[decimon]

Rock on ping.

[Brilliant]

The smart thing to do would be to id asteroids that can be eliminated well in advance of coming anywhere near Earth, by diverting them into the Sun or some other planet’s gravitational field. Then you don’t need to worry that they might pay us a visit some day.

[freedumb2003]

12/21/2012

I hope the arks are ready... (one of the funniest dang movies ever, BTW)

[ThunderSleeps]

I think he's right. You have to alter the course of the object. Simply blowing it up a few million tons of NEO would create a few million tons of shotgun debris that would still (mostly) hit the Earth. Sure, smaller chunks are more likely to burn up in the atmosphere - but that may actually be worse. Transfers more heat and solids into the atmosphere, rather than letting them bury themselves into the ground.

The other gotcha is the sooner you start trying to deflect something, the better. The farther away the object is, the smaller the angular change in velocity you need, so the less total energy you need to put into it.

[GreenHornet]

“A collision with an object of this size traveling at an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 mile per hour would be catastrophic,”

Ya think?

[KoRn]

I’ve read that the first pass in 2029 will be so close that the pull from the Earth might alter its orbit in a way that will cause an impact when it returns in 2036.

I doubt it’s much to worry about anyway. It isn’t big enough to cause much harm, though I wouldn’t want it landing anywhere near my house or anything. :p

[hinckley buzzard]

If we ever actually do this, it will be adaptation of SDI missile defense technology developed under the initiative of President Ronald Reagan, and in the face of a solid wall of ridicule and opposition by all the brainy einsteins like those now "running" the gubmint. Thanks again, Ronnie. Without vision the people perish.

[preacher]

This is a remote but real posibility. It will not replace replace the Left’s concern over “Manmade Global Warming” because it doesn’t fit their socialist agenda