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Remember that asteroid that flew by Earth? We were a little off on its size.
- Thread starter Escape Goat
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ThoseDeafMutes
Member
Not knowing until 5 minutes beforehand is the surest way to be unable to stop it.
Because the capability of our detection system would give us much more time than 6 months...
Much more.
/Facepalm
Deflecting an asteroid is relatively easy, IF WE KNOW IT IS COMING!
Just strap some suitably powerful engines on them early enough and it is done.
BTW; why do we always suggest deflecting an approaching asteroid, why not try to capture one? They're already coming close and if they're suitable (iron-nickel asteroid or whatever the good type for mining is), we get two useful things done with one mission...
Jason's Ultimatum
Member
Looks like we have been a participant in the biggest interdimensional cross rip since the Tunguska blast of 1909.
FunkyPajamas
Member
Awesome reference.
Not getting it.
echoshifting
Banned
Ghostbusters
wat
If I were to pick a group of guys to go knock an asteroid off of an Earth collision course I would much rather have the Ghostbusters up there than a group of oil drillers that include Ben Affleck.
It was meant to be a movie about bustin' ghosts! Bustin' makes me feel good.
Yes, i hated it. If it was meant to be comedy, it sucked. If it was meant to be drama, it sucked. There was nothing in it i liked.
NaturalHigh
Member
Yeah, I'm sure it wouldn't be too difficult to stop an asteroid's momentum. Just give me a space suit and a baseball glove.
FieryBalrog
Member
Really, people are whining about not enough budget for Asteroid Defense?
Yeah.
Yeah.
TheJollyCorner
Member
I glossed over the part where you need to figure out what and how to change the asteroid's course.
However, it is mostly physics, and you don't actually need to change the course much.
Nuclear bombs are the classic method but they may break up the asteroid, unless the pieces are extremly small, it may be worse than having one big impact.
Installing some sort rockets is possible but getting the required fuel and reaction mass to the asteroid is not easy.
Mass driver would be a better, easier option, probably.
Or we could build a giant death laser and vaporize the asteroids surface, the gases forming where the laser hits would push it away (the laser's own pressure is too weak to notice really).
That rock was noticed 3 days before it went past us. If its course had been slightly different... Yeah, the events are rare but the problem with them is that if one does hit Earth, it is kinda big deal. Better to be safe than sorry.
Easily. A shitty movie is a shitty movie.
The characters were flat and boring. The effects were horrible (a bunch of older movies have way better effects). The plot sucked. The idea was ridiculous. The music... well, can't remember anything about it, i'll assume i didn't like it.
Yeah, can we stick to asteroid defense? I'll gladly let one hit on Earth if it means i don't have to see Ghostbusters references and other related stuff.
I don't see why not. Doubling the budget probably consists of a tenner.
BruiserBear
Banned
This story really does send a shiver down your spine. The aftermath of such a strike would be horrible.
Escape Goat
Member
Dinosaurs didn't have Jesus on their side.
It's kinda scary to think we're at the mercy of whatever the universe wants to throw at us.Hopefully, the really dangerous one that will hit Earth is very far away and by that time, we will have anti-asteroid nukes.
It's okay. I been training for this my whole life.
Yeah, well, climate change is actually a bigger deal (since asteroids are rare... probably. Hopefully.) but we can't agree on that as noted earlier...
Trying to implement a policy for asteroid deflecting, agree on funding etc... going to work real nice.
Seriously, we just need to make space exploration and colonization and commercialization more important, as a side effect we can develop methods to move asteroids and detecting them easily.
Oh i remember that well enough. Too well. I hate it, especially it.
vv
You don't even remember the ghostbusters theme??? DEFENSE FORCE ASSEMBLE
shaowebb
Member
Not even certain how you could stop something that big. The act of trying to land on an asteroid would likely get a ship destroyed wouldn't it? Couldn't we take this giant window and start sending warheads to it in space to try to push its orbit far enough out that it never comes back to Earth? I wonder if its incredibly dark nature makes it so that targeting it for such things would prove too difficult. Its a problem that'll need fixing. We're not prepared to deal with this yet, but maybe given our time table we could get something setup that works.
