Expert: Steven LJ Russo - 2/27/2006

Question
Hi my name is Steve Pearson im a senior at Shaler Area High School. My english teacher assigned us a project to think of a burning question and have that question be answered by an expert in that field. Once everyone has had there question answered we are going to create a encyclopedia of these so called "burning Questions". So to get to the point my "Burning Question" is: "Is there a possibility of an astroid hitting the earth within the next 200 years?". If you could please answer this question as soon as possible i would greatly appreciate that. Thank you very much.

-Steve Pearson-

Answer
Steve:

Well, "technically speaking", I cannot guarantee that an asteroid will NOT hit the Earth within five minutes after you get this e-mail.

However, Unlike what we see in the movies, an asteroid will not be discovered to be haeding towards earth, and we only have three month's to get ready for it.  We would have decades.

Since most asteroids are only about the size of a basketball, by the time they would make it through the Earth's atmosphere, they would be non-existant.  Any asteroid that is very large, and a couple are the size of Texas, is usually "stuck" in the Asteroid belt and is not coming towards the Earth.

You have a better chance of winning the lottery, than an asteroid has of hitting the Earth.  For a better explanation, go to my web site at:

http://www.look-to-the-skies.com

On the opening page, you will find something that says:
" EARTH DESTROYING ASTEROIDS? - Fugeddaboudit! - (NASA Info Sheet)"

Click on that link for a good explanation.

You might also try:
http://impact.arc.nasa.gov/intro_impact.cfm

Steve