# Don't Make Plans For 4/13/29 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 27, 2004, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-make-plans-for-4-13-29/281836 "2004-12-27T22:52:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-make-plans-for-4-13-29/281836/21 "2004-12-28T04:01:08Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > Easter will be on 1 April 2029. It misses Ramadan, too, in case you were going to ask. It could hit, Songkran, the Thai New Year, but can’t find the exact date for that year. Yeah, but what happens if you use Julian calendar instead of the Gregorian? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-make-plans-for-4-13-29/281836/22 "2004-12-28T04:38:38Z")
Slashdot’s got a story up saying that after further observations, the odds have dropped to 1:56000. I’m too lazy to link. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-make-plans-for-4-13-29/281836/23 "2004-12-28T05:00:50Z")
Dammit! Proof I won’t ever see a return on what I’m paying into Social Security. :mad: Though it’s cool it’ll happen 3 days _after_ my birthday. That’s going to be some kind of party. ALL INVITED! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Greywolf73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d9b06d/32.png) [@Greywolf73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greywolf73)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-make-plans-for-4-13-29/281836/24 "2004-12-28T05:15:17Z")
So we have 25 years to panic? Cool! How many 2029 Asteroid cults do you think will spring up between now and then? ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-make-plans-for-4-13-29/281836/25 "2004-12-28T05:17:44Z")
I’ll be dead. Why should I care? ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-make-plans-for-4-13-29/281836/26 "2004-12-28T06:52:11Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > I’ll be dead. > > Why should I care? I’ll be drunk. Why should I care? ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-make-plans-for-4-13-29/281836/27 "2004-12-28T06:54:55Z")
HOLY CRAP! I just thought: What if it hits **Jerusalem**. On good friday of the Julian calender. That would be fuckin creepy. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-make-plans-for-4-13-29/281836/28 "2004-12-28T15:29:56Z")
If you read the link, you’ll note that this “space rock” is considered big enough to cause significant local or regional damage. It would suck to be in the region where it hits, if it hits, but it doesn’t sound like a civilization destroyer. ---
**Author:** ![Papermache\_Prince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@Papermache\_Prince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Papermache_Prince)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-make-plans-for-4-13-29/281836/29 "2004-12-28T15:35:35Z")
You can relax now.After issuing an unprecedented “yellow alert” for a potential cosmic collision, astronomers said further observations showed that a recently discovered asteroid had no chance of hitting Earth in the year 2029.According to [Alan Boyle](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6751433/), the Science Editor at [MSNBC.com](http://MSNBC.com) ---
**Author:** ![robz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac8455/32.png) [@robz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robz)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-make-plans-for-4-13-29/281836/30 "2004-12-28T16:14:21Z")
[www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6751433/](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6751433/) WOW, from the diagram on that site this is going to be real close. So if it is visible from the N. America, East Coast (and its clear :dubious: ) I’ll be out trying to spot it robz ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-make-plans-for-4-13-29/281836/31 "2004-12-28T17:01:24Z")
> [@Papermache Prince](#): > > You can relax now. [The] … asteroid had no chance of hitting Earth in the year 2029.[/indent] Well, damn. All worked up over nothing. You don’t suppose we could go nudge it back to an earth-hitting orbit so that we can figure out how to save the earth from it, do you? ---
**Author:** ![RAWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@RAWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RAWDuke)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-make-plans-for-4-13-29/281836/32 "2004-12-28T18:38:13Z")
> [@Greywolf73](#): > > So we have 25 years to panic? Cool! How many 2029 Asteroid cults do you think will spring up between now and then? Let’s start the first one!!! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-make-plans-for-4-13-29/281836/33 "2004-12-28T18:47:16Z")
> [@SandyHook](#): > > I’m 57 now: > > I got the ‘roids coming and going on some schedule only they know about; > arthritis is working on the right hand and shoulder; > the dick don’t work worth a hoot anymore; > I need glasses to read’; > famous people are dying that I didn’t even know ever lived; > weight loss is a dream; > it’s years until Ms Hook can retire; > I never go anywhere without taking a bunch of Rolaids; > the good health news at this age is, “It’s not as bad as we first thought.” > Frankly, at 82, a good astroid slamming sounds like a good thing to me. Amen, brother! But you forgot: phantom pains that you’re sure are fatal diseases in the borning. And do yourself a favor: get a prescription for Nexium from your doctor and chuck all those rollaids. It’s the first true miracle drug since penicillin. ---
**Author:** ![Algul\_Siento](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f17d59/32.png) [@Algul\_Siento](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algul_Siento)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-make-plans-for-4-13-29/281836/34 "2004-12-28T18:53:15Z")
I’ve got it! Let’s send a ball of garbage of equal mass at it! ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-make-plans-for-4-13-29/281836/35 "2004-12-28T18:58:45Z")
Morning or Afternoon? ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-make-plans-for-4-13-29/281836/36 "2004-12-28T18:59:53Z")
> [@Chimpy](#): > > [Doing the maths] > 40_2.5= 100 > 1_2.5= 2.5 > Therefore 2.5 percent of a hit, and a 97.5 chance of a hit… so who messed up? Me or them, or is there a third possibility that I’ve not factored in? NASA math. ---
**Author:** ![RAWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@RAWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RAWDuke)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-make-plans-for-4-13-29/281836/37 "2004-12-28T19:01:03Z")
> [@RAWDuke](#): > > Let’s start the first one!!! 😃 I’ll bring the Kool-Aid if you all pitch in for sneakers for everybody :eek: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-make-plans-for-4-13-29/281836/38 "2004-12-28T19:50:36Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > …by co-ordinating a worldwide nuclear strike on the asteroid which would blow it into so many smithereens that they would be small enough to break up in earth’s atmposphere harmlessly… Not sure how much credit you’re giving Hollywood, but just to be clear, this wouldn’t work. If you have one rock hitting the Earth, it deposits a bunch of kinetic energy in one place. If you blow it up, you have a whole bunch of small rocks, but the same total kinetic energy hitting the Earth. Assuming you somehow manage to pulverize it into rocks the size of a fist or smaller (unlikely), they hit the atmosphere and burn up. As in, turn into fireballs. Imagine the whole sky covered in meteor streaks, no black visibile, the whole upper atmosphere glowing. The heat will raise temperature at the surface to a few hundred degrees Fahrenheit. Forest dry out and burst into flames. The surface of the ocean boils. Breaking up an asteroid into smaller pieces is as bad or worse than leaving it in one chunk. What you want to do is use your nukes to vaporize part of the asteroid, changing its orbit ever so slightly. If you can do this decades before the strike, a very small perturbation in the asteroid’s orbit today can make the asteroid miss the Earth by a nice wide margin. Not that it would be _easy_, as even a small change to the orbit of a small asteroid would require a tremendous amount of energy. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-make-plans-for-4-13-29/281836/39 "2004-12-28T20:22:03Z")
> [@Podkayne](#): > > Imagine the whole sky covered in meteor streaks, no black visibile, the whole upper atmosphere glowing. > > The heat will raise temperature at the surface to a few hundred degrees Fahrenheit. Forest dry out and burst into flames. The surface of the ocean boils. You say this as if it were a bad thing. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-make-plans-for-4-13-29/281836/40 "2004-12-28T21:56:22Z")
According to the **Death Clock** , I am going to die in 2044. February 8th, to be exact. I better book my winter ski trip in January 2044. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-make-plans-for-4-13-29/281836.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-make-plans-for-4-13-29/281836.md?page=3)