8 ms·
Small Asteroid Is Earth's Constant Companion
- blatant 10y agoIt's not a moon, it is a quasi-satelite.* We know of multiple, but this appears to behave like an actual moon more accurately than the others. "https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quasi-satellite https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quasi-satellite
- RileyKyeden 10y agoI'm disappointed they didn't go with quasilite.
- civilian 10y agoThey didn't go with that because that's what we call newcomers to Seattle!
- int0x80 10y agoThat's no Moon.
- bronson 10y agoIt's 1/2 the size of an aircraft carrier... Not much of a battle station either.
- dang 10y agoUrl changed from http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/space/stories/earth-has-captured-second-moon-says-nasa http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/space/stories/earth-has-cap..., which points to this.
- csours 10y agoThe 3rd planet is sure that they're being watched By an eye in the sky that can't be stopped. [1] 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsnELWjsCsA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsnELWjsCsA
- barisser 10y agoToo small to destroy the Earth, yet not big enough to act as a Space Prison... alas.
- teraformer 10y agoOh, I dunno. If its orbit is currently stable, then all you'd need to do is increase its velocity, whenever you add mass. It might be a good object to seed with lunar landfill. I'm thinking it could be like the outer space version of Sealand. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Sealand https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Sealand https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HM_Fort_Roughs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HM_Fort_Roughs
- noonespecial 10y agoJust the right size to turn into our first starship?
- m_mueller 10y agoThat would actually make sense if its mass could be turned into fuel.
- tener 10y agoIt is just 100 meters across. A single nuke and we will be back to one moon. Alternative scenario: cut it down to pieces, bring back to Earth - perhaps it is made of gold or better?
- nxzero 10y agoOr, strange idea, leave it be.
- njharman 10y agoThat is not the Human way.
- hirsin 10y agoPerhaps a good test site for Planetary Resources, although it sounds like it may be too small. Can you call dibs on an asteroid?
- ProAm 10y agoYes, it's first come first serve.
- Ftuuky 10y agoBoth US and Luxembourg have laws stating that if you get there first you own it and can use it for commercial purposes.
- zo1 10y agoHave a look at my post, it's a sibling to your comment.
- zo1 10y agoNo, you can't technically call "dibs" on it. It's not enough that all governments on earth have taken up all the land on the planet, they claim all of space as well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_Space_Treaty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_Space_Treaty It's been ratified by most of the governments on our planet. The key part from the wiki page: "[...]the Treaty states that "outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means"
- broahmed 10y agoPlanetary Resources [1] (that asteroid mining company) might be interested in this bit of news. Hope it's minable! [1] http://planetaryresources.com/ http://planetaryresources.com/
- developer2 10y agoI find that so disappointing. Of course there are people already planning to rip resources out of the cosmos. Once you've left Earth barren, of course it makes sense to spread our destructive tendencies throughout the solar system / galaxy.
- iammyIP 10y agoIf we can stop mining resources on earth and outsource that to some asteroids, why not? We still need resources.
- ZoF 10y agoThat's a pretty negative way of looking at it. I don't disagree that humanity is 'wasteful', but these 'destructive' tendencies will be necessary for the creation and propagation of _life_ beyond/within our solar system. What do you value more, preservation of the cosmos in their current state, or the expansion of our existence beyond Earth. I think the fact that companies are already looking to mine asteroids is nothing short of awesome and inspiring.
- zo1 10y agoUnless you plan on us living a life of bare subsistence, and artificially-limiting our population growth, there is no way around it. There is no equivalent to "being one with mother-nature" when you get to this stage. At this point, resources are just there to fuel our existence, and using up barren raw-resource pockets outside of our current "home" seems like a very good way of doing it.
- abcd_f 10y agoUnless it's made from stacks of crisp USD bills, I doubt they will be interested. Because that's what they seem to have been focused on mining to date.
- ChuckMcM 10y agoFun! So now to find the writeup for the KSP parameters for an intercept. It would be fascinating if it were an alien artifact, designed in such a way that you would have to reach a certain level of technology to actually see it, and then a bit further to go out and visit it. Leave a box on it with pictures for how to call the aliens to have a talk with them. If nothing else it would be a fun story to write.
- skykooler 10y agoSo, now we have a sort of Minmus?
- colordrops 10y ago> it would be a fun story to write You mean 2001?
- avar 10y agoHow does this affect Earth's status as a planet? The asteroid seems to be sharing our orbit, and the IAU has decided that if you haven't cleared your orbit you're not a planet. That's how Pluto got disqualified. Are we a dwarf planet now?
- DCKing 10y ago'Clearing your orbit' is not a qualitative term. It is actually something that is quantifiable: a value that expresses the relation of the mass in the planet's orbit compared to the mass of the planet itself. A tiny asteroid won't change that value much for Earth, which is more than comfortably a planet under this definition. The mass of this asteroid may not even affect the estimates of the mass of the regular space debris in our orbit even (haven't checked).
- avar 10y agoI didn't know that the "clearing your orbit" requirement had the caveat that it had to be cleared up to a given mass ratio. Do you know what that mass ratio is?
- kbutler 10y agoWikipedia includes the un-sourced qualifier "no other bodies of comparable size other than its satellites or those otherwise under its gravitational influence." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clearing_the_neighbourhood https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clearing_the_neighbourhood The "comparable size" is not part of the IAU definition, which just includes "(c) has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit." http://www.iau.org/news/pressreleases/detail/iau0603/ http://www.iau.org/news/pressreleases/detail/iau0603/
- aclissold 10y agoThis is so romantic! Earth has a little friend that (at least on a human timescale) has always been there, always will be, no questions asked <3
- teslaberry 10y agoOne word, cruithne
- heroprotagonist 10y agoIf I were aliens attempting to subtley measure the progress of life on Earth, that's where I'd put my monitoring station.