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NASA Is Going To Crash a Satellite Into an Asteroid (fortune.com)
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is moving ahead with plans to try out deflection techniques on a passing asteroid to prepare for future, threatening space matter. From a report: The space agency has entered the preliminary design phase for its Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART). This represents the first trial of what's called the "kinetic impactor technique" of asteroid deflection. Put another way, NASA hopes that by hurling a refrigerator-sized spacecraft at one of the space rocks at a speed roughly nine times that of a bullet, it can knock the asteroid off course and save the Earth. The plan is to launch the first DART satellite at a binary asteroid called Didymos ("Twins"); the twin asteroids are scheduled to pass by earth in 2022 and 2024. (Neither pass poses any threat, according to NASA.) By striking one of the two asteroids, scientists will be able to measure the impact of the collision.
"What," said Trillian in a small quiet voice, "does asteriodcrash mean?"
"It means," said Marvin, "that the probe is going to crash into the asteroid. Asteroid. . . . Crash. It's very simple to understand. What do you expect if you steal Hotblack Desiato's stuntprobe?
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
or Unmanned?
they take out the HBO satellite!
I predict "an equal and opposite reaction"
The plan is to launch the first DART satellite at a binary asteroid called Didymos ("Twins"); the twin asteroids are scheduled to pass by earth in 2022 and 2024. (Neither pass poses any threat, according to NASA, as long as refrigerator sized hard metallic objects are not slamming into the agglomeration of rocks and ice held together with weak gravity ) By striking one of the two asteroids, scientists will be able to measure the impact of the collision and be the first one to hide under the desks, like school children in cold war era, if the deflected asteroids home in on us
Fixed it for NASA.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
presumably because an alien civilization that can get to our moon would be mostly unphased by us throwing refrigerator-sized satellites at them.
"Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space."
At worst, they'll have a real use-case when they try the experiment again.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
Isn't this a fairly straightforward calculation? And given the exact details of this asteroid's spin and other variables aren't the results going to be fairly accurate for just this one asteroid and maybe not extrapolatable to others? I ain't no English jeanus, either.
I predict "an equal and opposite reaction"
The asteroid will fire a satellite back at us!
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
Good point. We should avoid preparing for the future so we can minimize the total number of experiments with potential to go wrong!
Not on accident?
People who don't understand that a refrigerator sized satellite won't blow apart or make large changes to the orbit of a 527 billion kg asteroid.
NASA Is Going To Crash a Satellite Into an Asteroid on Purpose
I mean, accidental hypersonic impacts into things is kind of old hat. ;)
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
FTA: "Neither pass poses any threat, according to NASA." It would be hilarious if that collision will suddenly change the asteroid's path to collide with Earth.
Are they the least bit worried that they put an asteroid on an eventual collision course?
Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
Dear NASA,
If you ever wish to remain relevant, you had best put someone (a human), on a celestial body, and quick. The Moon is always an option, as is Mars, Venus, etc. But at the current rate things are going, people are focusing a bit too much on...earthly affairs. They are forgetting that there are other worlds out there, and that they are accessible to us; hence, they begin to care too much about what they have here, in front of them. And as such, they are beginning to feel claustrophobic, even when there is plenty of space, both on Earth and elsewhere.
Has he been shot?
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
Well, if it works "really well" and that asteroid is knocked into a collision course with Earth, we could always do it again and knock it somewhere else.
I'm pretty sure that NASA is smart enough to swat it "away" from Earth so that, at the very least, they'd have sufficient time to swat it away again.
Wow! You best get on the horn to NASA and share your stunning insight because I'm sure nobody involved in the project realizes the danger.
Am I the only one that was reminded of the satellite crashing into the mother ship at the beginning of Independence Day?
Just sayin
But its common knowledge that these asteroids are being sent by the Arachnids.
You know its true, we gotta send our soldiers to Klendathu
"We thought we were smarter than the Bugs"
"Wow! You best get on the horn to NASA and share your stunning insight because I'm sure nobody involved in the project realizes the danger.", he said is his best "Frasier Crane" voice.
They already did this with a comet. https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/deep-impact/
So what happens when the test works really well and suddenly that asteroid is knocked into a collision course with earth?
Nothing, because it won't happen. Any change of the asteroid's orbit that we're capable of effecting at this point in our technological evolution with non-nuclear means is barely measurable, and even the nuclear option would be negligible.
Ezekiel 23:20
Yeah, yer right. We shouldn't attempt deflection experiments on asteroids because they might go wrong. We should wait until one has our address stamped on its ass and then either be too late to deflect it or have one Hail Mary shot at it.
Yeah it would look something like the shape of his shadow permanently emblazoned on the chunk of street surface that he had been standing on as it floats through space in the orbital path formerly occupied by Earth.
Needed: 1 drilling team willing to crash their spacecraft craft into an asteroid, drill a hole in it, place a nuclear weapon and then kiss their asses goodbye. Send CV and client testimonials to NASA, c/o CraZY Eddie, PO Box 1998, Canaveral, FL
Environmentalists are in no position to allow or disallow the use of nukes against anything, governments are.
Ezekiel 23:20