NASA Reports Fireball Explosion Over The Atlantic
The explosion was caused by a meteor that exploded in the air 620 miles off the coast of Brazil. It was the largest event of it’s type since February 2013
when a fireball exploded over Chelyabisk, Russia.
That event left over 1,600 people injured.
This latest event released energy equivalent to 13,000 tons of TNT.
The same amount of energy used in the first atomic bomb that leveled Hiroshima.
While NASA was aware of the event at the time it chose not to disclose the
information to the public until several weeks later.
Scientists called the Chelyabinsk event a “wake up call” and warned that an
asteroid impact could wipe out humanity.
Small asteroids impact Earth’s atmosphere with considerable frequency, and are known
as Earth crossers.
Earlier this year NASA opened it’s new Planetary Defense Coordination office.
It also has ambitious plans to capture and redirect an asteroid.
Should NASA have warned the public of this latest event?
Or was it unnecessary considering the remote location?
In the event that it could save lives in the future, will they?
