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Small Asteroid Making 400,000 Mile Pass By Earth
AtariKee writes "Universe Today is reporting that a small 10m asteroid, discovered earlier this month and named 2009 BD, is passing within 400,000 miles of Earth. Although the asteroid poses no threat to the planet, the site reports that the asteroid is still very interesting, as it may be a rare co-orbital asteroid (as in, shares the same orbit as Earth)."
Am I the only one who thinks we should attempt to land on it and stage an emergency scenerio drill, just to prepare for the day when there is an armageddon-destined asteriod?
Belief? Hope? Preference?The Existential Vortex
Having NEOs in stable orbits around the Earth could be of benefit to mankind in the future as missions can be planned, possibly sending mining missions to these rocky visitors so we can tap their resources.
The Near-Earth-Objects in question are only 10m and 20m in diameter. How would it be of any benefit to us to mine resources from these? Surely it would cost far more in resources to -get- there.
Or do these NEOs have some kind of exotic resource that I am unaware of?
Obviously we did already because there's a camera shot from the asteroid of Earth.
since the asteroid is coorbital, it's a little misleading to say that it's "passing" within 400,000 miles. what's really interesting is that it will be at more or less that same distance for many months, suggesting that it and earth share a common history.
according to this java simulation of the object's orbit, it won't be this close again until about 2100.
To invoke the inevitable car analogy, that's like saying two cars driving in the same lane on the highway can pass each other. I think, more likely, the would collide.
Space is a big place. Think of it more as if I-80, that great American cross-country interstate, wrapped around the world instead of just our little country. Even with one lane, you might never see another car. To add to that, think of I-80 as being a mile wide. The chances of hitting another car go down by a bit then, even if you happen to overtake the other car.
Whenever I hear of something like this, I have to wonder if it is a "lost" interplanetary probe (or the upper stage of one, or some other related debris). With this orbit, 2009 BD could be an old lunar flyby, maybe from the 1960's.
Remember, the size estimate requires an albedo estimate, and rocket pieces tend to be very reflective, and thus will appear to be larger if the albedo is set too low, so if it was a spacecraft it would not be 10 meters, but maybe 4 or 5 at most. The Apollo 8, 10 and 11 third stages would be a possible candidate. (After Apollo 11, the third stages were impacted on the Moon to serve as sources for the seismometers.)
Such lost probes will return to near the Earth, but perturbations will tend to move them slowly further away with time.
Most asteroids are most likely actually just big piles of smaller material. They have very little structural integrity. If you tried to apply a force to one 'spot' on the asteroid the results would be at best unpredictable. Material would shift around, you might even just sort of push through it.
Another related problem is that you need to push against the asteroid THROUGH its center of mass. If that center of mass is not fixed, then you can't really do that.
Beyond that, even if the asteroid is a solid chunk of rock, you still have to despin it before you can push it, thus the whole operation becomes a lot harder, plus if it IS a rubble pile, then you may not even be able to despin it or it would be pretty hard to do so.
A gravity tractor on the other hand suffers none of these disadvantages. All parts of the asteroid are going to be attracted to the tractor. It may STILL be somewhat complicated, but probably less so. In any event we won't really know until we try.
Finally, what difference does it really make how fast you accelerate the asteroid? The point would be to put it on the desired course. Doesn't really matter if the mission is 1 hour long or 10 years as long as you get the results you want.
"Malo periculosam, libertatem quam quietam servitutem." -- Jefferson