Asteroid, meteorite hit show Earth is not protected The
meteorite's contrail is seen Friday in this frame grab from a
dashboard camera in the Chelyabinsk region of Russia. Boris
Kaulin / Associated Press A resident repairs a window broken by
a shock wave from a meteorite explosion in Chelyabinsk, Russia,
on Friday. A hole in the ice of Chebarkul Lake where the
meteorite reportedly struck near Chelyabinsk, Russia, on Friday.
The meteor that streaked across the Russian sky Friday startled
scientists worldwide with its audacity, even as it triggered a
window-and roof-rattling shockwave that injured more than 1,000
people in the city of Chelyabinsk. Astronomers on Friday had
their eyes skyward on a separate object, the much larger
asteroid known as 2012 DA14. It was coincidence that it came so
close to Earth at the same time a meteoroid flamed into the
atmosphere over Russia's Ural Mountains, NASA scientists said.
Still, scientists are paying attention to the paths of future
near-Earth objects. One nonprofit spac