Asteroid 2008 TC3 Streaks Over Africa

Creates Fireball Over Sudan

A small asteroid, designated 2008 TC3, entered the Earth's atmosphere early Tuesday and vaporized in a spectacular fireball over the African country of Sudan. 2008 TC3 was a small asteroid, measuring about three meters across.

2008 TC3 was discovered at the Mount Lemon Observatory run by the University of Arizona just this Monday. Scientists had predicted its impact with a near 100 percent certainty.

The entry of the asteroid was observed by the crew of a KLM airline. The airline was flying about 750 nautical miles southwest of where the asteroid entered the Earth's atmosphere. The KLM crew observed the entry of 2008 TC3 as a brief flash in the sky. Scientists are excited at the event as it was the first time that the impact of an asteroid into the Earth's atmosphere was predicted in advance with such a degree of certainty.

Scientists and others are interested in Earth approaching asteroids for a number of reasons. A much larger version of 2008 TC3 is thought to have hit the Earth near where the Yucatan is today sixty million years ago and caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. A similar event in the modern age might well render the human species extinct. Scientists are therefore very eager to find ways of detecting and tracking Earth approaching asteroids and then finding a way of diverting them if they posed a threat.

Asteroids also can contain materials that will make exploring and settling the high frontier of space easier and might even become a source of wealth for Earth bound humans. For example:

"To get an idea of just how much wealth is to be had from asteroids, one can examine 3554 Amun, a mile wide lump of iron, nickel, cobalt, platinum, and other metals that has an orbit closely resembling that of Earth's. Though it is one of the smallest known metallic asteroids, 3554 Amun contains thirty times as much metal as has ever been mined by human beings in the history of Earth. It's value, at current prices and if mined slowly to keep commodity prices level, is estimated to be 20 trillion dollars."