Not to worry - the godless liberal has only a few years to get things done. Apophis (and God?) will change all that.

Apophis is an asteroid some 900 feet in diameter, headed for our planet. Midknight Review - New and Revised, came onto this story some time back when it came across an article detailing the request of several scientists as they approached the U.N. with their concerns as detailed in this story.

Apophis is an asteroid with an slightly offset orbit to that of Earth's. Discovered in June 2004, astronomers have determined that it will make a very close flyby on April 13th, 2029, where it will pass to within 5 Earth diameters of us. The exact path the asteroid follows on its flyby in 2029 will determine whether it smashes into the Earth seven years later [ on its return from an orbit around our Sun - editor].

In 2004, it was first thought that the asteroid would hit us in the first flyby in 2029. The initial calculation for the orbit was made using only two sets of observations, those made in June and a subsequent set made in December.

From those observations, astronomers calculated a 1-in-200 chance that the asteroid would hit the Earth. If this was true, then this asteroid had become the most dangerous asteroid ever found. After taking more observations , the chances climbed even higher and by the end of December 2004, the chances of the Earth being struck by this asteroid climbed as high as 1-in-37.

Normally, when more observations are taken the chances of this kind of collision decrease. Not so here, it seemed like this thing was really going to hit us.

Luckily, some other observations from other sources were located and they allowed astronomers to calculate a more precise orbit. From those images they were able to conclude that there was no way that Apophis was going to hit the Earth. Whew!

For a while there though, you can bet there were some astronomers with some pretty tight sphincters.
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Editorial note: whether the asteroid hits the Earth or not, come some time after 2020, it will begin to dominate the news and change the politic of not only the US but other regions of the world, as well. Faced with imminent disaster, people become much more "conservative" and willing to include matters of faith in the way they live their lives. This editor is 64. If things go well for him, health wise, he will live to see results of an increasing concern with Apophis. Doomsday scenarios will abound, some of them bearing some actual possibilities. An interesting time is just around the corner. REPENT and have a nice day.

Read this related story detailing U.N. concerns over Apophis.
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