well, when dealing with something that could possibly destroy all 6.5 billion people on the world, they would probably do more then double check, they'd probably check about 100 times. and if the asteroid was coming toward earth, they'd send out this missile shield thing they've been designing for a case like this. it'd destroy or deflect the missile.
99942 Apophis (pronounced /ÉËpoÊfɪs/, previously known by its provisional designation 2004 MN4) is a near-Earth asteroid that caused a brief period of concern in December 2004 because initial observations indicated a relatively large probability (up to 2.7%) that it would strike the Earth in 2029. Additional observations provided improved predictions that eliminated the possibility of an impact on Earth or the Moon in 2029. However there remained a possibility that during the 2029 close encounter with Earth, Apophis would pass through a gravitational keyhole, a precise region in space no more than about 400 meters across, that would set up a future impact on April 13, 2036. This possibility kept the asteroid at Level 1 on the Torino impact hazard scale until August 2006. It broke the record for the highest level on the Torino Scale, being, for only a short time, a level 4, before it was lowered.[5]
Additional observations of the trajectory of Apophis revealed the "keyhole" would likely be missed and on August 5, 2006, Apophis was lowered to a Level 0 on the Torino Scale. As of October 19, 2006, the impact probability for April 13, 2036, was calculated as 1 in 45,000. An additional impact date in 2037 was also identified; the impact probability for that encounter was calculated as 1 in 12.3 million.
In April 2008 it was widely reported that 13 year-old Nico Marquardt from Potsdam, Germany, had recalculated the odds as part of a science competition, and found the risk of a collision with the Earth was 1 in 450, 100 times greater than that of NASA. His project allegedly took into account the possibility that the asteroid would collide with one or more of the estimated 40,000 artificial satellites orbiting Earth [6]
Initial news reports stated that NASA and ESA agreed with Marquardt's claim.[7], but this was demonstrated to be a hoax. Both an unnamed German ESA spokesman and NASA spokesman Dwayne Brown confirmed that NASA's figures were correct, with Brown further stating that NASA had not had any contact with Marquardt.[8] Brown explained that, "...the asteroid will not pass near the main belt of geosynchronous satellites in 2029, and the chance of a collision with a satellite is exceedingly remote."[9] This was followed by an update to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory page on Apophis which explains that such an impact would have no significant effect on its orbit.[10]
Most experts agree that Apophis warrants closer scrutiny, and to that end, in February 2008 the Planetary Society awarded $50,000 in prize money to companies and students who submitted designs for space probes that would put a tracking device on or near the asteroid.[11]
Anyway, As long as we don't blow up I for one believe that I'm pretty okay.
On the other hand, I doubt Aphophis is touching us. Were protected from The Fat planets and the Asteroid Belt and stuff like that. I don't see why this should be any different. Even though, if it is, and somehow it passes the gravitational keyhole... Then I say put every country up to attack it. > Fight The Monster, : Episode ONE -- The Big Rock, Will it Hit?
Anyway, I say, We get Arnold Shwarchzenegger [Have NO IDEA how to spell that] in a spacesuit and have him push it. Either that or let Chuck Norris try. XD
As previous posters have said and cited, it's a hoax. There are child prodigies out there, but I doubt this kid is one of them. If he were, where are his other mathematical achievements? How did he get enough astronomic data to compute those chances? Where did he get the graduate degree in astrophysics it probably takes to compute this? This kid is nothing more than an attention seeker and the journalists who reported it are just pandering for sales.
