Giant 'Potentially Hazardous' Asteroid Will Whiz By Earth So Close We Can See Inside It

Newsweek ^ | 1/17/18 at 5:43 PM

[taxcontrol]

Law of conservation of angular momentum would cause the now smaller parts to fly off in different directions.

Thus you now have smaller chunks, many of which would no longer be a threat. The course change of these smaller parts would either take them out of the path of impact with earth or cause them to fall within another planets orbit or most likely, the suns. Further, the parts that remain on the impact trajectory would be smaller.

[Salamander]

And I laugh to myself...

[Salamander]

Time to call up the special forces...

[gnarledmaw]

The tootsie roll center. One, a two, crunch three. Three.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks BenLurkin.

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[SunkenCiv]

!) slowing it down and 2) altering the course are of course the same thing. Spinning it would probably be counterproductive, and wouldn’t accomplish much, not least because all of them are probably already spinning in at least one axis.

Putting a solar-powered high energy laser at one or more of the Earth-Moon libration points would be another way to alter the trajectory without close proximity and using the material of the objects themselves.

[SunkenCiv]

As always, your post is hugely informative.

Regarding the binary nature, probably most asteroids are made up of a pile of smaller rocks that finally embraced one another, but were once in mutual orbit around a central point.

Hold On Loosely — 38 Special
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJtf7R_oVaw

[SunkenCiv]

it is between 1600 and 4000 feet across

If even a 1600 footer made a dry-land hit on the Earth's surface, it would end civilization as we've known it. A 4000 footer would have a good shot at human extinction.

[Ezekiel]

Or if it has a soft, chewy center or it is crunchy.

[central_va]

Can we aim it at DC?