Skip to comments.
Deflected Asteroids May Keep Coming Back
New Scientist ^
| 11-17-2007
Posted on 11/17/2007 2:07:34 PM PST by blam
click here to read article
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-40, 41-60, 61-80, 81-97 next last
1
posted on
11/17/2007 2:07:37 PM PST
by
blam
To: blam
So, to make a long story short, we’re doomed!
2
posted on
11/17/2007 2:09:14 PM PST
by
neodad
(USS Vincennes (CG-49) Freedom's Fortress)
To: neodad
Better option - put motors on it, get it into Earth orbit, mine the heck out of it.
3
posted on
11/17/2007 2:10:01 PM PST
by
Spktyr
(Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
To: Spktyr
And when we’re done with it we can use mass drivers to send it into the sun.
4
posted on
11/17/2007 2:12:55 PM PST
by
cripplecreek
(Only one consistent conservative in this race and his name is Hunter.)
To: blam
Rusty Schweickart...no relation to FR's
LS (Larry Schweikart).
Nudging the little varmints into a collision course with the sun ought to take care of them.
To: cripplecreek
Or use the hollowed out shell as either a space station or colony ship.
6
posted on
11/17/2007 2:15:15 PM PST
by
Spktyr
(Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
To: blam
You don’t have to be a scientist to realize that deflections are just that—deflected— and not permanently resolved problems.
7
posted on
11/17/2007 2:15:26 PM PST
by
Clara Lou
(Thompson '08)
To: Verginius Rufus
I would loose no sleep if we got the chance to study crater formation in real time, on Mars.
8
posted on
11/17/2007 2:15:51 PM PST
by
Fraxinus
(My opinion worth what you paid.)
To: blam
Maybe we should build a huge hyperspace button for the planet......
9
posted on
11/17/2007 2:17:45 PM PST
by
USNBandit
(sarcasm engaged at all times)
To: blam
Okay, Rusty, so it’s a colosal game of ping pong, but consider the alternative.
10
posted on
11/17/2007 2:19:22 PM PST
by
Savage Beast
("History is not just cruel. It is witty." ~Charles Krauthammer)
To: Spktyr
True, they’re already in space so weight isn’t an issue. Thick enough bulkheads will solve a lot of the radiation problems.
11
posted on
11/17/2007 2:20:25 PM PST
by
cripplecreek
(Only one consistent conservative in this race and his name is Hunter.)
To: blam
Hell, this ain’t rocket science....Oh, wait, it is.... Never mind.
....Bob
12
posted on
11/17/2007 2:20:31 PM PST
by
Lokibob
(Some people are like slinkys. Useless, but if you throw them down the stairs, you smile.)
To: Clara Lou
It does put the problem off until the next orbit, which may be hundreds of years.
OH WAIT! What with global warming and all, that’s way beyond the time we destroy the earth ourselves.
Problem solved!
13
posted on
11/17/2007 2:20:52 PM PST
by
Balding_Eagle
(If America falls, darkness will cover the face of the earth for a thousand years.)
To: blam
especially if Earth's gravitational pull acts on the object.If an object has mass, the Earth's gravitational pull acts on the object. There is no if about it. See Physics 101.
To: neodad
“So, to make a long story short, were doomed!”
Now the only question is: global warming or asteroid?
15
posted on
11/17/2007 2:30:42 PM PST
by
txzman
(Jer 23:29)
To: 17th Miss Regt
“Context” is your friend...
The next sentence gives you the clue.... “... pass through one of the “keyholes” that would nudge it back onto a collision course, ...”
The idea being presented had nothing to do with “Physics 101” being left out... LOL!
To: blam
deflecting asteroids with a powerful blast such as a nuclear explosion. I'm curious. How does one do this, deflect an asteroid with a nuclear explosion, I mean? To deflect something like an asteroid you need force. A nuclear explosion produces energy which isn't quite the same thing.
ML/NJ
17
posted on
11/17/2007 2:32:58 PM PST
by
ml/nj
To: blam
What is the FREQUENCY we are expecting some of these asteroids to come back? If we are talking hundreds of years, it is "good enough for government". The future generations will be able to do likewise, implement a better solution, already dead or enslaved, or have left the planet.
If we are only postponing disaster 10 years, then other more permanent solutions should be investigated.
18
posted on
11/17/2007 2:35:50 PM PST
by
weegee
(End the Bush-Bush-Bush-Clinton/Clinton-Clinton/Clinton-Bush-Bush-Clinton/Clinton Oligarchy 1980-2012)
To: blam
If we could nudge them into usefull orbits we could use them as an inter planetary conveyor system. Drop a payload on the asteroid surface when it’s in our neighborhood and launch the payload off its surface when it gets into the vicinity of mars or wherever else we need to deliver to.
19
posted on
11/17/2007 2:37:38 PM PST
by
cripplecreek
(Only one consistent conservative in this race and his name is Hunter.)
To: blam
So, like, is the point that we cannot permanently solve the problem, therefore why try? Jeez Louise, that is the same argument against SDI.
Besides, we don't have to deflect them, simply delay them long enough for Iran to rotate into the correct position.
20
posted on
11/17/2007 2:42:37 PM PST
by
NonValueAdded
(Fred Dalton Thompson for President)
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-40, 41-60, 61-80, 81-97 next last
Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson