Feb. 15, 2013: Asteroid to Come Close Enough to Knock Satellites Out of Orbit

Near Earth Asteroid (NEA) 2012 DA14 has its annual flyby of the earth on February 15, 2013. Its projected orbit, according to NASA, will bring it well within the orbits of geosynchronous satellites currently orbiting our planet. NASA has indicated that there is no danger of this asteroid impacting our planet, however they have not ruled out our gravity changing the asteroids orbital pattern.

NEA 2012 DA 14 was discovered on February 23, 2012 by the Observatorio Astronómico de Mallorca (OAM), near the Spanish city of La Sagra. According to NASA’s Near Earth Object Program, NEO, the asteroid will pass the earth at a distance of 21,000 miles, putting the asteroid’s trajectory in between the earth and the satellites orbiting our planet. Geosynchronous satellites orbiting our planet orbit at a distance of roughly 26,200 miles above the earth. Geostationary orbiting objects orbit at a distance of roughly 22,236 miles above the Earth’s equator. These objects are considered to be in High Earth Orbit (HEO). Any object in space considered to be in a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) is approximately 1250 miles above the equator. The term Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) refers to an orbiting object approximately 12,500 miles above the Earth’s equator, in between objects in an LEO and a HEO, geosynchronous orbit.

With Near Earth Asteroid 2012 DA 14′s flyby falling somewhere in between geosynchronous satellite orbit, and objects orbiting in a Medium Earth Orbit pattern, the potential for this NEO impacting other objects orbiting our planet appears to be almost guaranteed.

read more: http://theintelhub.com/2013/01/17/feb-15-2013-asteroid-to-come-close-enough-to-knock-satellites-out-of-orbit/