Omegasquash
Member
Or just instantly life-ending for most, and slow/agonizing for the rest.
Yep, good to know we've pretty much screwed NASA. At least the private sector is coming through.
Look above where i outlined a few common solutions. Not in detail though, i just read a lot about space stuff.
NaturalHigh
Member
I looked into it the last time we talked about an asteroid. I don't think it was this one though. I wasn't too worried about us getting hit by anything after reading all of the different proposed ideas to fight possible impactors off. It'd be nice if they put more money into staging some sort of defense system that way we don't have to start from ground zero when we find out we are going to be hit.
I was commenting more towards your idea of capturing it. I don't know if we would want that. I guess we could slow it down using the same methods we use to deflect it. But then it would be in our orbit and might mess with shit on Earth. Maybe we could use space tug boats and bring it down to earth?
I am in school for space studies but I haven't really taken any of the classes yet. My dream is to save the world from one of these asteroids. Although, I'll probably end up just being an IT guy for life.
I can't link it on my phone, but one suggestion is gravitational deflection. If you find out about the object early enough, you can "park" a craft next to the rock so that the mutual gravitational attraction between the objects pulls the object into a slightly different course. If you get there early enough and far away from Earth enough, it doesn't take much to make the object miss Earth.
bengraven
Member
While I normally would agree with you that colonization and and exploration are more important, I can't take your suggestions seriously because you hated Ghostbusters.
It's okay. I been training for this my whole life.
I will sometimes lie awake at night and make scenarios where an asteroid hits Earth and how I would prepare and what buildings/stores I would use as shelter and pilfer supplies from. Also, how I would gather my family. I am very well prepared.
Ah.
If we'd capture an asteroid, we use very similar, if not the same, methods as for deflecting one. Blast it into another course or move it with rockets etc. So, i don't see as a big stretch to capture already approaching asteroid. Of course this might not be feasible, especially if it is coming too fast and/or if its wrong type.
The asteroid wouldn't cause any problems on surface. It would visible as very bright star (likely visible during days as well). And it would be on high orbit so it wouldn't destroy any satellites etc either really.
That said, it masses way too much for us to get it on surface, moving one asteroid in space takes months, years, maybe even decades. That is, moving efficiently. You can always make the engines moving it more powerful of course, but that is usually unnecessary, time is what is needed, not power.
EDIT just to make it clear, my knowledge is very shallow really, i'm interesting in space stuff but i'm not studying it. So errors possible and maybe likely.
dealwithit.gif
If it is any consolidation, i do not like the majority movies i see.
Rich Uncle Skeleton
Member
bengraven
Member
Maybe this will help restore funding to space programs.
Haha, yeah, I know.
Mmkay, so just ignore your movie reviews. Got it.
Haha, yeah, I know.
Mmkay, so just ignore your movie reviews. Got it.
Military spending comments in regard to this are a little off base IMO.
Even if we spent our entire military budget on this particular aspect of space science, the ability to spot these rocks is incredibly difficult and even if we do spot it, there may be very little time to do anything (like in this scenario).
Even if we spent our entire military budget on this particular aspect of space science, the ability to spot these rocks is incredibly difficult and even if we do spot it, there may be very little time to do anything (like in this scenario).
fredrancour
Member
No, tempting fate like that would just make one come at us out of the sun to spite us.
Nah it's in minutes, not hours
So we are completely defendless against an asteroid heading our way? Also we only track 3% of the known space, does that mean that any asteroid could hit us without us knowing anything?
Well... with even half the current funding level of the US military, in 750 years I wouldn't doubt they'd already have some sort of weapon capable of breaking up asteroids in deep space, just because they had the money and the fact that an unmitigated agenda of 'protecting the United States' would in relation require them to protect the planet as well.
GungHo
Single-handedly caused Exxon-Mobil to sue FOX, start World War 3
I have a lot of fucking to do before the apocalypse.
Talladega Knight
Member
one of the greatest comedies ever.
and i don't get your drama comment. i've never heard ghostbusters described as a drama. did you even watch the movie?
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