Using Gravity To Tow Asteroids

cryptocom writes "Space.com is reporting that two scientists at NASA are proposing using a 20-ton spacecraft to pull asteroids off a possible collision course with Earth, using the spacecraft's own gravity as an attractor. This idea would not only be cheaper, but have a much higher chance of success, due to not having to actually land on the asteroid's surface."

Comments

Re:that's what i was thinking

[Desert Raven]

Launching the craft. How much fuel would it take to get escape velocity on something this massive? Probably not a small amount.

Why would you launch it from earth??? It's just weight for weight's sake, so build it from stuff already in space, or at the very least, on the moon. Only the engines, control module, etc would need to be lifted from earth. My personal opinion would be to find a nearby asteroid or similar of the appropriate size, shape it as needed, and slap some thrusters on/in it.

The crew. The time the crew would be away from earth would be how long? 10 years? 20 years? Managing and provisioning crews for such a long amount of time is probably among the major challenges facing the extension of our space travel abilities.

What crew? Why on earth would you crew it? Remote operation should be just fine.

Coming home. What happens when a ship this large is re-entering Earth's atmosphere? That sucker will have a lot of force coming down.

OK, now you're just being stupid. What possible reason would there be for landing this contraption on earth?

Re:The mother of all asteroid deflection devices

[stienman]

You cannot put a price on human life!

Nonsense. In fact, there's a whole work force employed to do exactly that.

-Adam