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NASA-ESA Project Will Shoot an Asteroid To See What Happens

Posted by timothy on from the johnny-cash-with-a-bigger-budget dept.

astroengine writes What better way to understand how to deflect an incoming asteroid than to smash into one to see what happens? This may sound like the storyline to a certain science fiction movie involving a team of oil drillers, but this is science fact, and Europe has started planning a mission to map a small target asteroid that NASA will attempt to shoot with a speeding spacecraft, no nukes required. As the first half of the joint Asteroid Impact & Deflection Assessment mission, the European Space Agency this month has started planning for the launch of its Asteroid Impact Mission (AIM) in October 2020. AIM's target will be the binary asteroid system of Didymos, which is composed of a main 800 meter-wide hunk of space rock circled by a smaller 170 meter-wide asteroid informally known as "Didymoon." It's the smaller asteroid that the joint NASA/ESA mission is interested in bullying.

75 of 113 comments (clear)

  1. To see what happens... by Culture20 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Why am I imagining "hey, y'all, watch this!"?

    1. Re:To see what happens... by geeper · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Yes, it would be ironic if the asteroid that wiped out the human race was one we smashed into just to see what would happen.

      --
      Error reading device 'Signature'. (A)bort, (R)etry, (F)ail?
    2. Re:To see what happens... by RavenLrD20k · · Score: 2

      Huld muh beer, Bubba! Imma fix'na push thehs 'ere rhed buht-un! Thehs oughta be a hewt-n-ollar!

    3. Re:To see what happens... by Runaway1956 · · Score: 2

      Why am I thinking, "It's April Second - is the silliness over yet?" Geez Louise - the first of the sillies that I read yesterday hooked me. Really, I was disbelieving and believing at the same time. I had to read all the way through the article, then look at the next headline before I realized - "IT'S ALL BOGUS!!"

      So, now, today, we're shooting asteroids?

      How 'bout we just build a time machine, and go back to the arcades of 1980. We can shoot asteroids all day long.

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    4. Re:To see what happens... by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Funny

      Yes, it would be ironic if the asteroid that wiped out the human race was one we smashed into just to see what would happen.

      ... or if it turns out that the "asteroid" is a camouflaged Vogon starship, and by attacking it, we trigger an interstellar war.

    5. Re: To see what happens... by Samantha+Wright · · Score: 4, Funny

      There's no point in acting all surprised about it. All the planning charts and demolition orders have been on display at your local planning department in Alpha Centauri for fifty of your Earth years, so you've had plenty of time to lodge any formal complaints, and it's far too late to start making a fuss about it now.

      What do you mean you've never been to Alpha Centauri? Oh, for heaven's sake, mankind, it's only four light years away, you know! I'm sorry, but if you can't be bothered to take an interest in local affairs, that's your own regard. Energise the demolition beams! God, I don't know⦠apathetic bloody planet, I've no sympathy at allâ¦

      --
      Bio questions? Ask me to start a Q&A journal. Computer analogies available for most topics!
    6. Re:To see what happens... by Mikkeles · · Score: 1

      Remember the "pet rock" craze? I just hope that this isn't a "pet asteroid" of a super-powerful alien!

      --
      Great minds think alike; fools seldom differ.
    7. Re:To see what happens... by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 1

      Maybe they'll shoot the Moon to see what happens. Darker nights for more romantic journeys.

      --
      Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
    8. Re:To see what happens... by peragrin · · Score: 1

      Nasa should borrow the navy's rail gun for you know testing purposes.

      Rapid fire space shots who wants to watch?

      --
      i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
    9. Re:To see what happens... by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      I was thinking more of this:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    10. Re:To see what happens... by mordjah · · Score: 1

      Right?! I Distinctly heard someone say "Hold my beer, Jeb!"

      --
      "A mind reader? That sounds like sci fi." "Honey, we live on a space ship"
    11. Re: To see what happens... by jd2112 · · Score: 1

      If it is a Vogon starship it is part of the construction fleet that has come to destroy the Earth in order to build a hyperspace bypass so shooting it won't make matters any worse anyway.
      I can't believe that Slashdot missed that story yesterday...

