Asteroid 2012 DA14 rub Earth Friday. There is no danger, because cross the sky at about 27,700 miles. May be at risk only artificial satellites transiting the outer orbit, 8,300 kilometers away. However, the Spanish astronaut of the European Space Agency (ESA) on Wednesday Duque was adamant in ensuring that meteorites, no matter how small, if it hit the Earth can cause
significant damage.
"We must be careful in thinking that no matter how small the probability of collision can not happen." Duque explained during a video from the European Monitoring Centre for the International Space Station in Darmstadt (Germany), in connection with the CaixaForum in Madrid, "there is no other natural disaster occurs such huge effects."
For this astronaut, convinced that we must disclose the maximum and tell people this danger, "is not to be afraid, but of what we can do against it." Thus, claimed the development of "real projects and budgets" to act if it detects that a space rock goes directly to Earth. "It can be predicted, the impact-and could prevent" he said, because "there is a natural disaster before we have to resign."
Speaking at the conference, dedicated to the asteroid 2012 DA14 (80 meters in diameter), Pedro Duque said there are about 100,000 meteorites identified hazardous hundred yards and 1,000 more than a kilometer. If the asteroid fall on Earth on Friday, given its mass and velocity, the impact would release an energy of 2.5 megatons and produce a crater of a kilometer, similar to that produced another space rock 50,000 years ago in the Arizona desert ( USA). If precipitate on the sea would cause a tsunami.
"There are no other natural disaster occurs such huge effects," added astronaut, adding that "the whole climate change effects not as huge as the collision of an object of a mile."
