2000 SG344

Infobox Planet
width = 25em
name = mp|2000 SG|344
symbol =
background = #FFFFC0


caption =
discovery_ref = [Cite journal | title = IAU Circular: MPEC 2000-U19 | date = 2000-10-24 | url = http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/mpec/K00/K00U19.html]
discoverer = D. J. Tholen, and R. J. Whiteley
discovered = 2000-09-29
discovery_site = Mauna Kea Observatory - UH88
mp_name =
mp_category = Aten
alt_names =
orbit_ref = Cite web | title = JPL Small-Body Database Browser on 2000 SG344 | pulisher = NASA | url = http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2000%20SG344]
epoch = 2454600.5
aphelion = 1.04286173 ± 7.4785e-07 AU
perihelion = .9119995 ± 4.3409e-06 AU
semimajor = .97743066 ± 7.0093e-07 AU
eccentricity = .0669419 ± 3.7724e-06
period = 352.9615239 ± 0.00037967 d
avg_speed =
inclination = .1103173 ± 8.2267e-06°
asc_node = 192.301028 ± 0.0015524°
mean_anomaly = 228.373742 ± 0.0031236°
arg_peri = 274.922907 ± 0.00164°
satellites =
dimensions = 37 m
mass = 7.1e|7 kg
density =
surface_grav =
escape_velocity =
sidereal_day =
axial_tilt =
pole_ecliptic_lat =
pole_ecliptic_lon =
albedo =
temp_name1 =
mean_temp_1 =
max_temp_1 =
temp_name2 =
max_temp_2 =
spectral_type =
abs_magnitude = 24.788 ± 0.83657

mp|2000 SG|344 (also written 2000 SG344) is a small Aten asteroid discovered in 1999. It has a diameter of 37 m and an estimated mass of 7.1e|7 kg (71 gigagrams, approximately 3 times the mass of the RMS "Titanic"). The object could also be classified as a meteoroid, although the most common definition uses a diameter of 10 m as the demarcation. Because of its very Earth-like orbit and the fact that it would have been near the Earth in 1971, it is thought that mp|2000 SG|344 might actually be a man made object such as an S-IVB booster stage from a Saturn V rocket. [Cite news | title = Much Ado about 2000 SG344 | date = 2000-11-07 | publisher = NASA | url = http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast06nov_2.htm] [Cite journal | title = 2000 SG344: The Story of a Potential Earth Impactor | last = Chodas | first = P. W. | coauthors = Chesley, S. R. | date = November 2001 | journal = Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society | volume = 33 | url = http://hdl.handle.net/2014/12396 | pages = 1196]

Possible impacts with Earth

Until December 2004, it was considered to have the highest (though still very low) likelihood of any near-Earth object to impact Earth in the next 100 years. It is ranked a zero on the Torino Scale of impact risk (the scale is 0–10).Cite web | title = NASA Near Earth Object Program: Current Impact Risks | url = http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/risk/ | accessdate = 2004-11-12] Cite web | title = mp|2000 SG|344 Earth Impact Risk Summary | date = 2002-05-15 | url = http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/risk/2000sg344.html | accessdate = 2004-11-12] It was briefly surpassed in December 2004 by 99942 Apophis (which at the time was known only by its provisional designation mp|2004 MN|4).

Based on 31 observations of mp|2000 SG|344 made from May, 1999 to October, 2000, there is about a 1 in 556 chance that it will collide with Earth between 2068 and 2101. If that happens, the energy released by the impact would be an estimated 1.1 megatons of TNT.

Planned NASA mission

NASA is considering it as a possible target for a manned mission, using the Orion spacecraft, prior to a projected 2030 push to Mars.Cite news | title = Closer encounter: Nasa plans landing on 40m-wide asteroid travelling at 28,000mph | last = Sample | first = Ian | date = 2008-05-07 | publisher = The Guardian | url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/may/07/starsgalaxiesandplanets.spaceexploration]

Further reading

*Cite journal | title = IAU Circular: MPEC 2000-U19 | date = 2000-10-24 | url = http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/mpec/K00/K00U19.html
*Cite journal | title = IAU Circular: MPEC 2000-U24 | date = 2000-10-25 | url = http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/mpec/K00/K00U24.html
*Cite journal | title = IAU Circular: MPEC 2000-V26 | date = 2000-11-08 | url = http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/mpec/K00/K00V26.html

External links

*
* Nasa NEO Study [http://ti.arc.nasa.gov/projects/neo_study/ home page]
** [http://ti.arc.nasa.gov/projects/neo_study/pdf/NEO_feasibility.pdf Piloted Orion Flight Feasibility Study]
** Into the Beyond: A Crewed Mission to an Near-Earth Object - [http://ti.arc.nasa.gov/projects/neo_study/pdf/neo_crewed_mission.pdf text] [http://ti.arc.nasa.gov/projects/neo_study/pdf/IAC-07-slides.pdf slides]

References