Asteroid Passing Close to Earth

A nearby asteroid is passing fairly close to Earth, but you’ll need more than 20/20 vision to see it. Unfortunately, only 400 feet across and about 200,000 miles away from us, it will be pretty hard to see. This scenario could give science fiction writers a lot to think about, but could it really strike the Earth? It’s not at all likely. In fact, this object is not big enough to have any effect on us at all. There are also two space agency milestones to take note of this week. The Russian launch vehicle destructed just after lift off carrying a satellite to orbit making NASA uneasy since the vehicle also currently transports US astronauts to ISS. Fortunately, the problem has been corrected. China has made great strides in their space program by docking two spacecraft together and thereby creating an orbiting space station. This was the first time that the Chinese have ever docked two spacecraft together and shows that they have the ability to assemble spacecraft in space.  Also, don’t miss Mercury and Venus in the night sky this week. For more on what NASA is up to check out  NASA Chief scientist Waleed Abdalati who will be the guest speaker at The Franklin on November 10th. All this and more on this week’s Sky Talk.[audio: st20111107.mp3]