National Situation Report

As of 5:30 a.m. (EST) Wednesday, February 27, 2013 Meteor Strikes An Overview
The meteor that exploded over the skies of Chelyabinsk, Russia on February 14, 2013 was about 55 feet in diameter and weighed approximately 10,000 tons. Striking Earth's atmosphere at 40,000 mph and releasing energy equivalent to 470 kilotons of TNT, the meteor strike is considered to be the most powerful strike since the Tunguska event of 1908. The Tunguska Event refers to the morning of June 30, 1908 when a large space rock entered the atmosphere and detonated in the sky over Tunguska. Scientists estimate the asteroid was about 120 feet across and entered Earth's atmosphere traveling at a speed of about 33,500 mph. During its quick plunge, the 220-million-pound space rock heated the air surrounding it to 44,500 degrees Fahrenheit. At a height of about 28,000 feet, the combination of pressure and heat caused the asteroid to fragment and annihilate itself, producing a fireball and releasing energy equivalent to about 185 Hiroshima bombs. The massive explosion knocked down 800 square miles of remote forest. Eighty million trees were on their sides, lying in a radial pattern. The resulting seismic shockwave registered with sensitive barometers as far away as England. According to research scientists at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Earth is struck every day by more than 100 tons of material spewed off asteroids and comets. Fortunately, the vast majority of this "spillover" is just dust and very small particles. Very rarely, sizable fragments survive their fiery passage through Earth's atmosphere and hit the surface, becoming meteorites. Even more rarelyonce every 300 years, on averagea Tunguska-sized asteroid will enter Earth's atmosphere. To help keep an eye on these potential hazards, NASA operates the Near-Earth Object (NEO) Program. The purpose of the program is to coordinate NASA-sponsored efforts to detect, track and characterize potentially hazardous asteroids and comets that could approach the Earth. In addition, the NEO Program is responsible for facilitating communications between the astronomical community and the public, should any potentially hazardous objects be discovered.
Additional information on these events is available at the following NASA websites: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/28jan_2012da/ http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/tunguska-20080627.html http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch/facts.cfm