Asteroid 2009 DD45 misses Earth

A small asteroid, designated 2009 DD45, passed the Earth at a distance of 46,000 miles, a near miss in terms of cosmic distances. Though asteroid 2009 DD45 was just about two hundred feet long, it might have impacted with the force of a nuclear blast. Astronomers are comparing asteroid 2009 DD45 to the rock that caused the Tunguska impact of 1908. The 1908 impact occurred in Siberia near the Tunguska River and destroyed the taiga forest at a distance of twenty five kilometers around the epicenter. The Tunguska impact, which Asteroid 2009 DD45 Misses Earth was technically an air burst explosion rather than a ground collision, had the force of a multi-megaton nuclear blast. Had asteroid 2009 DD45 hit a populated area, such as a large city, it would have laid it waste. Had asteroid 2009 DD45 hit the ocean it would have caused a tsunami that would have devastated coastlines. Astronomers suggest that asteroid 2009 DD45 is now in a solar orbit that intersects the Earth's orbit. That means that asteroid 2009 DD45 will be visiting the vicinity of Earth again. The near miss of 2009 DD45, which was detected just two or so days before it passed the Earth, illustrates the continuing danger that the Earth faces due to asteroid impacts. Asteroid 2009 DD45 suggests that not only greater efforts should be made to detect and track such asteroids before they become a threat, but strategies should be put into place to divert them should they be found to be on a collision course. An asteroid 2.5 to 6 miles in length impacted the Earth near the Yucatan 65 million years ago. The Yucatan impact threw up unimaginable amounts of water vapor, dust, and other debris, blotting out the sun for years. It is thought to have rendered most life on Earth, including the dinosaurs, extinct. A similar impact in current times would certainly end human civilization and likely the human species. The idea of an asteroid hitting the Earth has been popularized in fiction and in cinema, including the 1998 films Armageddon and Deep Impact. Another film along those lines, When Worlds Collide, a remake of a 1950s film based on a 1933 novel, is under development. One of the missions proposed for the Orion space craft, now under development by NASA, is a visit to an Earth approaching asteroid. Such a mission would examine the characteristics of an Earth approaching asteroid, ascertain suitable strategies for diversion if necessary, and determine techniques for mining such asteroids for natural resources to be used by future space settlers.