      --
      Any insufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.
    12. Re:To see what happens... by mitcheli · · Score: 2

      So, does this mean that when this "smashed" asteroid's new trajectory causes it to hit another planet with sentient life that we will at fault? How does that law suit work?

      --
      Select from tblFriends where interesting >= 4;
    13. Re:To see what happens... by Aralic · · Score: 1

      ... or if it turns out that the "asteroid" is a camouflaged Vogon starship, and by attacking it, we trigger an interstellar war.

      Or prevent one.

    14. Re:To see what happens... by cusco · · Score: 2

      Wish they would just give the Navy's R&D budget to NASA. We already know how to kill massive numbers of people and destroy an entire region's infrastructure, and neither of those process need to get any more efficient.

      --
      "Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
    15. Re:To see what happens... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I guess they don't know that we have computers that are really fucking good with mathematics and physics simulations.

      They seem quite aware of the existence of such computers, considering NASA operates some of them and are collaborators on some code for modeling asteroid collisions...

      So, what strength of materials parameters are they supposed to just plug into said computers? If it is so easy, I'm sure you could just post them here for future reference.

    16. Re:To see what happens... by Livius · · Score: 1

      NASA-ESA Project Will Shoot an Asteroid...

      just to watch it die.

    17. Re:To see what happens... by eric_harris_76 · · Score: 1

      Making it more efficient would defeat the purpose: selling gear and maintenance, provided by firms located in congressional districts.

      I'm surprise no Keynesian has pointed with admiration to WW 1 trench warfare, which used up lots of military materiel. With better management by the belligerent nations, it could have lasted decades.

      --
      There's no time like the present. Well, the past used to be.
    18. Re:To see what happens... by Phoghat · · Score: 1

      you forgot " hold my beer"

      --
      Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
    19. Re:To see what happens... by RockDoctor · · Score: 1

      I'm surprise no Keynesian has pointed with admiration to WW 1 trench warfare, which used up lots of military materiel. With better management by the belligerent nations, it could have lasted decades.

      Considering that significant chunks of the current problems in the world are consequences of the mismanagement of the Middle East by the "victorious powers" in the aftermath of World War 1, you could make a fair argument that WW1 is continuing to this day.

      I note that the Ottoman Empire didn't have any significant problems in the region in the preceding centuries. But hey, they're darkies, and non-Xtians with it, so they can't have been doing anything right.

      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
  2. Simulation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Surely the effect of an impact could be simulated on a computer. I feel like the real benefit of this is the real life experience bringing a project like this from concept to fruition.

    1. Re:Simulation by beelsebob · · Score: 4, Interesting

      How would you simulate it on a computer when you don't know the internal make up of the asteroid?

    2. Re:Simulation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Yeah, all the climate modelling we've done has certainly paid off.
       
      [rolling of eyes]

    3. Re:Simulation by Maritz · · Score: 2

      We don't know how rigid or how porous they are internally. So as with everything else, real-life testing is required.

      --
      I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
    4. Re:Simulation by Maritz · · Score: 1

      Oh, wait - you're not one of those global warming priests are you?

      I expect you're happy with computer modelling for many things, but happily make a motivated-reasoning-oriented exception with something you've got emotions invested in. And also, of course, pretend that computer modelling is what it's all about.

      --
      I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
    5. Re:Simulation by Runaway1956 · · Score: 1, Insightful

      "I expect you're happy with computer modelling for many things,"

      Actually, you're off target. Computer modeling amounts to little more than "educated speculation". Or, "educated guess". That is true of all models. Remember GIGO? Garbage in, garbage out.

      As time passes, as programmers learn more, and as computers get better, and as real world experience proves and/or disproves the models, models DO get better. But, don't ever, ever, EVER expect me to stake my life on what a model says.

      The problem with climate change modeling, is that far to many buffoons use the models as "proof" that the world is warming.

