10 Ton Meteor Explodes Over Russia

[WDRacing]

Sometime today a meteor exploded over Russia. Apparently exploding with the force of an Atomic bomb and shattering 1 million square feet of glass.

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/02/ ... mountains/

[Jmoore124]

Yeah that is nuts. Said it injured 750 people. I saw a picture of a factory that had collapsed... This is it guys...

[WDRacing]

It doesn't have to be 'it" per se, but can you imagine a meteor of that size exploding over NYC?

[krash]

I'd be out there collecting space rocks.

[WDRacing]

I hear that.

[yodawill2000]

And to think that was just a fragment from a much larger rock !

[szh]

And to think that was just a fragment from a much larger rock !

Yeah.

A way, WAY bigger one - thus an asteroid rather than a meteor - is due to pass over the Indian Ocean in a few hours ... at about 17k miles above the Earth (which is well below the orbital height of satellites we launch, by the way). We are lucky it is not going to actually hit - would cause devastation around the globe.

Z

[WDRacing]

One the size of half a football field is going to pass between Earth and our satellites today at about 1430 GMT.

*Beat me to the punch Z*

[Dattebayo]

I wonder why there isn't more speculation about this meteor having something to do with the other one? It can't be just coincidence...

I've been tracking the larger one (2012 DA14) for nearly three months now on my own time, and let me tell you, it SCARES the crap out of me. That sucker would wipe out new york state and make life hell for the entire northeastern US & Canada for a long while if it hit us.

[Bubba1]

It doesn't have to be 'it" per se, but can you imagine a meteor of that size exploding over NYC?

If it happened in NYC, I could see a mass riot at the site with people fighting each other to get fragments to sell on craigslist, taxi's driving around the crater on the sidewalks to avoid it, several lawsuits immediately filed against the city and NASA for not giving the citizens adequate warning, meteor and rock themed t-shirts will quickly go on sale, and Jesda will say the city deserved it . j/k

Seriously, that meteor was both exciting and scary. you always hope they land in an unpopulated area.

[WDRacing]

Or Iran...anywhere in Iran would be fine.

[frapjap]

Or Iran...anywhere in Iran would be fine.

The oil fields will light up like the eyes of allah.

[LongBeachCoupe]

Thats a pretty wild video... I wish one of our comrades here would translate what the guy is saying for us....
Something like that hitting a metropolitan area, or anywhere that supports the power grid would be catastrophic and would cause something beyond mass panic.
Glad I still have a few cases of military rations I got from FEMA when I left Long Beach.

[300ZXttZMAN]

I'd be out there collecting space rocks.

Me to but I heard that it landed in a lake. -_-

[krash]

I hope you're a good swimmer!

[WDRacing]

Think about all the hot Russian chicks running around in bathing suits rubbing sun tan lotion all over each other! I'm down for a rock hunt!

[DJ_B_Easy]

Im not going near that thing. When Megatron wakes up I'll be right here safe and sound while you guys are being vaporized in your bathing suits.

[WDRacing]

With hot Russian chicks!

[krash]

[alms24sebring]

Wow so it did land?! Thats a pretty penny for whoever gets there hands on that.

I think it had to be a fragment of the asteroid that passed. Earths/Moon gravity must have caused enough of a tug to break a piece off. It was also the close to the same point where a meteor exploded in the early 1900s over Tanguska (I believe). It must have been bigger and/or exploded closer to the surface because it did alot more damage, flattening trees in all directions for miles and miles.

[Dattebayo]

It was also the close to the same point where a meteor exploded in the early 1900s over Tanguska (I believe). It must have been bigger and/or exploded closer to the surface because it did alot more damage, flattening trees in all directions for miles and miles.

Nope. It was at least 2500 miles away from Tunguska. And the Tunguska object was theorized to be about the same size as DA14, the one that passed us today.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Apparently exploding with the force of an Atomic b0mb

The explosion itself definitely didn't have the force of the A-bomb, but maybe if you factor in the explosion with all the kinetic energy, it could possibly maybe be half-ish?

The A-bomb was nothing to f*** with bro.

[bigbadberry3]

Not Tunguska size, do not care :P

[WDRacing]

I'm just relaying the information jerky.

[darylzero]

Think about all the hot Russian chicks running around in bathing suits rubbing sun tan lotion all over each other! I'm down for a rock hunt!

Nice that all Russians have dash cams now.

As I read that asteroid had nothing to do with the other one that they knew about 17,000 miles away. The one that hit Russia came from the South and the one that didn't came from the North. Just a crazy comic coincidence.

[Dattebayo]

Just so everyone understands, the explosion has not been verified. There was a huge pressure wave. That's it so far.

[Loki]

I've heard some new estimates from NASA: 7000 metric tonnes traveling at 18km/s (Mach 44). That is WICKED fast.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Yeah, that is a lot of kinetic energy for sure.

[Dattebayo]

Discovery channel is doing a special on it tonight at 8PM EST. It will be on the Science channel afaik...

They're running the sometimes annoying "Meteorite Hunters" show all day in response as well. FiOS programming is showing otherwise, but I guess they made an executive decision. I certainly hope they get the details right this time. The media is full of misinformation, contradicting reports and the like. I just want to know what actually happened.

[Jesda]

mach 44 = 33,493.1102 mph



DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN