Posted on 03/21/2018 10:47:49 AM PDT by LibWhacker
Too much Hollywood watchers in the ‘science’ community.
What about preventing a zombie apocalypse too???
We are trillions in debt. If we had spent that money more wisely we would already have been well on our way to cataloging a huge chunk of the country and city killing objects as well, and we might also already have deployed a system like HAMMER.
But our government is populated with shortsighted idiots.
So will an asteroid do us in before GoreBull warming?
This IS a live and present danger.
Is it worth considering?
The risk might be very low, but the consequences might be an extinction level event.
Or worse...
What people think comes down do a few key ideas and values.
- Is life special and holy?
- If so, should we trust in divine intervention from God, or do God expect human intervention from us.
- Is life just nihilism and hedonism... *where’s my bong*
I saw the movie.
“uh oh!! An Asteroid is headed our way!! We’re Doomed!!”
Out walks a man in Black with dark shades on... “Fear not young miss!! It’s HAMMER Time!!” (Que up MC hammers famous tune here!...)
In all seriousness, if a big rock did say collide with another and got deflected our way, I’d be down with a Nuke tipped rocket to deflect it! I mean we do have the tech to do it!! and, space is pretty big, and we’re pretty small. I wouldnt want to die from a space rock!! js...
Detection has to be the key. Because for the forseeable future we can only hope to alter any orbit with years warning in advance.
No current “Hammer” containing the combined explosive power of our nuclear arsenal is not enough to divert or remove a planet killer.
Though, detection is not enough.
There might be a huge meteor obiting on the millenial time scales coming for us sunside, and there would be absolutely nothing we could do.
So, I agree with Hawkin.
If we value human life.
We need to diversify off planet.
We’ll be under a mile of ice before we get hit by a large meteor.
I thought most of the NEA’s are naturally drawn into the gravity wells of the larger planets. Wouldn’t it be easier to nudge them the rest of the way?
I saw let Mr. Asteroid do his thing. Who are we to interfere? ;)
Has there ever been one of those?
Otherwise, I’d agree with you; lots of hype around this possibility. But we have lots and lots of brain power. We can afford to let some of it work on asteroids.
One thing the movie “Armeggedon” got right, is that to destroy a comet or asteroid with a nuclear bomb, you will have to LAND on it, DRILL a hole into the center of the mass, and insert your bomb. Setting a nuke off on the surface of the body, will do little to nothing. (N.B. No atmosphere, no shockwave.) Hitting the body with something fast and heavy, in the right spot, would be the best way to deflect anything.
A better way to dispose of any such troublesome rocks, would be to fly out there, and attach something like the Space Shuttle’s Solid Rocket Boosters. Probably would need a few smaller steering rockets, as well. Then set a course and fly the thing into the Sun, and permanently eliminate it.
Sure. And each and every one of the fragments of the bomb and of the object will become another hazard, to be tracked.
Absolutely. That’s the nice thing about it. It isn’t always necessary to vaporize a mountain-sized of chunk rock and iron. Just slightly nudge it while it’s still millions or billions of miles away and it won’t even come close to us.
Trouble is, that “nudge” would be like traveling back in time and doing something that would change the future.
We don’t know the repercussions of changing it’s course.
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