This is How Fast the Meteor That Hit Texas Was Going

By now, most of you, if not everybody has heard about the meteor that slammed into deep South Texas last week.  NASA has given us more information including just how fast the meteor was going.  The NASA report tell us that the meteor was seen at around 5:23 p.m. near McAllen, Texas. The meteor's speed was about 27,000 miles per hour, and it had the same amount of energy as 8 tons of TNT. Luckily there was no injuries reported with this incident.

This one in Texas makes three different meteorites in three days during that time span. The first meteorite landed on Monday, February 13th in France. The second was Tuesday, February 14th in  Italy and then this one in Texas on Wednesday February 15th.

In a statement issued by NASA they tell us,  "Although meteorites tend to hit Earth’s atmosphere at high speeds, they slow as they travel through the atmosphere, breaking into small fragments before hitting the ground. Meteorites cool rapidly and generally are not a risk to the public."

These "small" asteroids typically enter the atmosphere over the continental US about once or twice a year on average and often deliver rock fragments to the ground.

Just last month, it was the Anniversary of the Challenger that exploded on Jan. 28, 1986, during a live television broadcast. Many of us remember this NASA mission because it was going to feature the first ever teacher that would be blasted into space. Christa McAuliffe became the first private citizen to go into space. Classrooms across the country were watching on TV  so students could mark the occasion, while McAuliffe promised to give lessons while in space. It was a sad day in American and World History.

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