      Hey, I had "proof" that the world was warming when I was in third grade, in 1963. Mrs. Stevenson explained that we are in an interglacial period. I KNEW that the year 2000 would be warmer than the year 1963, all the way back then!

      But, all of our sophisticated idiots today want to blame every last erg of increasing energy on this planet on human intervention. DUHHHH!!

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    6. Re:Simulation by cusco · · Score: 2

      Actually binary systems seem to be fairly common, about 16% of all asteroids have a moon. The advantage of attacking the moonlet is that they can get very exact measurements of the effect of the collision fairly quickly by measuring the change in its orbit.

      BTW, "shooting stars" are generally about the size of a grain of sand. Good luck getting rid of all of those.

      --
      "Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
    7. Re:Simulation by pla · · Score: 1

      I expect you're happy with computer modelling for many things

      Computer modelling can help us come up with plausible answers to a vast array of questions that we have difficulty otherwise obtaining data on... But no scientist would ever accept a computer model in favor of actual experimental data, when available.

      Perhaps the best-known example of this, weather forecasting. We have a pretty solid grasp of the physics involved, but reality diverges from the predictions over time anyway.

      And also, of course, pretend that computer modelling is what it's all about.

      The GGP, not the GP, brought that up.


      And all that said, I have to admit, I consider this one somewhat silly. Of all the really cool groundbreaking work we could do sending probes to the far reaches of the solar system (hello, Titan and Ganymede?), we plan to hit a really big nearby rock with a hammer and see what happens? Only slightly better "science" than the Shuttle program, which consisted of 10% "let's grow seeds in zero gravity" and 90% classified military payloads.

    8. Re:Simulation by Runaway1956 · · Score: 1

      Yes, you are basically correct. But, you miss the boat on one important aspect here. How do the programmers reduce complex problems to math? In the case of climate models, how do the programmers know what weather was like 500 years ago? They make assumptions, and try to turn that into mathematical expressions.

      As I said, GIGO. No model can ever be any more accurate than the data pumped into it.

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    9. Re:Simulation by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      Okay, what do you stake your life on? I'd bet you make some decisions based on a simple mathematical model using observed probabilities.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    10. Re:Simulation by Runaway1956 · · Score: 1

      Do you ride motorcycles? I stake my life on my own observations, situational awareness, and whatever passes for a "mathematical model" inside my head. Do you work on electrical systems? I stake my life on training, experience, and observed probabilities - like, when I put my lockout tag on a box, it is highly probable that there is no electricity going through the circuits that I'll be touching.

      The problem with computer models, I'm expected to put my faith in far to many OTHER PEOPLE'S perceptions, judgements, experience, etc.

      Ever played that telephone game? Get a half dozen (or more) people sitting in a circle (roughly). Have the first person to read a written message, then he whispers that message to the person on his right. Repeat, to the end of the circle. Last person speaks that message aloud - and it almost never resembles the written message.

      Now, tell me something. How many people, how many separate communications are involved in most computer models? Three butt-tons, or more? That's a lot of people.

      If a model can be put to the test in real life for a hundred years or so, and it NEVER FAILS - then I might be willing to trust that model with my life.

      Oh - forget it. I'm not going to last until the end of the test.

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    11. Re:Simulation by beelsebob · · Score: 1

      How do you know what's typical until you start crashing things into them?

  3. Let's hope nothing shoots back by Coisiche · · Score: 1

    You never know.

    1. Re:Let's hope nothing shoots back by LWATCDR · · Score: 1

      I really hate that phrase. It is the favorite of every crackpot on the planet.

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
  4. Will no-one think of the consequences? by phayes · · Score: 1

    First the Chinese with their ASAT test that polluted LowEarthOrbit with thousands of fragments. Now the europeans want to zap a asteroidal moon! when will the madness stop?

    (/humor) for the slow witted...

    --
    Democracy is a sheep and two wolves deciding what to have for lunch. Freedom is a well armed sheep contesting the issue
    1. Re:Will no-one think of the consequences? by Anonyme+Connard · · Score: 1

      NASA will shoot, not ESA.
      When it's a matter of shooting, US is best!

    2. Re:Will no-one think of the consequences? by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

      When the target is their foot, yes...

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    3. Re:Will no-one think of the consequences? by phayes · · Score: 1

      Well of course, better US than THEM, no?

      --
      Democracy is a sheep and two wolves deciding what to have for lunch. Freedom is a well armed sheep contesting the issue
    4. Re: Will no-one think of the consequences? by prefec2 · · Score: 1

      I think NASA is quite capable of shooting a rock in space, if they have not been dissolved by the next Republican government.

    5. Re: Will no-one think of the consequences? by TwoEyedJack · · Score: 1

      Meanwhile, NASA's mission now seems to be making Muslims feel good about themselves. BHO told Charles Bolden that one of his highest priorities should be "to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science ... and math and engineering."

    6. Re: Will no-one think of the consequences? by prefec2 · · Score: 1

      Is this some new form of Godwin's Law now new with Muslim instead of Nazi in it? Beside that I cannot see any relation to my post at all.

    7. Re: Will no-one think of the consequences? by cusco · · Score: 1

      I think "privatized" is the actual idea, as in selling off taxpayer-built assets for pennies on the dollar to wealthy cronies.

      --
      "Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
    8. Re: Will no-one think of the consequences? by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      No, it's a perfectionist's law. If somebody you don't like ever said something that sounds bad when stripped of context and perhaps put into an unrelated context, that person is a bad person.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  5. Not still April 1, right? by envelope · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    I was getting tired of all the April Fools crap yesterday, but I guess this is serious.

    --

    appended to the end of comments you post, 120 chars
  6. Could be problems by Celarent+Darii · · Score: 1

    Looks like a very difficult project. The people involved will have to have a very special skill set.

    Might I suggest some training videos?.

  7. "They" will be very angry by Pallas+Athena · · Score: 1

    I'm sure the lifeforms on that asteroid will be very upset by this unprovoked act of aggression. There is no doubt that their leaders will retaliate by sending their biggest asteroid in a collision course with earth.

  8. I've been waaiting for this! by Provocateur · · Score: 1

    When I was a kid, I would normally miss the blockbuster movies because they would be rated either PG or R. Then I would wait for the cheap Italian version featuring rather well known actors who looked like they could pull off the lead, and maybe make it a considerable hit in 3rd World countries. Up to know I still find myself commenting poor man's Jason Statham or poor man's Bruce Willis

    The hunt is on for Poor man's Ben Affleck!

    --
    WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
    1. Re:I've been waaiting for this! by digsbo · · Score: 1

      The hunt is on for Poor man's Ben Affleck!

      Today, that's Ben Affleck.

  9. Don't we already know? by BCtoo · · Score: 1

    If we have a good estimate of the mass of the asteroid and we know the mass and speed of our projectile, what is the mystery?

    1. Re:Don't we already know? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      We don't really know asteroid masses, though -- we know densities of iron and rock, but asteroids are probably porous to some extent, so we don't know how much of an asteroid is solid and how much is empty. Cracking one open with an impact is one way to find out for sure.

    2. Re:Don't we already know? by bitingduck · · Score: 5, Insightful

      A single data point isn't all that useful with respect to understanding the mass and composition of asteroids. There are potentially a variety of asteroids around-- ranging from solid hunks of metal or rock to loose bunches held together by their very weak mutual gravitational attraction. A test would be useful for demonstrating the ability to intercept one, navigate to an appropriate place to push, and then push. Depending on how far out they catch it, a very low thrust, very efficient thruster pushing for a long time might be able to produce a useful amount of deflection.

    3. Re:Don't we already know? by dcw3 · · Score: 1

      Did you really have to bring up diversity?...I just want to judge an asteroid by it's cover. Next you'll be telling us we have to deal with black rocks, red rocks, yellow rocks, and even multicolored rocks, heaven help us! Then we'll have rocks that want to change their colors, or rocks that don't just come here, but go both ways. Oh, the humanity! Let's just build a fence and keep tell them to go back where they came from!

