making it hit earth on its next orbit in 2036.

Both NASA and Marquardt agree that if the asteroid does collide with 
earth, it will create a ball of iron and iridium 320 metres (1049 feet) 
wide and weighing 200 billion tonnes, which will crash into the 
Atlantic Ocean.

The shockwaves from that would create huge tsunami waves, destroying 
both coastlines and inland areas, whilst creating a thick cloud of dust 
that would darken the skies indefinitely.

The 13-year old made his discovery as part of a regional science 
competition for which he submitted a project entitled: "Apophis -- The 
Killer Astroid."