Slashdot Mirror
Nukes Against Earth-Impacting Asteroids
TopSpin writes "Flight International reports that scientists at the Marshall Space Flight Center have developed designs for an array of asteroid interceptors wielding 1.2-megaton B83 nuclear warheads. The hypothetical mission for these designs is based on an Apophis-sized Earth impactor 2 to 5 years out. According to NASA, 'Nuclear standoff explosions are assessed to be 10-100 times more effective [at deflection] than the non-nuclear alternatives analyzed in this study." On April 13, 2029, Apophis will pass closer to earth than geosynchronous satellites orbit.
extinction-level-event nuke-shielded overlords!
-WtC
*please insert sig*
Creator of RPerl, Scouter, Juggler, Mormon, Perl Monger, Serial Entrepreneur, Aspiring Astrophysicist, Community Organiz
If it's not going to hit Earth, will Skynet or the terminators even care?
with an alternate reality gateway, and a crack commando team consisting of a linguist with allergies, a wise cracking Colonel, a brilliant astrophysicist, and someone with a horrible gastronomical infection. Also some grenades.
Rhymes that keep their secrets will unfold behind the clouds.There upon the rainbow is the answer to a neverending story
Get Ben Affleck's spacesuit ready.
We don't need nukes! We need some Wil Wheaton to reprise his role as Star Trek TNG's Wesley Crusher, then "...come off the main lead, split off at the force activator, then reversing power leads through the force activator, repulsor beam powers against Tsilokovsky..." err...the asteroid. At this point, everyone will remember that this idea sucked and we'll use that sucking power to pull the asteroid into the sun.
Billions saved and problem solved. All we need now is some sort of "suck converter"! Get on it NASA!
Couldn't we simply send a small spacecraft to intercept the asteroid? Say, a small craft, probably with one primary weapon that has plenty of ammo... probably shaped like a triangle, I think. It could use this "weapon" to then shoot at any incoming asteroids.
Of course, the weapon wouldn't be as powerful as a nuke, and would probably split the asteroid in, say, half. The ship would then have to shoot both halves, breaking them again into half, creating four asteroids where just one was originally. The pilot would repeat this process until the asteroid is broken into such small pieces that they'll be deflected by earth's atmosphere.
I'm still working on how the ship and asteroid fragments would warp to the other side of the field when they hit the edges, though... probably why NASA decided against this approach. That, and they wanted to avoid ripping off The Last Starfighter too much.
Tell me something...it's still "We, the people"... right?
Because I don't want to miss a thing!
...always wondered what happened to them after their big radio hit ""Keep Your Hands to Yourself".
This isn't the conspiracy you're looking for.
They can go about their business.
Move along.
-- I'm old enough to have lived through six different meanings of the word "hacker."
I'd also like to know how the shark moves through the air.
But, I wanted socialized health insurance!
And if there are no asteroids, just direct the nukes to Argentina instead. Two birds with one stone.
"In case you were wondering, Apophis is the Greek form of the name for the Egyptian Demon Apep."
Thanks. Because if there's one thing that you can be sure about the average Slashdot reader it's that none of us has ever seen an episode of Stargate SG-1, and thus the name Apophis, and associating that name with evil personified, would be totally new to us all.
"Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue." - David Brent, Wernham Hogg
While small pieces are likely to be burned up in the atmosphere, this isn't exactly a joyous event.
Atmospheric heating of the objects, if there are enough of them, can result in a significant increase in the temperature of the atmosphere in general. This is the very, very bad effect of either the "Armageddon" or the endgame in "Deep Impact".
Deflection is the right answer. Probably the only good answer.
>I'd also like to know how the shark moves through the air.
Obvious.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_propulsion
My 51st birthday. If it does hit, at least I will have some student loans left when I die.
Save rather than slaughter? I find your disregard for our alien overlords' lives utterly disgusting!
*picks up phone and calls PETA. Or something.*
4/13/2029?
4+1+3+2+2+9=21
Then add how many people you would need left after the event to repopulate the earth (assuming no Slashdotters)...
21+2=23
My god. It has come for us all.
Grammar Nazi
No worries, we should be able to come up with an anti-extinction-level-nuke giant laser beam by then.
Just because I post on Slashdot, don't presume that I necessarily watch SHIT television. There...I said it.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Alien overlords?
My blog. Good stuff (when I remember to update it). Read it.
People for Eating Tasty Aliens.
There are 11 types of people, those who know unary and those who don't.