      --
      Just another day in Paradise
  10. The Bush Doctrine again by sandbagger · · Score: 3, Funny

    This unprovoked attack on an asteroid may end up being more trouble than it's worse. We could end up bogged down in an endless conflict with it.

    --
    ---- The above post was generated by the Turing Institute. Maybe.
    1. Re:The Bush Doctrine again by sizzzzlerz · · Score: 1

      We've always been at war with the Asteroids!

    2. Re:The Bush Doctrine again by Headw1nd · · Score: 1

      At least since 1979

    3. Re:The Bush Doctrine again by Bathroom+Humor · · Score: 1

      Well I heard on the news that we have IRREFUTABLE proof of WMD's, so maybe it's going to be worth it!

  11. Re:Didn't Isaac Newton Already tell us? by Tx · · Score: 1

    "What am I missing?"

    A whack on the head with the clue stick?

    --
    Oh no... it's the future.
  12. How American. by ErnyCowan · · Score: 1

    If it moves, shoot it.

  13. Too much D&D guys by CreatureComfort · · Score: 3, Funny

    "I cast magic missile at the darkness!"

    --
    "Unheard of means only it's undreamed of yet,
    Impossible means not yet done." ~~ Julia Ecklar
    1. Re:Too much D&D guys by golgotha007 · · Score: 1

      "Where are the cheetos?"

      "Roll the dice to see if I'm getting drunk!"

      Classic - awesome.

  14. It is clear what happens by short · · Score: 1

    It will defend itself.

  15. The best divison of labor by Headw1nd · · Score: 2

    The Europeans go in trepidatiously, carefully measuring things, trying to understand the asteroid. A couple months later the US flies in fast and hot, and blows everything up, mission over. As an American, I love it.

    1. Re:The best divison of labor by digsbo · · Score: 1

      As an American, I'm often ashamed of the way we act. Then I read posts from acquaintances in Europe and the UK, and I am immediately proud to be an American again.

    2. Re:The best divison of labor by jaxn · · Score: 1

      That sounds like the difference between Edison's and Tesla's approach to scientific experimentation.

      --


      "Being alive is a crock of shit." --Kilgore Trout
  16. superman by dwpbike · · Score: 2

    is not amused

  17. Re:Tax dollars at work by Maritz · · Score: 1

    The impactor will be absolutely miniscule compared to the rock it's hitting.

    --
    I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
  18. Re:Unwise by Maritz · · Score: 1

    Just go over the edge of the cosmic horizon, 13.7 billion light years that way.

    --
    I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
  19. Re:Didn't Isaac Newton Already tell us? by Maritz · · Score: 1

    Pretty much nothing ain't nothing.

    --
    I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
  20. It's the end! by DigitalOx · · Score: 1

    And it breaks off a piece that hurtles towards Las Vegas and is large enough to spell doom but too small to shoot. Goodbye, mon amies.

  21. Re:Obviously.... by dcw3 · · Score: 1

    This is why I'm against gun control! How else will we defend ourselves from these illegal alien asteroids!

    --
    Just another day in Paradise
  22. Re:Didn't Isaac Newton Already tell us? by dcw3 · · Score: 1

    If you can deflect it early enough, it might just miss the planet. You don't need to blow it up, and doing so might not get the desired results anyway.

    --
    Just another day in Paradise
  23. Re:How long until by dcw3 · · Score: 1

    Have they done an environmental impact study?...bah-dump-bump!

    --
    Just another day in Paradise
  24. "Goody guy with a Gun" Myth by starkadder · · Score: 1

    This is exactly why we need concealed carry laws. Asteroids have a right to defend themselves.

  25. All fun and games... by Stormcrow309 · · Score: 1

    ... until our new alien overlords fire back. Damn risk takers at NASA...

    --

    In God we trust, all others require data.

  26. Re:Didn't Isaac Newton Already tell us? by TwoEyedJack · · Score: 1

    Didn't we all pretty much learn how to calculate this in physics? Conservation of momentum and all that?