Using a solar sail to deflect an earth-destroying asteroid

Behind the Black ^ | August 17, 2011 | BobZimmerman

[BobZimmerman]

In a paper published today on the Los Alamos astro-ph preprint website, two Chinese scientists have proposed using a solar sail for deflecting any asteroid that happens to be aimed at the earth. The diagram to the right is their simulated mission to impact the asteroid Apophis, which will pass close to the earth in 2029 and — depending on whether that flyby puts it through a very small 600 meter-wide mathematical “keyhole” — could then return in 2036 on a collision course.

[rokkitapps]

I think we are about due for an asteroid with the moral decay in society.

[AFreeBird]

Didn’t Billy Bob Thorton shoot down that idea?

[Steely Tom]

How about a windmill? Maybe we can use a giant windmill to deflect the asteroid! We could have a mission to the asteroid, diverse crew, all the right grievance groups represented, and mount a giant windmill on the asteroid itself! Turn that sucker on, blow that asteroid into a more eco-friendly orbit!

We’re talking legacy here, Mr. President.

[SpinnerWebb]

Or.... push it right INTO the keyhole... hmm....

[SunkenCiv]

• Fact following fiction? Scientists plan mission to blow up an asteroid 'hurtling towards Earth'

Thanks BobZimmerman.

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