If a meteor, such as the one set to hit the earth in 2029, hits the moon instead then couldn't we be affected?

Question

Could a meteor striking the moon break off even more meteors which could hit the earth? Also, would a meteor moving 60,000 mph, iron composition, with a 5x5 mile mass have enough force to hit the moon (if impact angle is just perfect) into the Earth?

yes 2012 is the belief of the Mayans but they never said the world would end. They believed in great destruction and a new era would start; similar to christian beliefs.

Should they not send a satelite to move the asteroid now? I mean what if they were right and it missed the earth. Now it hits a keyhole in space and unexpectedly hits the moon! Now the world could be messed up in 2012!

Answer 1

Higg said:
"Don't believe the hype. The world is going to end on 21 Dec, 2012, so it doesn't matter any how."

I didn't catch what evidence your statement is this based on...?

Back to your excellent question...

I believe you are referring to 99942 Apophis which will pass very close to Earth in 2029. Here's a link to some more soothing information about it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99942_Apophis

We constantly have to deal with asteroids and comets that cross Earth's orbit. We've passed through the tail of a comet a few years ago (and every November we still do), we've had an asteroid come between us and the moon, and in 1994, a Comet Shoemaker-Levy9 broke apart and slammed numerous pieces into Jupiter. The biggest piece was only about 2 km in diameter (1 mi), yet it left a plume coming from the surface of Jupiter that was bigger than the entire Earth. Here's a link to the amazing photos:
http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/sl9/image295.html

An asteroid obviously has more mass than a comet because they are usually made of heavy metals and comets are just big balls of ice and dust, so if a 5-mile big asteroid were to impact the moon at that speed, the consequences would depend on how and where it hit. If it were a straight-on dead center hit on the Moon, it would send thousands of tons of ejecta into our orbital path, and we would subsequently pass through the debris as we orbited the Sun.

It would also affect the Moon's orbital path slightly, but I doubt that a Lunar collision would occur in within several thousand milliennia. (Anybody else out there have other data on this altered trajectory theory?)

Even worse, if the asteroid hit with a glancing blow, a big piece of the Moon could break off and head towards the Earth and hit us within 5-10 minutes, along with the fragments of the original asteroid.

There are several methods being discussed as to how to deflect asteroids away from the Earth once they're detected. Here are what the scientists are discussing (as of now...):

1) using the "shotgun" approach by blasting it with a whole bunch of small particles to give it just enough of a nudge to ease it out of our path.

2) attaching a solar sail onto the object and letting the solar wind gently tug it out of our path.

3) landing a small thruster or series of thrusters on it to push it onto a different course.

4) a "nuclear" solution is out of the question because tests and simulations have shown that instead of a huge "Earth-Killer" rock, we'd have several smaller "Earth-Killer" rocks, and it wouldn't solve anything. A Nuke would NOT vaporize an asteroid.

Here's a link to several "deflection" methods discussed:

I hope this answers your question. It was a good one!

Mack

Answer 2

If it moves the moon out of orbit, or destroys the moon, or alters its size, it would screw up the tides. Right now the water of the earth "bulges" toward the moon. If the moon suddenly went away, all that water would come back down to level, and there would probably be some flooding. There would be no more tide which would affect shipping and all sorts of plant/animal life which depends on the shoreline being sometimes exposed and sometimes covered with water.
If you want to find out what a meteor will do when it hits earth, go to the link below and put in your data. I recently wrote a book with a meteor in it and this helped A LOT to decide the size and type of meteor and impact.

Answer 3

Yup, when a meteor gets its heart set on striking the Earth, and has to settle for the moon it sends out these disappointment rays called gravity that mess with you big time.

The other scenario you describe is called the Pool Table Effect. Just like folks having a friendly game, we have to hope the Sun sneezes some radiation to throw off that shot.

Answer 4

think of it this way, first it to be a near miss in 2029 and depending on the gravitational effects of the earth won,t collide with earth until 2036. second, man will probably survive in some form, but don't look for a microwave. third, the earth output of food can only support 8 billion people and we are fast approaching. and last as guardians of this great home in the stars, we have depleted most of the natural resources in the past 200 years in a civilization only 6000 years old. do we deserve not to be affected

Answer 5

Let's suppose it knocks the tides outta wack, too. We'd either drown or breathe in a ton of debris. I doubt many will be trying to figure out where the meteors came from, just whether or not they're gonna live to see tomorrow.

Answer 6

Don't believe the hype. The world is going to end on 21 Dec, 2012, so it doesn't matter any how.

lol...someone took me serious??? The Myans predicted it.

Answer 7

It could cause a tsumani. The tides would react to a small one but a big collision would do the same damage.

Answer 8

It depends on the angle and direction of impact.