re: The one that zipped over the US in 1972..it might still trigger a nuclear response .

Space/Science » in reply to The one that zipped over the US in 1972...

Andrew — 7/4/2008 4:27:27 PM (archived)

Hi Socrates, from your post above "it might
still trigger a nuclear response." Intersting point about an asteroid explosion possibly being msitaken for a nuclear missile attack. I hadn't thought about this, but I am sure someone must have. Can a natural event like an asteroid blast is mistaken as a hostile nuclear attack? Are ther ailsafes to avoid starting nuclear war over an act of nature? How do the gentlemen with their fingers on the triggers know if a massive explosion is natural or man made?

The whole thread (24 posts)

100 Years Since the Tunguska Event - Socrates II - 6/27/2008 4:08:38 PM
- A Canadian operated asteroid-hunting satellite should probe the sky in 2010. - Jacob - 6/27/2008 4:25:35 PM
- House passes bill mandating a plan for asteroid warning and deflection - Socrates II - 6/27/2008 4:09:28 PM
  - That is in addition to the George Brown Jnr. Ammendment - E.P. - 7/3/2008 9:15:51 PM
  - Once in 100 years, huh?...The next one will explode over the Pacific. - Jacob - 6/27/2008 4:29:37 PM
    - A Hiroshima size explosion occurs in Earth's atmosphere around once a year. - Lee - 6/28/2008 12:07:11 AM
      - re: A Hiroshima size explosion occurs in Earth's atmosphere around once a year. - a;lskdjf - 3/5/2009 2:18:52 AM
    - And yet, there is more of the surface of the earth that is not Pacific Ocean than is. - alcaray - 6/27/2008 9:35:30 PM
      - A big enough impact in the ocean... - ER - 6/28/2008 3:03:55 PM
        
        But those are _really_ big impacts - dtb - 6/28/2008 10:16:00 PM
        
        Good summation - TB - 6/28/2008 6:50:14 PM
      - The one that zipped over the US in 1972... - Socrates II - 6/28/2008 3:09:11 AM
        
        re: The one that zipped over the US in 1972..it might still trigger a nuclear response . - Andrew - 7/4/2008 4:27:27 PM
        
        And there may be a 'recent' Arabian Tunguska that may have wiped out a merchant city/town. - Jacob - 7/2/2008 4:59:11 PM
        
        Happened in 1991 as well. - Lee - 6/28/2008 5:24:15 AM
        
        Huge Tunguska Explosion Remains Mysterious 100 Years Later - Socrates II - 6/30/2008 7:52:27 PM
        
        The Tunguska Impact - 100 Years Later - Socrates II - 6/30/2008 7:55:11 PM
        
        Acid Rain Traces Support Meteor Theory For 1908 Tunguska Blast - Socrates II - 7/1/2008 2:08:22 PM
        
        Maverick scientists probe Siberian forest mystery - Socrates II - 7/2/2008 3:03:38 PM
        
        Tesla DEATH RAY.............. - carl - 7/2/2008 3:13:53 PM
        
        Scientific American article on the Tunguska Event - Socrates II - 7/3/2008 1:46:11 AM
        
        Meanwhile - 12,900 years ago in America... - Socrates II - 7/3/2008 3:47:40 PM
        
        Yep. - E.P. - 7/3/2008 9:27:27 PM
        
        Maybe Chicken Little Wasn't Paranoid After All - Socrates II - 7/7/2008 3:06:30 PM

Recent posts

On this day in Space/Science

The whole thread (24 posts)