Laboratory: Impact Modeling Name:      
1. Go to SpaceWeather website and scroll down to “Near Earth Asteroids”. These are asteroids that are nearby right now.
The following data is provided:
• Asteroid name (you can click the name for an orbital diagram)
• Date of closest encounter
• Miss distance, expressed in LD, lunar distance, the distance from Earth to moon, or 384,400 km (238,900 mi).
• Velocity of the object, relative to Earth
• Diameter in meters. NOTE: The simulator will only work in multiples of 100 m diameters, so select asteroids that are >80 m
2. Select and record five objects with diameters greater than 80 m. Record the following in the data table below:
• Name, Date, Velocity, Diameter
For ease of comparisons, we have made the following assumptions: 45° trajectory, Sedimentary rock substrate, and dense rock impactor
Object Name
Date
Projectile
Velocity
Projectile
Diameter
Trajectory
Angle
Projectile
Density
Target Density
Crater Depth (m)
Crater Width (m)
Richter Magnitude
     
     
     
     
45°
Dense rock
Sed. rock
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
45°
Dense rock
Sed. rock
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
45°
Dense rock
Sed. rock
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
45°
Dense rock
Sed. rock
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
45°
Dense rock
Sed. rock
     
     
     

3. Run the impact calculator based on the values of each asteroid. Record the following in the data table.
You may visualize the crater on the map as well.
• Crater depth
• Crater width
• Richter Magnitude

Questions:
1. Of the objects you selected, which would have the most extreme impact?      

Explain.      
2. Select one of your objects and do a closer inspection by clicking on the object name on the SpaceWeather site. A NASA site should load and show the orbital data and visualization.
• Which object did you select?      
• These parameters are built upon multiple observations. How many observations (total) were used to determine the orbit parameters?      
• What is the orbital period of this asteroid?      
• Based on the diagram alone, which planet(s) could potentially be impacted by this asteroid?