OT: Doomsday averted, Russia suckerpunched by space. Not cool, space.

Submitted by TTUwolverine on

Not cool I am srs.  How did you survive, and how do you plan on celebrating the continuance of mankind this lovely evening?  All condolences to those affected in Russia, but I can't be the only person on this blog who is fascinated by today's sequence of events.  Nerds, reveal yourselves.

 

LSAClassOf2000

February 15th, 2013 at 7:14 PM ^

Let us not forget that asteroid DA14 passed within 17,000 miles of Earth today, which is a closer pass than some satellites. Our glorious Space Emperor is obviously getting ready for September a  bit early this year. 

TTUwolverine

February 15th, 2013 at 7:24 PM ^

On a day when a potentially earth-changing asteroid narrowly (by space perspective, anyway) misses the planet, another smaller one, that is supposedly completely unrelated and with a totally different trajectory path, comes screaming into Russia.  The Mayans man.  Mayans.   

get-on-my-lawn

February 15th, 2013 at 7:28 PM ^

No closer up footage of when the meteorite actually struck the ground? Or am i missing something? I can find a ton of footage of it in the air from afar but no closer up videos of when it actually exploded or any of it making actually falling to the ground? Can anyone help me

TTUwolverine

February 15th, 2013 at 7:32 PM ^

For one, it broke into a billion pieces when it got close to the surface, so there probably wasn't a dramatic impact anywhere.  And, this thing was moving at 18 miles per second.  There wasn't a whole hell of a lot of time to get cameras out.  I imagine that a lot of the videos out there happened to be rolling by happenstance.... i.e. security cameras, police cruiser cameras, etc.  Also, this is in freaking Russia.  

get-on-my-lawn

February 15th, 2013 at 7:45 PM ^

I didn't realize that it had broken into a million peices. Obviously i am uneducated in this sort of thing, hence why i kindly asked for help. I didn't need the sarcasm from the ass hole above your post.also, yes i realize that most of these videos were by luck and chance or security footages, but that would mean there would be other security cameras closer to where the thing exploded in mid-air that would have been recovered. Just a simple answer from some ody who admittedly knows hardly anything about the subject...

TyrannousLex

February 16th, 2013 at 8:36 AM ^

Most places wouldn't even produce as much footage as we've seen. It happened pretty fast, as meteor do and all.

Driving in Russia is something of an experience. I used to sky dive and jump off of mountains for fun. I've driven a car at speeds greater than 150 mph. Yet all of my near death experiences happened on Russian roads. Because the craziest things happen on Russian roads (including insurance scams, fights, corrupt traffic police, etc.), most Russians run a dash cam to collect evidence in case of what would be a rare eventuality for you but an everyday occurance for Russians.

In my gypsy cabbing adventures i experienced road rage leading to off course chases so that my driver could scream and spit on the windshield of another car. I've been in cars that swerved at pedestrians (this was a Chechan screaming "Russian swine" and missing pedestrian babushkas by inches). I've driven on sidewalks at speed, played chicken with trams, and driving in oncoming traffic just stopped seeming like a very big deal.

To be fair, some of this was my fault. I reached a point where at times i'd offer a fair fare for the destination and then structure monetary rewards for quicker times to the destination.

BornInAA

February 15th, 2013 at 7:53 PM ^

Think about it. They defeated the greatest power in the world in a couple days. Walked right over us. And these were only the first. They'll keep coming. This is not a war any more than there's a war between men and maggots... This is an extermination.

Muttley

February 16th, 2013 at 12:36 AM ^

The old lob one up in the air (the asteroid) and then drill 'em (the meteorite) when your opponent is looking elsewhere in the sky.

Well  played, Space.

Tater

February 16th, 2013 at 10:23 AM ^

That was Kim Jong Il, who was tired of teaching God how to shoot 18 on a regulation golf course and decided to throw a big rock at Russia for old time's sake.