Reinep
September 20, 2012
University of British Columbia Professor published an on-line article
that projected an 800m asteroid would hit Antarctica in the fall of
2012.
His article was on the www.phas.ubc.ca website
for 2 days before it abruptly disappeared. The initial data was
gathered by The Balloon-borne Large-Aperture Sub millimeter Telescope
(BLAST) at McMurdo Station, Antarctica.
The theorized asteroid was then tracked by Canada-France-Hawaii
Telescope on Mauna Kea, which (with the Adaptive Optics Bonnette)
supplies probably the sharpest images currently obtainable from the
ground.
One week after this mysterious article disappeared, “Canadian and
American astronauts say the world needs to prepare for the big one — the
asteroid impact that could one day devastate the Earth.Veteran Canadian
astronaut Chris Hadfield is president of the Association of Space
Explorers, which has prepared a detailed report on the asteroid threat.
The Canadian Space Agency intends to launch NEOSSat next March to
look for asteroids that may be hiding near the sun. The $15-million
suitcase-sized satellite will circle about 700 kilometers above the
Earth.
A Canadian Space Agency official says NEOSSat is expected to detect
hundreds of new asteroids during its first year of operation. It will
also monitor the heavy traffic of satellites now orbiting the Earth to
try to prevent possible collisions.” Link
The article hypothesized a 94% probability that the asteroid would
impact on the Filchner-Ronne ice shelf and cause 2/3 of ice on
Antarctica to crumble into sea. The article surmised the total collapse
of all Antarctic ice within 2-4 months after impact.
“A deep enough impact would crack the ice shelf like a window and
total structural collapse would be inevitable, a few months at the
outside.” If the ice on Antarctica was added the the world’s ocean it
would raise them by 70 meters.
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