Bad news: The asteroid that just missed Earth is coming back. And will hit the earth

Investors.com    02.21.2013

NASA estimates the flyby asteroid was the largest to approach this close in more than a century.

On Earth it would weigh about 130,000 metric tons. That's even larger than one that tore through the atmosphere in 1908. It too preferred Russia. That meteorite explosion leveled 825 square miles, or 528,000 acres of Siberian forest.

However, Friday's uneventful visit was not without effects. The pull of Earth's gravity altered 2012 AD 14's orbit around the Sun, shortening its annual solar rotation from 366 Earth days to 317.

 

For instance, 2012 AD 14's orbit will not bring it back to our neighborhood again until 2046, when Americans will still be paying for Barack Obama's recent borrowing.

Now, about that other bad news. According to the same computer calculations, in 2080 the orbit of 2012 AD 14, if unaltered in these next 67 years by some super-natural force like Bruce Willis, will slam into Earth at almost 18,000 miles an hour.

That explosive encounter, NASA says, will release about 2.5 megatons of energy into the atmosphere, causing "regional devastation."

 

full story here

 

A meteorite (which is what asteroids are called after entering Earth's atmosphere) that severely rattled Russians Friday morning was merely coincidental to the flyby. Ever heard a major meteor explosion? Turn up your volume and watch this video:here