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Air Bags for Planetary Defense

Posted by michael on from the seat-belts-and-infant-seats-also-available dept.

Gallowglass writes "The Canadian paper, the National Post, is reporting on a plan to divert asteroids headed towards Earth. According to the story, the proposer, a Dr. Hermann Burchard, suggests deploying an inflatable mylar bag a few kilometers in size, and using it to push the projectile aside. An air bag for earth? The deployment mechanism isn't detailed in the story."

4 of 248 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Nobody abolished Newton's laws... by darkwiz · · Score: 5, Informative

    I think the idea would be to make some attempt to match it's speed, then contact and start the engines firing to push it off course.

    Rather than think of it like a car's air bag, think about it as a way to spread out the pressure along the surface of the object. A rocket on the surface of a comet or loosely bound asteroid may just disintegrate the parts, yielding little benefit.

    Which is more comfortable to sleep on: a pillow or the blunt end of a pencil?

  2. Easily misunderstood by El · · Score: 4, Insightful
    The problem the author is trying to solve is: How do you get a grip on an asteroid for long enough for your rocket motors to change it's path without causing the asteroid to break up. He's suggesting using a giant pillow between engine and asteroid to destribute the force.

    This is the wrong problem, in my opion; he assumes you've got massive amount of rocket fuel to wast. What we really need to do is figure out how to take some of the mass of the asteroid and accelerate it, using this as the reactant to change the path. Sort of like installing a rail gun on the asteroid, and firing off bits of asteriod like b-b's to get the asteroid to move in the opposite direction.

    --

    "Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney

  3. Re:Kids, try this at home! by aardvarkjoe · · Score: 4, Funny
    Mr. idiotnot:

    Thank you for your contribution. Now please prepare a report on why, exactly, incoming asteroids would be hot enough to glow. Be prepared to show whether or not that will be relevant at the time that the plastic hits the asteroid.


    Thank you,

    Your Fifth-Grade science teacher.

    --

    How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?
  4. Answers previously posted story by mc6809e · · Score: 4, Funny



    Science: Most Beautiful Experiment in Physics

    Answer: Airbags for Planetary Defence