Insight into meteor explosion in Russia

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It is getting back to normal for all of those shell shock to Russians who were witness to the largest meteor strike in a century.

It came yesterday on the same day that an asteroid was a scheduled for a very intimate fly -- -- our third rock from the sun.

Greg pal got tells us the most surprising part of the story.

Maybe that more people were not injured in the morning blast.

It came from the sky just after 9 o'clock in the morning local time -- tend to.

Meteor racing at around 33000 miles an hour through the atmosphere streaked over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk some 900 miles east of Moscow before exploding fireball blinding bright light said do -- the power of an atomic bomb.

A few minutes later shockwave 2% from -- sonic boom.

That's smashed windows damaged hundreds of buildings knocked out phone service nearly a thousand people -- a hundred people -- hospitalized but no one was reported killed.

But we'll be reminded me of action movies like terminator for this eyewitness said the light was very bright but -- bright sun.

That the blast happened.

Another eyewitness said there was panic in the streets -- another said it felt like a war zone.

20000 emergency workers fanned out across the region three impact sites were found the -- mr.

nuclear and chemical weapons storage facilities Russian President Putin promised aid for those affected.

Some small meteor strike the earth every year including in the US but this one was noteworthy for -- size into retail and disability.

The thing you said it came down over a populated area an industrial area in fact and that's these.

May be unusual.

-- was -- great -- cot report so could this event have been predicted.

Can it happen again.

Bill Nye the Science Guy joins us now with some answers bill.

A pleasure to speak to -- One thing that really that strikes me about this to meet you was its size about a 150 feet in diameter weighing I've read today as much as nuclear submarine traveling at.

It's what 40000 miles per hour.

Imagine the impact had this thing coming directly Indians and not been burn -- -- exploded in the atmosphere what would have happened.

But I think I think you got the two events mixed.

The one yesterday was barely five meters the one over Russia.

The one that just missed us.

Was 45 meters so.

That 45 meter when -- -- again.

You're talking about 200 times the explosive power of the weapons -- over Japan in World War II.

So this is a real threat to humanity.

And what we want to do is is cataloged them.

This find the ball on this is a very difficult thing especially.

When they're as small as the one over Russia when something's only as -- -- say the distance between me and your camera.

And it's traveling at over 30000 kilometers an hour and it's very dark they're hard to see they're hard to find however.

It is very much in human he's best interest.

To find a ball and then we can develop ways which really are not.

That too if they're not that far in the future hall ways to give them a little knowledge let's talk -- let's talk about some of those ways because I've I've read that there they're all kinds of up possibilities from everything from from new king and national it to.

To painting -- it to help the sun deflect its direction.

Is that realistic.

Yeah I got so what we want to do is change the speed of these things.

Just a few millimeters.

A -- just a few millimeters so.

If you could find it say ten years in advance before it was gonna cross the Earth's orbit when we are there.

Then you would.

You would just give it a little nudge -- the that the planetary society and by the way the Planetary Society.

Need to grant to the astronomers in Spain who found asteroid -- twelve.

Fourteen so it's it's a niche business of finding these fast moving relatively small objects with troops still.

Tremendous destructive power anyway what we want to do.

Is get these spacecraft with solar panels that would pump lasers.

And shoot the lasers at the rock and the objective of the stuff that's Bolivar burning off evaporating.

Would give it a little.

Tiny rocket motor knowledge.

So it would miss the earth when it comes around -- is it true as I have read that that that this meteor which blew up in the Russian atmosphere today.

Was not detected at all and could not have been detected because -- of daylight.

Certainly sets or very.

Very hard to detect because his -- green sort of this bid.

And so and it's dark and it's going 30000 miles an -- -- very hard but you gotta figure not impossible.

Mean of humankind got together and decided this was worth -- one.

We go out there and give them -- and I -- billing guys we've got just about 3830 seconds -- I wanna ask you really quickly had this thing it impacted earth with with that speed.

30000 kilometers an hour what would have been the damage.

-- -- made it to the ground just hoping for a little bigger the little bigger -- make it to the ground you're gonna meteor crater Arizona.

An object on this -- this order of magnitude between zero and fifty metres made -- crater in the ground over a mile wide.

Like that in an instant and so this is why humankind should give it some thought to be an opportunity for everyone on earth.

To work together to if I -- save the planet for us.

Bill -- thanks for having me on a fascinating discussion we appreciate you being on thank you very much sir good to see you.

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Insight into meteor explosion in Russia

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