# All hail the new apocalypse: asteroid Bennu! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 17, 2018, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-hail-the-new-apocalypse-asteroid-bennu/810721 "2018-03-17T09:16:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2018, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-hail-the-new-apocalypse-asteroid-bennu/810721/1 "2018-03-17T09:16:45Z")
Evening Standard story [here](https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/nasa-unable-to-stop-enormous-asteroid-bennu-which-could-hit-earth-in-2135-a3791621.html). > [@](#): > > NASA will be unable to stop an enormous asteroid which could crash into Earth in 2135, scientists have warned. > > It is estimated that Bennu, which is the size of the Empire State Building, would unleash 1,200 megatons of energy on impact, 80,000 times that of the Hiroshima bomb. Le sigh. We’ve been through this with Apophis. While the thing will create a big crater if it hits land and will be fatal for those in the vicinity - I wouldn’t want to be within 100 km of the impact point - in the greater scheme of things, it’s no big deal. It’s not going to cause the end of the world. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2018, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-hail-the-new-apocalypse-asteroid-bennu/810721/2 "2018-03-17T09:34:19Z")
120 years ago the Wright brothers were just starting to get interested in flying. I fell reasonably confident we’ll be able to do something about Bennu if it is indeed a threat in 2135. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2018, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-hail-the-new-apocalypse-asteroid-bennu/810721/3 "2018-03-17T13:10:41Z")
These tabloids are just ridiculous.\* For real info on Bennu, start with the Wikipedia [article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/101955_Bennu). Note that none of the projections of most likely impact windows start earlier than 2169. So 2135 is a number someone just plain made up. And even then the odds are quite low. But maybe we should put Bruce Willis into cryo-suspension just in case. - The Daily Mail seems to be running a new article about every week or so saying exactly where the Chinese space station is going to land. Look out …, you’re going to get hit! Right. ---
**Author:** ![PoppaSan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/poppasan/32/189_2.png) [@PoppaSan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoppaSan)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2018, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-hail-the-new-apocalypse-asteroid-bennu/810721/4 "2018-03-17T14:07:56Z")
I really hope NASA is not running the only space program in the galaxy 100+ years from now. Let China save the world from calamities every now and then. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2018, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-hail-the-new-apocalypse-asteroid-bennu/810721/5 "2018-12-04T00:21:14Z")
Okay, [now that we are there](https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/nasas-osiris-rex-spacecraft-arrives-at-asteroid-bennu/) I for some reason find something hilarious about that one big bolder sticking off the surface. We should name it [Beak Rock](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bennu). ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2018, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-hail-the-new-apocalypse-asteroid-bennu/810721/6 "2018-12-04T01:53:19Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > We’ve been through this with Apophis. While the thing will create a big crater if it hits land and will be fatal for those in the vicinity - I wouldn’t want to be within 100 km of the impact point - in the greater scheme of things, it’s no big deal. It’s not going to cause the end of the world. Taking the more philosophical view, by when that becomes an actual risk, it will not matter where the heck you or I are placed, as the world will have ended for us some time before.