Meteorite Strikes Russia

For those who might be interested, here's a link to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory site, where you can watch the meteor pass overhead! It is closer to us than many of the satellites that orbit Earth. In astronomical terms, that is VERY close! http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2 (Note that this is not the Russian one, but the one that is much larger, and passing by the Earth.)

That being said, no, we aren't really into doomsday preparedness around here. Who has the closet space? Not me. My pantry is always fairly well-stocked, so we could make it a little while. I'm not all that worried about things I can't control, I guess.

"The Moon Cannot Be Stolen"

Ryokan, a Zen master, lived the simplest kind of life in a little hut at the foot of a mountain. One evening a thief visited the hut only to discover there was nothing in it to steal.

Ryokan returned and caught him. "You may have come a long way to visit me," he told the prowler, "and you shoud not return emptyhanded. Please take my clothes as a gift."

The thief was bewildered. He took the clothes and slunk away.

Ryokan sat naked, watching the moon. "Poor fellow, " he mused, "I wish I could give him this beautiful moon."

From: 101 Zen Stories

It didn't actually strike anything. It burned up miles above the surface.

People were injured because of the sonic boom from speed of travel that broke so much glass.

There is nothing to 'be ready' for, really. Don't borrow trouble thinking up unlikely scenarios.

I saw it on the news this morning - insane! (and by insane, I mean it was pretty awesome)
Be sure to log on to NASA's site today. They are airing the giant asteroid that is passing earth! It is a bit armagedon ish. It is half the size of a FB field and 17,000 (?) miles away. It will not hit earth, so no panicing.

Edit - it is supposed to be around 2:30pm, but not sure which time zone.

Veruca! You beat me to the punch! (I knew what she meant... I guess we have the same sense of humor. :) )

I'd be hoping to have more first aid supplies to help others. I'm less worried about my stuff--I'd be more concerned about bandaging up the people who were bleeding and injured by all that blown-out glass.

I guess this means that we are really no more significant than the dinosaurs who triumphed with their pea-sized brains for millions of years, and then were wiped out in a cataclysmic meteor event. ;)

We saw that on BBC news this morning. Wow it did look pretty neat/scary. I don't think the asteroid is coming to earth; I believe the scientists know how to read its trajectory. Could little bits break off and cause some damage? Yeah, possible...perhaps that's what this one in Russia was, I don't know.

My husband's comment was "Hmm. What you think?" and I said "We've said we love each other, we're right with God, and we're as prepared as we're gonna be for either holing up in the house or leaving to go stay with family out of state, and we have cash. No reason to give it a second thought". That may be overly simple, but that's how we feel about it. Something like that is so out of our control, we don't have to really worry about it, since there's nothing we can do about it anyway. But I've been staying prepared/organized for any basic, general emergency (basics anyone would need for a couple weeks if we needed to "rough it") about 7 years now. Thank goodness for that though! Peace of mind...a good thing.

Thanks to the powers of physics, math and astronomical measurement, the known chunks of space rock can be tracked pretty accurately.

Today's meteorite was, as far as I can find, not yet under observation. And since it was traveling at least 7 miles per SECOND when it hit our atmosphere, there was really no time to prepare or evacuate, other than general emergency preparedness. We puny humans don't have any weapons system that would be able to intercept a large rock moving at such speed. Even if we did, the added explosive force within our atmosphere might only add to the shock wave, which, in this case, caused most of the damage.

This is a lot like a lightning strike in terms of rapidity or advance warning. And much less likely, statistically, to actually hit Earth. Really not worth losing sleep over.

If some major catastrophe were to hit in our lifetimes, or even for the less-impressive ones that do occur with some regularity, I don't expect to defend my home or food against other people who need help. As a society, we're far more likely to need each other to survive and rebuild. As a human with a soul connected to all other souls, I'm more in sync with Kindred Spirit's story of the zen master than with survivalism.

If my life is attuned to a higher purpose or God's will (however we choose to think about it), I have nothing to fear, not even death.

that was some W. video!
and so awful for those in its vicinity.
i am, of course, not ready for a meterorite. who is? no one can predict where a meteor is going to hit.
life is just too short to nailbite over things i can't control.
khairete
S.

The ammo is for the potential looters and rioting Veruca.

"Que sera sera" is what I have to say to be honest. Overall I think all will be well.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who thought Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck will save the day when I heard about this, right?

I'm not scared if anything hit and the world was thrown into utter chaos. My husband and I know how to hunt so we won't starve or be left unprotected. We are also in pretty good shape so we won't have any trouble if we have to trek through the country in search of other human life forms. I'm more worried about my allergies...not sure how to survive without my Zyrtec or Sudafed.

Wow that looked like something out of a Hollywood movie!

Thanks for the link . . . very interesting (and scary!).

Wow, that looked scary, that is not something you expect to see in everyday life, but it does happen. It just usually happens in the ocean or dessert, not a populated area.

I have to disagree about not having enough warning. The space agency MUST have been tracking this. They did have time to warn. Some people chose to follow the meteor to see where it landed, putting themselves in harms way. Some people chose to not pay attention and some people were caught off guard. The town/area should have set off some sort of warning system that told people in a certain area to take cover/evacuate.

It's sad that people were killed when they probably wouldn't have been had they had a plan or warning.

That is NUTS. We do have a big rolling tub of survivor stuff. Hopefully I could actually roll it by myself if I need to. My greatest fear is that I will be at work, my husband will be somewhere all over this county for his work and we will both be separated from our child. I'm a 20 minute drive away from her. If the roads are shut down, what on Earth do I do?? Got to put those walking shoes in the trunk of my car.

My husband woke me up to Fox news reporting it. Very interesting and bizarre.

Hey, I've been to almost all the news sites, and I can't find any information about people being dead. The injuries sustained were from the shock wave. Just wondering what your source was?