2020LD - A Near Miss

Post Reply New Topic

On 5 June a recently discovered asteroid was a near miss to Earth. It was called 2020LD. It was traveling at 27.2 meters per second (or 60,000 mph). But it was a little bigger than the average asteroid at 119 meters (390 feet). It missed Earth by 0.8 LD (8/10s the distance to the moon).

Had it struck Earth, it would have created an explosion equivalent to around the release of 100 megaton nuclear bomb.

Probably would have made bigger headlines if folks weren't preoccupied with the BLM movement and COVID-19.

I like the idea of star-gazing, but think it is more fun out in remote areas with less light pollution. Say, New Mexico or Montana. Or better yet, Alaska.

It would have equaled the "Czar Bomb". The single biggest manmade explosion ever: The Soviet 100 megaton device that they set off in the early Sixties on an island in the Arctic ocean- which was seven thousand times as powerful as the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

Hm, I wonder if stuff like that increased the global rate of cancer. I bet. All those isotopes running around looking for a warm body to mess up. We may never know. Hope it doesn't happen again, but you know, it probably will.

The radioactive part of the Czar Bomb was probably no greater than that of the Hiroshima bomb. The later was a fission bomb, and the fissable material was the main ingredient of the bomb. But then they invented the far more powerful fusion bombs(aka hydrogen bombs). But hydrogen bombs contain small fission bombs to trigger the nuclear fusion. The fissable material is the trigger, but not the main fuel. So the Czar bomb (a hydrogen bomb)though it would have left radioactive residue, it was probably not as radioactive relative to its power as any fission bomb. Not that I am defending any government that plays around with 100 megaton bombs. Just saying that the extreme power probably did not translate into being more polluting to the environment than other less powerful open air nuclear tests of that time by either side in the Cold War.

But yes ...it does seem crazy...some of the stuff that both sides did with open air nuclear explosions during the Fifties.

There is footage of American soldiers in trenches, and then a big mushroom cloud goes off in the distance. And then troops get out of the trenches and march toward the mushroom cloud. Just practice army maneuvers. But to us modern viewers its alarming to watch, and you wonder how many those troops later got tumors.

The wierdest footage comes from the Chinese army- which would also combine nukes with army maneuvers. But the Chinese still used mounted cavalry. So you see a mushroom cloud. Then you see mounted warriors on horseback dressed like the hordes of the Genghis Khan from the middle ages, but both the men AND their horses, are also wearing gas masks. And then one warrior lowers his saber and yells "charge" and they all charge towards the mushroom cloud. Surreal.

(TARDIS materialises)
THE DOCTOR: Ah yes, Clara, we are clearly on the planet Skaro towards the end of the Thousand Year War.

That was an interesting read, unfortunately I believe it is 100% true. Army is all about preparing soldiers for the unusual and scary aspects of war. I guess they figured atom bombs were going to be deployed all the time in the next conflict.

The best I ever hope for, the most realistic hope, is that war between China and U.S. does not break out during my lifetime, that I cash in my chips before it happens. And that one of these petty dictatorships doesn't go crazy and nuke us.