Sudan dodged a bullet:
A recently discovered Apollo Asteroid, 2008 TC3, exploded over Sudan … notable in that it is the first Asteroid of its size that was identified before impact and tracking it put the entire Spaceguard tracking system to an extreme test.
TC3 is estimated to be only two to five meters in diameter but exploded with the force of a one kiloton nuclear device.
Actually, it seems this is a fairly common occurrence, but it’s still a bit nervewracking – maybe 15 or so feet in diameter, and it’s got a kiloton’s worth of damage in it? Lucky it burned up in the atmosphere. Wait, what? We have a program called Spaceguard? Arthur C. Clarke must have enjoyed that.
Spaceguard & Arthur C. Clark – Ha! I have been waiting for someone to connect that. In fact, that name was chosen because of him.
I love it!