Agreed. We got plenty of lead time. If 2004MN4 goes higher on the Torino scale, NASA just has to borrow somethingfrom the Air Force, and this cosmic party-crasher WILL go away.
We landed a probe on an asteroid, and it transmitted and received data for 16 days. That is MORE than enough time.
We have enough lead time to build a modified version - we swap out the scientific instruments in exchange for a USAF "physics package". All we have to do is land the probe on the asteroid, activate the physics package, and this cosmic party crasher will go away.
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Agreed. We got plenty of lead time. If 2004MN4 goes higher on the Torino scale, NASA just has to borrow somethingfrom the Air Force, and this cosmic party-crasher WILL go away.
Ever hear of NEAR-Shoemaker?
We landed a probe on an asteroid, and it transmitted and received data for 16 days. That is MORE than enough time.
We have enough lead time to build a modified version - we swap out the scientific instruments in exchange for a USAF "physics package". All we have to do is land the probe on the asteroid, activate the physics package, and this cosmic party crasher will go away.