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How To Deflect an Asteroid With Today's Technology
Matt_dk writes "Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart is among an international group of people championing the need for the human race to prepare for what will certainly happen one day: an asteroid threat to Earth. Schweickart said the technology is available today to send a mission to an asteroid in an attempt to move it, or change its orbit so that an asteroid that threatens to hit Earth will pass by harmlessly. But what would such a mission entail?"
Bruce Willis.
Bruce Willis died deflecting the last one. It'll have to be Ben Affleck next time... finally.
Set your phasers on "funky"!
I see where you're going: Load up Rush Limbaugh in to Glen Beck's huge mouth. The pressure from all the hot air being unable to escape will build up. Very quickly that hot air will blast Rush Limbaugh in to space to impact the asteroid. This collision will be enough to deflect the asteroid back out towards space.
Would you like to know more?
What, the movies have lied to me? Next you'll be telling me that you can't enhance a photo so many times that you get more information from a reflection in it then was originally taken.
None of them want to pay taxes again. Ever.
I don't think a spaceshipload of teabaggers is going to be the right choice skillset-wise for effectively deflecting an asteroid. Can't we just put them on the B-Ark and fly them into the Sun?
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
I think we are looking at this the wrong way. We should instead be trying to turn the moon into our own deathstar. That way we can change its orbital position to deflect or intercept the asteroid. That way we get multiple uses out of it and can also rule the solar system once our deathstar becomes fully operational. How hard would it be to put enough rockets on the moon to be able to drive it around... Seriously NASA WTF are you guys doing trying to land a little rocket on a asteroid when you could be asking for funding to drive the Moon.
Simple. Change the gravitational constant of the universe.
Sorry but I'm much more interested in how an asteroid can be deflected INTO the earth, especially when I'm sitting in traffic.
a small impact could still devastate a city, and we could actually deflect it.
... to a neighbouring city, preferably one with a hated sports franchise.
If libertarians are so opposed to effective government, why don't they all move to Somalia?
He forgot to account for the Congressional hearings, where conservatives will deny the existence of "these so-called space rocks" (they aren't, after all, mentioned in the Bible), and just a ploy to rake in more moolah for Big Astronomy. Not to mention the flurry of state AG witchhunts into the astronomers' emails.
On the other hand, if one of the scientists said that there was a possibility that the asteroid had a diamond core, a private sector solution would no doubt be undertaken by DeBeers.
"I guess the moral of the story is, don't paint your airship with rocket fuel." -- Addison Bain
Ok, what we really need to do is create a simulator for a small craft to destroy the asteroid while said craft and means of deployment is being developed. Something using vector graphics should be quick and easy to come up with on the simulator side. The craft should be maneuverable and have a cannon capable of breaking the large asteroid into smaller and smaller chunks until these chunks can be destroyed by the cannon. Incidentally, the cannon should also be able to defend against alien craft in case of their interference. High scorers can be recruited to pilot the craft to save the earth.