Oops! No need to call for Bruce Willis

[mahnmut]

Look out, incoming killer asteroid! Or is it..? Astronomers left red-faced after false alarm

Astronomers were left red-faced after accidentally confusing the European space probe Rosetta with a killer asteroid heading for Earth.

After spotting an unidentified object hurtling through space and due to fly worryingly close to Earth, space experts at the Minor Planet Centre, the group that scans the skies for incoming asteroids, were on the verge of issuing a worldwide warning of impending doom.

Emergency emails were prepared and astronomers worldwide prepared to tell us all the worst: that a deadly asteroid was due to skim our planet by only 3,500 miles and there was a very real risk that it might collide with Earth.  ...

The end of the world...not.

Comments

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

One of the comments below the article sums up my opinion pretty well:

Surely if it was a real asteroid they would be preparing for it years before it came near and would be able to tell us that we will all be ok as they have prepared emergency underground homes or some sort of life preserving method. They would not just say there ia an asteroid coming, sorry you will all die.

[abomvubuso.livejournal.com]

Ow ow ow... so much about death'n'doom :S

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

+1 :-)

[nairiporter.livejournal.com]

Don`t laugh at them. They are at least trying to help.

[abomvubuso.livejournal.com]

And how? By telling us "Okay folks, so long with civilisation"? That'd just cause unnecessary panic and chaos. If an asteroid sets on course to Earth right now, there's nothing we can do at this point.

Would you prefer to know that you'll die in 3 days, or just learn it 5 minutes before the end?

[nairiporter.livejournal.com]

This is a very philosophic question. There are many films on this topic. I don`t know what I prefer. Maybe it is better to know what is going to happen in advance so that I can prepare psychically. I may want to spend the final days together with my close people...

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

How will you prepare psychically? You will hide in a cave with your family and shiver?

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

5 minutes to destroy the world? Wow that must be a hell of a huge asteroid!

[airiefairie.livejournal.com]

You are all missing something. First, it is not necessary the asteroid to hit Earth. It is enough to pass very close to cause dramatic change to the environment. Second, if it hits Earth, it will take some time for us all to die. Only those who are directly hit will die immediately. The rest will suffer much longer. And last, this agency may not have the means to stop a potential danger from space indeed. Not yet...but its existence and the work these people are doing is the first step to a bigger defense. It is true that the world did not end until now even though there was no such institution. But is it bad that it now exists? Every opportunity to increase our chance to survive is worth the efforts.

[abomvubuso.livejournal.com]

You just wait for 2012 ;)