This undated image released by NASA and taken by the NASA Dawn spacecraft shows the south pole of the giant asteroid Vesta. After spending a year examining Vesta, Dawn was poised to depart and head to another asteroid Ceres, where it will arrive in 2015. (AP)
Remember that asteroid that’s just going to miss Earth? Well, it’s zooming by Friday. And NASA is on it, showing just how on it they are with live video coverage of the event starting at 2 p.m. Eastern.
Free live streaming by Ustream
My colleague, Brian Vastag, has a great summary of what we here on Earth are and are not in for as asteroid 2012 DA14 draws near. And fellow colleague Joel Achenbach has a line that should leave you with chills — or the desire to contribute your skills to the creation of an asteroid shield: “Every time we look at the cold, gray, cratered moon, we see what might have been.”
This image provided by NASA/JPL-Caltech shows a simulation of asteroid 2012 DA14 approaching from the south as it passes through the Earth-moon system on Friday, Feb. 15, 2013. (Uncredited - AP)
The asteroid is on a path to miss Earth entirely, but that doesn’t end the fascination. Let us know, in the comments, your thoughts on this near-miss. Has it changed your perspective on astronomy? Or are you as (or more) disinterested as you were before?
View Photo Gallery: On Friday, an asteroid as big as an office building will pass within a whisker of the Earth, the nearest recorded brush for a space rock of its size. Here’s a look at other encounters where our planet (and others) wasn’t as lucky.
Read more news and ideas on Innovations:
FORUM | How would you guard Earth against asteroids?
Why you’re not working on an asteroid field
How about we go on a crazy blind date?
