Many people are concerned about the potential aftermath of the 2020 US presidential election but a recent revelation by NASA has given residents of the Earth even more to worry about on the day before the election: an asteroid on a collision course with the planet.
The asteroid 2018VP1 is expected to arrive on November 2 and, according to NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), has a .41 % chance of hitting the Earth with three potential impacts. But even if it does impact on the surface of the planet, the asteroid is not expected to do any damage as at approximately seven feet in diameter, it is relatively small. Hazardous objects are those estimated to be more than 140 meters in diameter. An Earth-impact by this asteroid might rattle some windows or drop meteorites on rooftops.
Last week, an asteroid about ten feet in diameter flew just 1,830 miles over the southern Indian Ocean at a speed of 27,700 mph. This is the closest such an object has flown past Earth on record. The asteroid was first detected on July 26 by the Zwicky Transient Facility, a robotic camera that scans the sky.
Thought NASA voiced assurances that neither of these near-misses was reason for concern, some people from NASA are not so confident. In 2019, NASA administrator, Jim Bridenstine, warned an audience at the International Academy of Astronautics’ Planetary Defense Conference, about the very real possibility of a large meteor crashing into the earth. Bridenstine referred to an asteroid with a diameter of 66 feet that entered the atmosphere over Chelyabinsk, Russia in 2013 at a speed of over 40,000 mph. The asteroid generated an airburst with about 30 times as much energy as that released from the atomic bomb detonated at Hiroshima. Bridenstine told the conference that meteors enter the earth’s atmosphere on a regular basis, but those as large as Chelyabinsk only come once every 60 or so years.
“It is clear we are living in powerful times, fateful times,” “It is becoming clear that the World is not safe. And the governments are making it worse by causing division among the people.
They should be bringing the people together in prayer, repentance and recognizing that Jesus is Lord.
Lords Knight
